Mti 


PRAYER. — GABRIEL,  MAX. — An  ideal  representation  of  the  universal  aspiration 
common  to  human  nature  in  every  age  and  land.  A  fine  example  of  the  work  of  a  painter 
who  is  pre-eminent  for  deep,  tender,  and  genuine  feeling,  with  great  power  of  imagination, 
and  remarkable  vieor  and  breadth  in  execution. 


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Copyrighted  by  PAY  BROTHERS  &  COMPANY,  1895. 

— -- 


Stack 

BL- 
$o 


TO  THE 


BELIEVED 

OF 

Every  Land  and  Every  Race, 


"WHO   BY   PEN     OR     TONGUE    HAVE    THROWN     NEW     LIGHT    ON    THE 

STORY  JOF   THE   FAITHS  OF   MANKIND   AND   TO    WHOM 

THE   WORLD   IS   INDEBTED    FOR    THE 


DAWN  OF  A  NEW  ERA, 


The  Brotherhood  of  Man  and  Universal  Sonship  in  God 


BECOME  THE  CENTRAL  TRUTHS  OF  EVERY  FAITH 
IN   EVERY  LAND, 


THE  FOLLOWING  PAGES 


of  arr 

^i^ 


LIGHT  OF  BABYLONIA.     3800  B.C. 

0rd  of  tUe  xxT0r!tt,  gigfot  of  itxs  spirits  0f 


0f  tjfesxtxgs  ;  xxrto  is 
moxxlTx 


0f 
t  tlxxj 

Babylonian  Hymn  to  Deity. 


LIGHT  OF  EGYPT.     3500  B.C. 

/j%  mtj  050  d  mid  ^0rd;  tuto  txast  made  ttxe 

and  f  0rmje£  m^  gttre  true  au  jexjje  t0 
atxd  atx  jear  10  tt^ar  Itxxj; 


Egyptian  Prayer. 

*      *      * 


LIGHT  OF  INDIA.      1500  B.C. 
txs  raedxtats  0n  llxat 


0xxr 

The  Hindu  Lord's  Prayer. 


LIGHT  OF  PERSIA.      1400  B.C. 

(JLtxd  xxj£  p^raxj  likewise  f0r  glxxj  ^ive,  d) 


!  stenxg  11xr0xx01x 
most  swift,  poxxrerfxxt,  10  llxe  txoxxsje  xxrillx  30x3 
it,  in  matxij  xxwtxdjerfxxt  xxraxjs   0xxt: 


Zoroaster. 

(v) 


of  art 


LIGHT   OF   ASSYRIA.      1300  B.C. 

the  totfeou  0f  Tteawett  itoxt  dattraest  ! 
focrtts  0f  tteatreu  ttott  0petxest  ! 


c0trjevcst  tTue  jeavtE  xuiiTt  tlxe 

f  irmametxt  I 

sjettest  tlte  ear  t0  Ifcje  ^vaijevs  0f 

maukiud. 

Assyrian-Babylonian  Hymn. 

*      *      * 

LIGHT  OF  GREECE.     900  B.C. 

e  litre  m 


are  Ms  offs^ncinQ  t00. 


e  meu 
$ast, 

^ailxer  —  W0txfle*fxtl  —  tEeitr 
ettt. 

Greek  Poet  quoted  by  Paul  on  Mars  Hill. 


LIGHT  OF  ANCIENT  CHINA.     500  B.C. 
t  is  tlte  txratj  0f  £a0u  10  benefit  atxtt  tx0t 

10  injure;  10  t:ejc0nx^euse  itxjwvxj  witfo 
Mndness. 

Lao-tsze. 

(vi) 


LIGHT  OF  CONFUCIUS.     480  B.C. 

feat  ijott  flo  wot  life*  wrfe*w  flow*  to 
self  do  wot  jdo  to 


Confucius. 

*      *      * 

LIGHT  OF   BUDDHA.     450  B.C. 

from  all  wtro 
0et  trirtw*, 

wje^s  oxxrw 
i*  tfee  relifliow  of  tfee 

Summary  given  by  Buddha. 


LIGHT  OF  JUDEA.     444  B.C. 

feat  doife  tfeje  Igovfl  fjequivje  of  tfejeje  fewt 
to  flo  Justly  to  lotrs  metjc^  awd  to 
fewwMg  with  tfeig  Cioxl. 

Hebrew  Prophet. 

*     *     * 

LIGHT  OF  MOHAMMED.     622  A.D. 


tfeaue  is  <&we  dod  aXowje^  Ciod  tfeje 

wal; 

fre^ettetfe  wot^  and  feje  is  wot 
tfeetre  is  wow*  Xifeje  ttwto  feiwi. 


The  Koran. 

(vii) 


of  Gftrlst. 


And  the  multitudes  were  astonished  at  his  Teaching : 
for  he  taught  them  as  having  Authority,  and  not  as  their 
Scribes.  (MATT.  vii.  28,  29.) 


have  heard  that  it  was  said  to 
them  of  old  time,  Thou  shalt  love 
thy  neighbor  and  hate  thine  enemy: 
but  I  say  unto  you,  Love  your  ene* 
mies,  that  ye  may  be  sons  of  your 
Father  which  is  in  heaven :  for  he 
maketh  his  sun  to  rise  on  the  evil 
and  the  good,  and  sendeth  rain  on  the 
just  and  the  unjust.  Ye  therefore  shall 
be  perfect  as  your  Heavenly  Father  is 
perfect. 

All  things  therefore  whatsoever  ye 
would  that  men  should  do  unto  you, 
even  so  do  ye  also  unto  them. 

Christ  to  his  Disciples. 


THE  present  work  embraces  an  account  of  the  Bibles 
and  Beliefs  of  Mankind ;  the  Faiths  of  every  age 
and  every  land  being  presented  impartially,  each  from 
its  own  historical  standpoint. 

The  chapters  on  the  Scriptures  of  the  World,  and 
the  digest  by  religions  of  the  most  notable  Parliament 
utterances,  are  from  the  pen  of  the  Rev.  Edward  C. 
Towne,  B.  A.,  whose  broad  scholarship  and  great  knowl- 
edge of  the  World's  Religious  Systems  was  fittingly  rec- 
ognized in  his  selection  as  one  of  the  principal  editors  of 
the  Official  Report  of  the  World's  Parliament  of  All  Re- 
ligions. These  chapters  offer  for  the  first  time  to  the  gen- 
eral reader  a  concise,  connected,  yet  scholarly  view  of  all 
the  Bibles  of  Mankind,  and  of  the  various  beliefs  as  to 
inspiration  under  which  remarkable  writings  have  been 
held  to  be  Sacred  Scriptures. 

The  chapters  devoted  especially  to  the  representative 
utterances  of  the  great  modern  lights  of  the  religions  oi 
the  world  have  been  culled,  with  the  greatest  possible 
care,  from  the  speeches  and  papers  of  the  ablest  and 
most  eminent  representatives  of  every  Faith  who  stood 
upon  the  Parliament's  broad  platform  ;  equal  justice  be- 
ing done  to  all  alike,  Pagan  and  Christian,  Jew  and  Mo- 
hammedan, Catholic  and  Protestant.  The  official  report 
of  the  doings  of  the  Parliament,  in  attempting  to  be  full, 

(ix) 


x  PUBLISHERS'  PREFACE. 

was  overloaded  with  matter  of  no  permanent  value  ;  and 
it  entirely  lacks  the  digest  by  religions  which  is  of  so 
much  importance  to  the  ordinary  reader. 

The  material  used  in  preparing  the  history  of  the 
various  denominations  has  been  the  subject  of  much 
careful  revision,  and  of  reference  to  competent  repre- 
sentatives of  the  various  denominations  treated,  in  order 
to  keep  the  work  free  from  misstatement  as  to  matters  of 
belief,  ceremonial,  and  observance.  This  part  is  largely 
devoted  to  a  systematic  and  comprehensive  historical 
account  of  the  denominations  in  the  United  States, 
giving  the  origin,  rise,  progress,  and  present  condition  of 
every  sect.  The  work  of  preparing  the  story  of  the 
various  churches  and  communions  has  been  the  labor  of 
many  years,  and  the  publishers  desire  to  gratefully  ac- 
knowledge their  indebtedness  to  many  eminent  authori- 
ties, among  whom  may  be  mentioned  the  following : 

Rev.  S.  Morals,  W.  Charming  Nevin,  Esq.,  Rev.  Alfred  Nevin,  D.D., 
William  Border,  B.A.,  Rev.  Joseph  Osgood,  Rev.  Dr.  E.  G.  Brooks, 
Rev.  Willard  H.  Hinkley,  Albert  L.  Rawson,  Esq.,  John  Gilmary 
Shea,  LL.D.,  Rev.  C.  M.  Butler,  D.D.,  Rev.  W.  H.  H.  Marsh,  Rev. 
Edwin  H.  Nerins,  D.D.,  Rev.  J.  L.  Gracey,  Rev.  L.  M.  Sturdevant,  Jr. 

The  publishers  also  desire  to  gratefully  acknowledge 
the  aid  of  those  who,  by  furnishing  material  difficult  of 
access,  or  in  revising  proofs  of  portions  of  the  work  of 
which  they  had  special  knowledge,  rendered  ibo  the 
editors  assistance  of  the  greatest  value.  The  list  in- 
cludes the  following  eminent  names : 

Marshall  Ballington  Booth,  the  Salvation  Army;  Franklin  D. 
Richards,  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  of  Latter-Day  Saints-  Rev 
William  H.  Roberts,  D.D.,  the  Presbyterian  Churches';  Rt. 
Rev.  Henry  C.  Potter,  D.D.,  Rev.  William  Jones  Seabury,  D.D.,  the 
Protestant  Episcopal  Church  ;  Bishop  William  H.  Nicholson,  the 


PUBLISHERS'  PREFACE.  xi 

Reformed  Episcopal  Church  ;  Rev.  Henry  A.  Hazen,  the  Congrega- 
tional Churches ;  Rev.  William  J.  R.  Taylor,  D.D.,  the  Reformed 
Churches ;  Rev.  William  Hull,  the  Lutheran  Church  ;  Dr.  Henry 
Hartshorne,  Editor  of  The  Friends'  Review,  the  Society  of  Friends  ; 
Rev.  Edwin  C.  Sweetser,  D.D.,  the  Universalist  Church ;  James 
Freeman  Clarke,  the  Unitarian  Congregationalists ;  Elder  F.  W. 
Evans,  "The  Shakers";  Rev.  Edmund  de  Schweinitz,  D.D.,  the 
United  Brethren  ;  Rev.  Chauncey  Giles,  the  New  Jerusalem  Church  ; 
Rev.  Joseph  Leucht,  Hebrew  Congregations  ;  Elias  and  Moritz  Berla, 
Hebrew  Benevolent  Societies  and  Charitable  Institutions  ;  Rev. 
Charles  F.  Deems,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  Right  Rev.  Bishop  H.  N.  McTyeire, 
Right  Rev.  Bishop  L.  H.  Holsy,  James  N.  Fitzgerald,  D.D ,  the 
Methodist  Churches  ;  Rev.  G.  W.  Samson,  D.D.,  the  Baptist  Church. 

The  publishers  congratulate  themselves  and  their 
readers  on  the  eminent  fitness  and  ability  of  the  editors 
of  the  present  volume  whose  labors  now  successfully 
brought  to  a  close  will  prove  of  inestimable  value  in 
giving  within  the  compass  of  one  volume  a  complete 
and  impartial  presentation  of  the  Bibles  and  Beliefs  of 
All  Ages.  The  Rev.  Edward  C.  Towne  was  well 
equipped  by  a  life-long  study  of  the  religious  systems  of 
mankind ;  Doctor  A.  J.  Canfield,  by  close  touch  with 
the  representatives  of  all  Faiths  in  the  Parliament  of  All 
Religions,  in  his  relation  thereto  as  a  conspicuous  resi- 
dent member  of  the  executive  committee,  and  from  inti- 
mate acquaintance  with  all  the  chief  promoters  of  the 
sympathy  of  religions ;  and  Mr.  George  J.  Hagar,  by  his 
long  familiarity  with  the  historical  and  statistical  prog- 
ress of  the  various  denominations  in  an  editorial  capac- 
ity on  one  of  the  leading  encyclopaedias. 

The  whole  work  presents  a  History  of  the  Beliefs  of 
All  Races,  Nations,  and  Times ;  a  record  both  of  What 
the  World  now  Believes  and  what  it  has  believed; 
the  teachings  of  the  great  Lights  and  Leaders  of  every 
Laud  and  Faith,  together  with  the  story  of  their  doc- 


xii  PUBLISHERS'  PREFACE. 

trines,  systems,  and  scriptures.  In  dealing  with  each 
church  and  communion,  the  strictest  impartiality  has 
been  attempted.  In  nearly  every  instance  the  articles 
were  either  prepared  or  revised  by  qualified  representa- 
tives of  the  division  of  thought  or  belief  represented. 

The  publishers  desire  to  assure  their  readers  that,  in 
the  preparation  of  this  volume  they  have  spared  neither 
pains  nor  expense  to  make  the  work  acceptable  to  the 
adherents  of  every  Faith  as  an  impartial  presentation  of 
the  Beliefs  of  Mankind,  and  of  the  various  historic  faiths 
throughout  the  world. 

THE  PUBLISHERS. 


WHILE  a  member  of  the  Executive  Committee  of 
the  Parliament  of  Religions,  held  at  Chicago  in 
1893,  I  was  profoundly  impressed  with  the  epoch-mak- 
ing character  of  that  surprising  assemblage  of  wisdom 
and  piety.  Until  then,  I  had  supposed  that  ever-in- 
creasing knowledge  and  assured  intellectual  liberty 
would  probably  continue  to  multiply  the  number  and 
variety  of  the  world's  religious  beliefs.  But  the  coming 
together  of  conspicuous  representatives  of  every  nation, 
race,  and  creed,  in  joyous  fraternity,  made  clearly  mani- 
fest the  welcome  fact  that  the  fundamental  elements 
underlying  the  various  faiths  of  mankind  are  far  less 
conflicting  than  was  formerly  supposed.  This  convic- 
tion became  deeper  and  more  lasting  when  interpreted 
in  connection  with  the  contemporary  exhibitions  of 
science,  art,  and  industry. 

The  most  conspicuous  characteristic  of  modern  scien- 
tific thought  is  its  disposition  to  include  all  things  and 
all  phenomena  under  a  few  comprehensive  principles. 
In  every  department  of  investigation  and  enterprise  the 
signs  all  point  in  that  direction. 

The  surprising  physical  "inventions  of  the  last  half 
century,  especially  those  relating  to  methods  of  inter- 
communication, have  almost  annihilated  time  and  space, 
and  rendered  social  isolation  impossible.  Political 
changes  and  the  growth  of  democracy  have  awakened 
fresh  interest  in  all  questions  which  relate  to  the  re- 
moval of  civic  barriers.  In  the  commercial  world  the 
spirit  of  consolidation  is  strikingly  apparent.  Railway 
corporations  once  independent  rivals,  are  being  united 
into  a  few  great  systems  under  uniform  management. 

(xiii) 


xiv  INTRODUCTION. 

The  same  is  true  of  telegraph  lines.  A  like  tendency  is 
seen  in  all  kinds  of  industrial  production  and  distribu- 
tion. It  is  an  era  of  unification.  So  general  a  tendency 
toward  the  centralization  of  populations,  of  capital,  and 
of  production,  manifested  in  ways  so  various,  can  indicate 
nothing  less  than  a  great  new  movement  of  humanity 
toward  a  recognition  of  the  essential  unity  of  the  central 
truths  of  religion.  Every  new  social  or  political.movement 
of  mankind  is  directly  traceable  to  some  new  impulse  of 
spiritual  energy.  The  wise  thinker  tries  to  lay  hold  of 
these  fundamental  impulses  of  the  spirit,  and  to  study 
them  with  a  view  to  the  explanation  of  existing  condi- 
tions, and  the  solution  of  the  pressing  problems  of  his  age. 

Among  the  most  noteworthy  contributions  to  this 
fascinating  study,  the  volume  herewith  introduced  to 
the  public  is  destined  to  take  high  rank. 

The  chapters  on  the  Bibles  and  Beliefs  of  Mankind, 
with  a  conspectus  of  views  of  inspiration  held  in  the 
various  historic  religions,  and  of  the  different  views 
held  among  Christians  regarding  the  inspiration  of  their 
own  Bible,  supplies  a  feature  of  the  greatest  value  to  a 
work  designed  to  show  what  all  men  everywhere  have 
believed. 

The  chapters  devoted  to  the  history  of  all  churches, 
and  communions  of  Christendom,  their  origin  and  be- 
liefs, will  prove  of  much  interest  and  permanent  value, 
as  the  story  of  each  is  told  with  absolute  impartiality, 
and  in  most  cases,  by  a  representative  of  the  particular 
communion  treated. 

The  reports  of  the  Parliament  of  Religions  which  ap- 
peared soon  after  the  closing  of  the  Congress  were  neces- 
sarily prepared  with  newspaper-like  haste,  hence  not 
only  the  ordinary  reader,  but  the  expert  inquirer 
also,  will  find  the  thorough  digest  included  in  this 


INTRODUCTION.  xv 

volume  a  much  more  excellent  and  impartial  summary 
than  the  extended  and  bulky  reports  so  hastily  issued. 

To  no  small  extent,  testimonies  of  permanent  value 
have  been  brought  into  this  sketch,  which  were  unfortu- 
nately left  out  of  the  parliament  report,  and  there  has 
been  omitted  a  considerable  mass  of  irrelevant  matter 
which  busy  men  will  be  glad  to  dispense  with.  At  the 
same  time  an  attempt  has  been  made  to  reproduce  with 
perfect  fairness  all  the  faiths  and  all  the  types  of  faiths 
represented  in  the  parliament,  without  any  color  of  in- 
dividual preference. 

The  most  notable  names  of  the  parliament  appear  in 
the  successive  chapters  of  the  story  of  that  great  gather- 
ing, and  among  them  must  ever  stand  for  special  honor 
those  of  the  Wise  Men  of  the  i&aet,  who,  amid  much 
doubt  of  the  reality  of  Christian  welcome,  and  against 
many  obstacles,  undertook  the  long  journey  from  India, 
China,  and  Japan,  to  attest  their  sense  of  human  brother- 
hood and  their  faith  in  common  spiritual  communion 
for  all  souls ;  and  who  bore  themselves,  in  every  scene 
of  the  parliament  and  through  all  their  strange  experi- 
ences, with  a  refinement  of  courtesy,  a  thoroughness  of 
charity,  and  a  respect  for  the  noblest  ideals,  to  which 
only  the  best  Christians  under  the  most  favorable  circum- 
stances of  assembly  and  conference  are  wont  to  attain. 
It  will  long  remain  the  enviable  distinction  of  the  Brah- 
man, Brahmo-Somaj,  Jain,  Buddhist,  Japanese  both 
Buddhist  and  Shintoist,  Confucian,  and  Parsee  repre- 
sentatives in  the  great  historic  parliament,  that  they 
were  in  its  front  rank  not  only  by  the  interest  of  their 
appearance,  but  by  their  own  high  character  and  the 
character  of  .their  contributions. 

The  admirable  fidelity  to  the  parliament  ideals  of  the 
Catholic  representatives,  of  some  of  the  most  stanch 


Xvi  INTRODUCTION. 

Evangelical  Protestants,  of  the  exponents  of  differing 
schools  of  new  advance  in  Christian  faith  and  new 
breadth  in  Christian  fellowship,  and  of  Greek,  Armenian, 
and  Jewish  beliefs,  bore  conclusive  witness  to  that  broad 
and  generous  spirit  of  our  age  which  recognizes  in  all 
races  and  religions  a  common  aim  at  goodness  and  truth. 

As  a  whole  the  volume  contains  an  infinite  variety  of 
information,  not  only  relating  to  the  peculiar  forms  and 
tenets  of  the  various  sects  throughout  the  world,  but 
also  to  some  extent  the  manners  and  customs  of  the 
people  and  the  social  and  political  phases  of  the  nations 
of  the  earth,  Christian  and  pagan,  civilized  and  uncivil- 
ized, both  ancient  and  modern.  The  treatment,  how- 
ever, while  brief,  has  been  comprehensive,  the  purpose 
being  to  keep  the  work  within  limits  that  would  make 
it  valuable  alike  to  the  ordinary  reader,  as  well  as  to 
the  student,  and  it  is  believed  that  the  intelligent  reader 
who  lays  hold  of  the  facts  and  principles  herein  con- 
tained can  easily  apply  them  to  the  solution  of  many  of 
the  pressing  religious  problems  of  the  present  age.  For 
we  are  undoubtedly  entering  upon  a  New  Era  which  is 
to  be  ushered  in  by  a  broader  and  more  humane  inter- 
pretation of  the  religious  nature  of  man,  and  its  vital 
relations  to  the  social  and  political  well-being  of  hu- 
manity. And  with  the  dawn  of  this  bright  era  comes 
an  urgent  demand  for  a  popular,  comprehensive,  and  im- 
partial story  of  the  Bibles  and  Beliefs  of  mankind  which 
it  is  confidently  believed  will  be  fully  met  by  the  pub- 
lication of  the  present  volume. 

As  the  bending  sky  surpasses  the  clouds  which  drift 
across  it,  so  stand  the  everlasting  laws  of  justice,  truth, 
and  love.  Whenever  and  wherever  those  laws  are  read 
aright,  the  human  soul  will  recognize  amid  its  infinite 
diversity  of  operations  a  blessed  unity  more  glorious 


INTRODUCTION.  xvii 

than  that  which  binds  the  suns  and  systems  of  countless 
constellations  into  one  harmonious  whole.  Then  will 
occur  the  glad  consummation  for  which  the  wisest  sages 
of  all  ages  have  longed,  which  the  inspired  prophets  of 
every  religion  have  foretold,  and  which  the  minstrels  and 
poets  of  aspiring  humanity  everywhere  have  spent  their 
lives  in  singing, — the 

"  One  far-off  divine  event, 
To  which  the  whole  creation  moves," 

and  which  can  be  nothing  less  than  the  triumphant 
coming  of  the  Kingdom  of  Him  who  is  to  gather  in  one 
all  things,  both  which  are  in  heaven  and  which  are  on 
earth,— "the  Christ  that  is  to  be." 

A.  J.  CANFIELD. 


I  NDEXICAL  -  CONTENTS. 


KIRLKS  AND  BELIEFS  OF  MANKIND. 

FOREWORDS  of  Eepresentative  Thought 7 

INTRODUCTORY  :  Point  of  View  of  comparison  of  various  Scrip- 
tures and  Systems , 9 

LANDS  AND  RACES  of  the  World's  Bibles  :  Thirteen  chief  Systems 

of  Faith 17 

ORIGIN  OF  SACRED  BOOKS  :  How  the  term  Bible  arose 19 

VIEWS  OLD  AND  NEW  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  BIBLE. 

I.  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  View  of  the  Bible. . 21 

II.  ORTHODOX  PROTESTANT  View  of  the  Bible 26 

III.  HIGHER  CRITICISM  View  of  the  Bible 31 

IV.  EXTREME  LIBERAL  View  of  Scripture 36 

BABYLONIA  AND  ASSYRIA  :  The  Land  of  Sacred  Books  :  Babylo- 
nian Origins  from  B.C.  4000:  Earliest  Races  conquered  by 
Semitic  :  Babylonian  Conception  (1)  of  Benevolent  Deities, 
and  (2)  of  Malevolent  Gods  of  Darkness :  Semitic  (and  Jew- 
ish) adoption  of  the  latter 49 

THE  BABYLONIAN  SCRIPTURES  :  Oldest  of  the  Bibles  of  Mankind : 
Four  chief  Sacred  Writings,— (1)  The  Priestly  or  Magical 
Texts,— (2)  The  Hymns  to  the  Gods,— (3)  The  Penitential 
Psalms, — (4)  The  Litanies:  Later  than  these  Scriptures,  the 
great  Mythological  Poems .*  73 

THE  BOOK  AND  FAITH  OF  EGYPT  :  Universal  Egyptian  Belief  in 
Immortality:  Their  Book  of  the  Dead  a  Guide  to  the  Future 

World 90 

(xix) 


xx  INDEXICALCONTENTS. 

HEBREW  SCRIPTURES  :  First  Appearance  of  a  Book  in  the  name  of 
Moses:  An  enlarged  form  of  it  made  a  Bible  B.C.  444:  Later 
writings  collected  and  added 103 

PHOENICIA, —Tyre,  Sidon,  and  Carthage:  A  Religion  of  Fear  and 

Terror:  Influence  upon  the  Hebrews Ill 

GREEK  FAITH  AND  THE  GREEK  BIBLE:  The  Gods  of  Greece,— 
Zeus,— Apollo,— Athene,— Demeter  and  Dionysus:  Homer  the 
Bible  of  the  Greeks:  Hesiod 117 

THE  APOCRYPHA  or  Doubtful  Books :  An  Appendix  to  the  Hebrew 

Bible 129 

THE  TALMUD:  "  The  Sacred  Book  of  the  Orthodox  Jews:  one  of 

the  strangest  of  the  Bibles  of  Humanity." 133 

THE  SEPTUAGINT  or  Greek  Old  Testament:  The  Bible  of  the  Time 

of  Christ 137 

THE  AVESTA  or  Parsee  Scripture:  The  Great  Aryan  Races :  The 
Persian  Zoroaster  a  great  Aryan  Prophet:  His  Gathas  the 
earliest  part  of  Parsee  Scripture :  Zoroastrian  doctrine 141 

THE  VEDA;  the  Sanskrit  Scripture  of  India:  Four  original  Vedic 
Books  :  Various  Nature  Gods, — Varuna, — Indra, — Agni, — 
Surya  'the  Sun,'  and  the  Dawn, — Yama,  &c. :  Conceptions 
of  Universal  Deity :  The  Vedic  Brahmanas, — books  of  ritual 
explanation:  The  Vedic  Upauishads, — books  of  philosophy: 
Great  Ideas  of  the  Vedic  Creed 153 

BUDDHA  AND  BUDDHIST  SCRIPTURE  ;  The  Tripitaka :  The  Life 
and  Teaching  of  Buddha:  The  Buddhist  Bible  and  Church: 
Both  existing  in  two  forms,  Southern  and  Northern :  A  Three- 
fold Scripture,  Discipline,  Discourses,  and  Philosophy  : 
Beatitudes  of  Buddha 171 

CONFUCIUS  AND  THE  CONFUCIAN  BIBLE  :  Life  of  Confucius  for 
fifty  years:  The  "Five  Classics"  of  Chinese  Scripture,— (1) 
The  Book  of  Changes,— (2)  The  Book  of  Rites,— (3)  The 
Book  of  Poetry,— (4)  The  Book  of  History,—  (5)  Spring  and 
Autumn  Annals:  The  "  Four  Books,"— (1)  Confucian  Ana- 
lects,—(2)  The  Great  Learning,— (3)  The  Doctrine  of  the 
Mean,—($)  Mencius 186 


INDEXICAL-CONTENTS.  xxi 

MOHAMMED  AND  THE  KORAN:  Character  of  the  Koran:  Story  of 

Mohammed's  Life  and  Experience :  Nature  of  his  Inspiration    199 

CHRISTIAN  SCRIPTURES:  The  Books  forming  the  New  Testament: 
The  Four  Gospels :  Book  of  Acts :  Epistles  of  Paul :  Chrono- 
logic Order  and  Origin :  Other  Epistles:  Book  of  Revelation..  211 

APOCRYPHAL  GOSPEL:  Many  Gospels  set  aside  as  apocryphal — 
"  The  Arabic  Gospel  of  the  Infancy  "—Its  Story  of  the  Boy- 
hood of  Jesus — Many  miracles  attributed  to  Him.  not  men- 
tioned in  the  New  Testament.. ..  229 


xxii  INDEXICAL-CONTENTS. 


CHURCHES    AND    COMMUNIONS. 

WHAT  THE  JEWS  BELIEVE.— Termination  of  their  existence  as  a 
Nation— Articles  of  the  Jewish  Creed— Prayers  in  the  Syna- 
gogue   233 

LAWS  AND  CEREMONIES  OF  THE  JEWS.— Slavery  under  the  Mosaic 
Law— Laws  respecting  Marriage— Betrothals  and  Marriage- 
Funeral  Ceremonies— The  Sanhedrin— Worship  in  the  Syna- 
gogue    239 

JEWISH  FESTIVALS  AND  HOLY  DAYS. — The  Jewish  Sabbath — Jew- 
ish Festivals— The  New  Moon — New  Year's  Day — Day  of 
Expiation— Feast  of  Tabernacles— Purim— The  Passover— 
Homer-Days—Pentecost — Modern  History  of  the  Jews 252 

THE  JEWS  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. — The  Eeform  Movement  of  1885 
— Benevolent  Societies— Charitable  Institutions — The  Pro- 
posed Jewish  Seminary 264 

THE  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CHURCH.— The  Government  of  the  Church 
—Its  Form  and  Administrators — The  Doctrinal  Code  of  the 
Church — Explanation  of  the  Tenets — What  the  Councils  of 
Trent  and  the  Vatican  Enjoin , 272 

THE  SACRAMENTS  OF  THE  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CHURCH.— The  Seven 
Sacraments  : — Baptism  ;  Confirmation  ;  Penance  ;  The  Holy 
Eucharist;  Extreme  Unction ;  Holy  Orders;  Matrimony 281 

THE  SACRAMENTALS  OF  THE  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CHURCH.— The  Sac- 
ramental s  of  the  Church — The  Devotion  Paid  to  the  Cross — 
The  Rosary  and  Scapular — The  Sacred  Utensils — Vestments 
of  the  Priest  at  Mass— The  Funeral  Service 290 

HIERARCHICAL  OFFICES  OF  THE  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CHURCH. — The 
Office  and  Dignity  of  Bishops— The  Archiepiscopate— The 
Papacy — Methods  of  Electing  a  Pope— The  Last  (Ecumenical 
Council— The  Dogma  of  Infallibility. 298 


INDEX1CAL-CONTENTS.  xxiii 

THE  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES.— First 
Catholic  Worship  in  the  Country — The  Settlement  of  Mary- 
land— Jesuit  Missionaries — Archbishop  Carroll  and  his  Vast 
Work — Introduction  of  Religious  Orders — The  Growth  of  the 
Church — Distinguished  Members — The  Plenary  Councils 306 

THE  GREEK  CATHOLIC  OR  EASTERN  CHURCH. — The  Separation  of 
the  Greek  from  the  Latin  Church — Differences  between  the 
two  Churches — The  Greek  Priesthood — Liturgies  and  Services 
of  the  Church— Solemn  Festivals— The  Mass  and  Holy  Sacra- 
ments   319 

BRANCHES  OF  THE  GREEK  OR  EASTERN  CHURCH. — Georgian  and 
Mingrelian  Churches — Nestorian  Churches— The  Christians 
of  St.  Thomas— The  Monophysites  of  the  Levant— The  Copts 
—The  Armenians 336 

THE  RUSSIAN  GREEK  CHURCH.— Early  Ecclesiastical  History  of 
Russia — The  Russian  Mass — Reverence  of  Relics,  Images,  and 
Pictures — The  Benediction  of  the  Waters — Observances  of 
Lent — Baptism — Matrimony — Funeral  Ceremonies — The  Sect 
ofRaskolniki 351 

THE  CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND  OR  THE  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.— Early 
History — The  Thirty-nine  Articles — The  Hierarchy  of  the 
Church — Ceremonies  of  Ordinations— Sacrament  of  the  Lord's 
Supper — The  Sacrament  of  Baptism— Confirmation — Marriage 
Ceremonies 366 

THE  PROTESTANT  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES.— 
Early  History— Organization  of  the  Church  after  the  Revolu- 
tion—Efforts to  Unite  the  Separate  Churches— Subsequent 
History  of  the  Church 390 

THE  REFORMED  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.— Origin— Organization  of  the 
new  Church — The  Founder  of  the  Church — Declaration  of 
Principles — Missionary  and  Synodical  Jurisdictions — Bishops 
and  Officers.. .  ...  408 


INDEXICAL-CONTENTS. 

THE  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH. — Doctrines  of  Presbyterians— Mean- 
ing of  the  Name— The  Government  of  the  Church— The  Ses- 
sion, Presbytery,  Synod,  and  General  Assembly— Duties  of 
Members  and  Ceremonies  of  the  Church— The  Ordination  of 
Church  Officers  408 

PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCHES,  SCOTLAND  AND  ENGLAND. — The  Kirk  of 
Scotland— Ecclesiastical  Judicatories— The  Sacraments— The 
Sect  of  Seceders— The  Free  Church  of  Scotland— The  Presby- 
terian Church  in  England 422 

THE  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCHES  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES.  I. — The 
"  Old  School "  and  "  New  School "  Rupture— Withdrawal  of 
Southern  and  Western  Synods — Re-union  of  the  Old  and 
New  School  Churches— Statistics  of  the  Church  for  1885-'86 . .  429 

THE  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCHES  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES.  II. — The 
Associate  Presbyterian  Church — Its  Origin  in  Scotland  and 
Establishment  in  the  United  States — The  Associate  Reformed 
Church— Founding  of  the  United  Presbyterian  Church— The 
Articles  of  "  The  Testimony  " 438 

THE  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCHES  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES.  III. — The 
Reformed  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States— The 
Two  Branches  and  Synods — The  Cumberland  Presbyterian 
Church— Outgrowth  of  a  Revival  in  Kentucky— Doctrines  in 
the  Confession  of  Faith 449 

THE  METHODIST  CHURCH.— The  Origin  of  Methodism— The  New 
Connexion— Bible  Christian  Methodists— Primitive  Meth- 
odists—Protestant Methodists— Association  Methodists— Wes- 
leyan  Reformers— The  United  Methodist  Free  Church 458 

THE  METHODIST  CHURCHES  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES.  I. — The 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  of  America — The  Articles  of  Re- 
ligion— Government  of  the  Church — Centenary  of  American 
Methodism— Lay  Representation— The  Progress  of  the  Church  465 


INDEXICAL-CONTENTS.  Xxv 

THE  METHODIST  CHURCHES  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES.  II. — The 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South— The  Methodist  Protest- 
ant Church— The  Wesleyan  Methodist  Church— The  Evan- 
gelical Association — The  Colored  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
in  America — The  African  Methodist  Episcopal  Church — The 
Zion  African  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 476 

THE  BAPTIST  CHURCHES  OF  EUROPE.— Origin  of  the  Baptists— Eng- 
lish Baptists— Welsh  Baptists — Scotch  Baptists— Irish  Bap- 
tists—Continental Baptists 487 

THE  BAPTIST  CHURCHES  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES.  I. — Early  His- 
tory—Roger  Williams  and  his  Work— The  first  Church  estab- 
lished in  America— Statistics  of  the  Church — The  Freewill 
Baptist  Church 500 

THE  BAPTIST  CHURCHES  m  THE  UNITED  STATES.  II.— The 
Church  of  Christ— The  Mennonites— The  Church  of  God— 
Seventh-Day  Baptists — Liberal  Baptists  of  America — German 
Baptists,  or  Brethren — Southern  Baptist  Associations 509 

THE  LUTHERAN  CHURCH. — Martin  Luther,  His  Times  and  Work 
— The  Augsburg  Confession — Forms  of  Worship  and  Church 
Order — American  Lutheranism — Condition  of  the  Church.. . .  521 

THE  REFORMED  CHURCHES. — The  Reformed  Church  in  America- 
Established  in  New  Amsterdam,  1619 — Early  Dutch  Ministers 
— Doctrine,  Government,  and  Condition — The  Reformed 
Church  in  the  United  States— Established  in  Pennsylvania— 
The  Difference  between  the  Two  Churches. 531 

THE  CONGREGATIONAL  CHURCHES. — Modern  Congregationalism — 
The  Creed — Church  Discipline— Foreign  Missionary  Work — 
Home  Missionary  Work — Condition  of  the  Churches 540 

THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS. — George  Fox  and  his  Labors — Articles 
of  Belief — The  Orthodox  Friends  in  the  United  States — The 
Hicksite  Friends — Statistics  and  Institutions  of  the  Friends. .  550 


xxvi  INDEXICAL-CONTENTS. 

THE  UNITED  BRETHREN.— Founding  of  the  Moravian  Church— 
The  Bohemian  Reformation— The  Synod  of  1467— Proclama- 
tion of  Religious  Liberty— The  Brethren  in  the  United  States 
—The  United  Brethren  in  Christ— Doctrines  of  the  Church. .  557 

UNITARIAN  CONGREGATIONALISTS.  —  Distinguishing  Doctrines  — 
Historical  Sketch— Unitarianism  in  the  United  States— Means 
of  Denominational  Work 566 

THE  UNIVERSALIST  CHURCH.— The  Founders  and  their  Times- 
Organization — Doctrine — Views  on  Future  Punishment — The 
Condition  of  the  Church '. 574 

THE  NEW  JERUSALEM  CHURCH.— Emanuel  Swedenborg — Sweden- 
borg's  Doctrines — The  Atonement — The  Sacred  Scriptures — 
The  Resurrection— The  Church  in  the  United  States 580 

THE  CHURCH  OF  JESUS  CHRIST  OF  LATTER-DAY  SAINTS. — Joseph 
Smith,  Jr.,  and  the  Book  of  Mormon — Brigham  Young 
chosen  Prophet— The  Edmunds  Law  of  1882— The  Anti-Polyg- 
amy Bill  of  1886 — The  Faith  and  Doctrine — Polygamy  abol- 
ished by  the  Church  Authorities 586 

THE  REORGANIZED  CHURCH  OF  JESUS  CHRIST  OF  LATTER-DAY 
SAINTS. — Opposed  to  Poly  gamy — Successor  to  Joseph  Smith — 
History — Statistics — Epitome  of  Faith  and  Doctrines — Regard- 
ing Civil  Governments  and  Laws — Respecting  Marriage — 
Church  Publications 613 

THE  SOCIETY  OF  SHAKERS. — Mother  Ann's  Immigration  to  Amer- 
ica— The  True  Christian  Church— Views  on  Property — Em- 
ployments of  Shakers — Compend  of  Principles — Shaker  Com- 
munities   619 

BELIEF  AND  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHRISTIANS. — Origin  of  the  Church 
in  North  Carolina,  Vermont,  and  Kentucky — Founders  of  the 
Three  Branches  and  their  Views — Their  Union  and  Subse- 
quent Separation— General  Belief 626 


INDEXICAL-CONTENTS. 


xxvii 


THE  ADVENT  BELIEVERS.— The  Adventist  Church  and  its  Founder 
— Doctrines  of  the  Believers — Adventist  Sects — Mr.  Miller's 
Statement  of  Personal  Views — Dates  assigned  for  the  Second 
Advent ...  629 

MODERN  SPIRITUALISM. — Belief  of  American  Spiritualists — Their 
View  of  Christ — The  Transition  from  this  Life  to  the  Next 
—  Spiritual  Communications  not  Infallible  —  Spiritualism 
neither  a  Sect  nor  Church — Eminent  Believers — The  Rational 
Spiritualists 632 

THE  SALVATION  ARMY. — Its  Origin,  Growth,  and  Doctrines,  with 
a  Sketch  of  the  Founder  of  the  Movement,  and  its  Progress  in 
Various  Countries 637 

BELIEVERS  OF  THE  DOMINION  OF  CANADA.— Early  Religious  His- 
tory— Statistics  of  the  Denominations — The  Consolidation  of 
Methodist  Churches — Leading  Church  Buildings  in  Quebec, 
Montreal,  Toronto,  and  Ottawa 655 

BELIEVERS  OF  THE  AUSTRALIAN  COLONIES.— Location.  Products, 
and  Population  of  New  South  Wales,  Victoria,  Queensland, 
South  Australia,  and  Western  Australia — Tasmania  and  New 
Zealand— Growth  of  Religious  Denominations  on  the  Island 
— American  Churches  represented  in  the  Colonies 663 

CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE  I.  —  The  Movement  Inaugurated  by  Mrs. 
Eddy — Her  Teachings,  Her  Text  Book,  and  other  Works 
— The  Great  Healing  Power  of  Her  Teachings— Growth  of 
the  Movement  as  an  Organization— The  Bible  and  Text  Book 
take  the  place  of  Sermons 670 


xxviii  INDEXICAL-CONTENTS. 


THE  PARLIAMENT  IDEA  and  its  execution :  The  Gathering  of  the 
Faiths :  President  C.  C.  Bonney's  General  Statement :  Chair- 
man John  Henry  Barrows's  Statement  :  President  Higin- 
botham's  Statement 691 

BRAHMANISM  :  Eloquent  Words  of  Swami  Vivekananda,  "the 
great  Hindu  Monk  " :  His  Exposition  of  Brahmanical  Beliefs : 
Hindu  Ideas  stated  by  the  Brahman  Scholar,  Manilal  N. 
D'vivedi : 701 

JAINISM  :  An  Offshoot  from  Brahmanism  earlier  than  Buddhism : 
Eloquent  Protest  by  Mr.  V.  A.  Gandhi  of  Bombay  against 
Christian  Misrepresentation  :  His  Statement  of  Jain  Faith 
and  Philosophy 714 

THE  BRAHMO-SOMAJ  OF  INDIA:  Protap  Chunder  Mozoomdar's  Ex- 
position of  Brahmo  Beliefs:  The  "World's  Debt  to  Asia  for 
Profound  Religious  Thinking :  Keshub  Chunder  Sen's  Proph- 
ecy of  the  World's  Parliament  :  B.  B.  Nagarkar's  Account 
of  the  Hindu  Religious  and  Social  Situation :  His  Statement 
of  the  Ideals  of  the  Brahmo-Somaj 719 

BUDDHISM:  H.  Dharmapala  its  brilliant  Apostle :  His  Exposition 
of  the  Character  and  Teaching  of  Buddha:  Points  of  Com- 
parison with  Christianity:  Official  Declaration  of  Buddhist 
Doctrine  by  H.  Sumangala 733 

BUDDHISM  IN  SIAM:  Statement  of  Buddhist  Teaching  by  Prince 

Chandradat  Chudhadharn,  brother  to  the  king  of  Siam 753 

JAPANESE  BUDDHISM  :  Et.  Rev.  Shaku  Soyen's  Account  of  Bud- 
dha's Law  of  Cause  and  Effect :  His  Plea  for  Arbitration  in- 
stead of  War:  Rt.  Rev.  Horin  Toki  on  the  History  of  Buddh- 
ism, and  Buddhism  in  Japan  :  Scholarly  Account  of  Buddha 


INDEXICAL-CONTENTS. 


XXIX 


by  Et.  Rev.  Zitsuzen  Ashitsu :  Notable  Points  of  Buddhism 
stated  by  Rt.  Rev.  Banriu  Yatsubuchi:  The  Nichiren  Sect 
pictured  by  Yoshigiro  Kawai :  Powerfully  Eloquent  Appeal 
against  Christian  Injustice  to  Japan,  by  K.  R.  M.  Hirai:  His 
conception  of  Synthetic  Religion 757 

SHINTOISM  :  An  Ancient  and  Universal  Faith  of  Japan  repre- 
sented by  Rt.  Rev.  Reuchi  Shibata  :  His  Account  of  the 
Zhikko  or  Practical  Sect 788 

CONFUCIANISM  :  Pung  Kwang  Yu  a  Foremost  Scholar  of  the  Par- 
liament :  His  masterly  paper  on  Confucian  Teaching  and 
Practice  :  Chief  Points  of  his  Exposition  :  Character  and 
Wisdom  of  Confucius 791 

TAOISM  AND  CHINESE  BUDDHISM  :  Both  a  Degradation  from  high 
originals :  Forms  of  Popular  Spiritism :  Lao-tze's  Treatise  on 
Wisdom  and  Virtue 807 

PARSEEISM,  OR  ZOROASTRIANISM  :  Authentic  Account  by  an  Em- 
inent Parsee  Scholar,  Mr.  Sheriarji.  of  Bombay:  Sketch  of 
Parsee  History:  Zoroaster,  Philosopher,  Poet,  and  Prophet: 
The  Good  Religion  taught  by  him  :  Principal  Doctrines: 
Parsee  Morals  and  Worship:  Use  of  Sacred  Fire:  Burial  Cus- 
toms :  Ethical  and  Monotheistic  Purity 810 

MOHAMMEDANISM:  Valuable  Account  by  Rev.  Dr.  George  Wash- 
burn:  The  Claims  of  Islam:  The  Essentials  of  the  Faith: 
Seven  Principal  Doctrines:  Points  of  opposition  to  Christian 
Dogma  :  The  Moslem  Code  of  Morals  :  Ceremonies  :  Mys- 
ticism :  Influence  of  Mohammed's  Example 822 

JUDAISM:  Its  Representative  Voices :  Rev.  Dr.  Kaufman  Kohler 
on  Human  Brotherhood :  Dr.  E.  G.  Hirsch  on  the  Elements 
of  Universal  Religion 831 

CHRISTIANITY  :  Broadly  Christian  Utterances  of  Cardinal  Gib- 
bons and  Bishop  Keane:  Dr.  G.  D.  Boardman,  Dr.  Geo.  P. 
Fisher  and  Bishop  Dudley  on  the  Claims  of  Christ :  Mrs. 
Julia  Ward  Howe  on  the  Christianity  of  Christ:  Christian 


xxx  INDEXICAL-CONTENTS. 

Sympathy  of  Religions  expressed  by  Rev.  Dr.  W.  C.  Roberts, 
Dr.  H.  M.  Field,  Prof.  Philip  Schaff,  Dr.  Momerie,  Canon  Fre- 
raantle,  and  Mr.  W.  T.  Stead:  Prof.  F.  G.  Peabody  and  Prof. 
R.  T.  Ely  on  the  Socialism  of  Christianity:  Lyman  Abbott 
on  Religion  and  Humanity :  Prof.  D'Harlez  on  Study  of  all 
Religions  :  Declarations  by  Prince  Wolkonsky,  Prof.  Max 
Muller,  and  Rev.  Dr.  E.  L.  Rexford:  Prof.  Geo.  S.  Goodspeed 
on  Ancient  Religions  as  sources  of  Truth :  Rev.  Geo.  T.  Cand- 
lin's  Powerful  Plea  for  the  Sympathy  of  Religions :  Dr.  J. 
W.  Lee  on  Christ:  Rev.  Dr.  T.  T.  Munger  on  Christianity 
and  Literature 836 


BIBDEg  Tip  BEliIEFg 


Ages,  Races,  and  Rations. 

BY  REV.  EDWARD  C.  TOWNE,  B.A. 


FOREWORDS. 

"  T~F  ye,  being  evil,  know  how  to  give  good  gifts  unto 

1  your  children,  how  much  more  shall  your  Father 
which  is  in  heaven  give  good  things  to  them  that  ask  him  ? 
All  things  therefore  whatsoever  ye  would  that  men  should 
do  unto  you,  even  so  do  ye  also  unto  them  :  for  this  is  the 
Law  and  the  Prophets." 

"  Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy  heart, 
and  with  all  thy  soul,  and  with  all  thy  mind.  Thou  shalt 
love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself.  On  these  two  commandments 
hangeth  the  whole  Law  and  the  Prophets." 

"  And  one  came  to  him  and  said,  Good  Teacher,  what 
good  thing  shall  I  do  that  I  may  have  eternal  life  ?  And 
Jesus  said  unto  him,  why  callest  thou  me  good  !  Why 
askest  thou  me  concerning  that  which  is  good  ?  One  there 
is  who  is  good,  God.  But  if  thou  wouldst  enter  into  life 
keep  the  commandments.  If  thou  wouldst  be  perfect  go, 
sell  that  thou  hast  and  give  to  the  poor." 

"  Go  ye  and  learn  what  that  meaneth,  I  desire  mercy  and 
not  sacrifice." 

(7) 


g  FOREWORDS. 

«  Whosoever  shall  receive  one  of  such  little  children  in 
my  name,  receiveth  me ;  and  whosoever  receiveth  me,  re- 
ceiveth  not  me,  but  him  that  sent  me."  Words  of  Christ. 

"  Whoso  pursueth  the  road  of  knowledge,  God  will  di- 
rect him  to  the  road  of  Paradise  ;  and  verily  the  angels 
spread  their  arms  to  receive  him  who  seeketh  after  knowl- 
edge ;  and  everything  in  heaven  and  earth  will  ask  grace 
for  him  ;  and  verily  the  superiority  of  a  learned  man  over 
a  mere  worshipper  is  like  that  of  the  full  moon  over  all  the 
stars." — MOHAMMED. 

"  Let  not  Moses  speak  unto  me,  nor  any  of  the  prophets 
but  rather  do  thou  speak,  0  Lord  God,  Inspirer  and  En- 
lightener  of  all  the  prophets  ;  for  thou  alone  without  them 
canst  perfectly  instruct  me,  but  they  without  thee  can  profit 
nothing.  Let  not  Moses  therefore  speak  unto  me,  but  thou, 
0  Lord  my  God,  the  Everlasting  truth."— THOMAS  A  KEMPIS. 

"  That  central  doctrine  of  ours,  the  divine  inwardness  and 
universal  light,  will  yet  be  found  the  stronghold  of  Chris- 
tendom."—JOHN  GREENLEAF  WHITTIER,  Quaker  Poet. 

"  We  live  in  an  age  of  discovery  and  research,  similar  to 
that  which  preceded  the  Reformation.  The  beginnings  of 
history,  the  beginnings  of  civilization,  the  beginnings  of 
Christianity,  are  now  absorbing  the  attention  of  scholars. 
During  the  present  generation  early  church  history  has 
been  vastly  enriched  by  new  sources  of  information,  and 
almost  revolutionized  by  independent  criticism." — Dr. 
PHILIP  SCHAFF,  American  Church  Historian. 

"I  am  disposed  to  believe,  that  when  we  have  really 
penetrated  to  the  actual  teaching  of  Christ,  that  religion 
of  Jesus  which  preceded  all  schemes  and  creeds,  we  shall 
find  that,  so  far  from  this,  the  true  essence  of  Christianity, 
being  renounced  or  outgrown  by  the  progressive  intelli- 
gence of  the  age,  its  rescue,  rediscovery,  purification,  and 
re-enthronement  as  a  guide  of  life,  a  fountain  of  truth,  an 
object  of  faith,  a  law  written  on  the  heart,  will  be  recog- 
nized as  the  most  beneficient  achievement  of  that  intelli- 
gence.''--^. R.  GKEG,  Radical  English  Essayist. 


INTRODUCTORY  CHAPTER 

TO    THE 

BIBLE?  TIP  BELIEF^  0 


' '  If  the  whole  scheme  of  scripture  ever  comes  to  be  understood,  it 
must  be  in  the  same  way  as  natural  knowledge  is  come  at,  by  the  con- 
tinuance and  progress  of  learning  and  of  liberty." — Bishop  Butler. 

THE  point  of  view  of  the  pages  in  this  volume  devoted  to 
the  Scriptures  of  Mankind, — assumed  for  the  most  part 
rather  than  expressed, — is  that  of  absolutely  free  compari- 
son of  all  sacred  writings  and  all  faiths,  in  the  full  light  of 
modern  learning  and  science,  with  a  view  especially  to  the 
burning  questions  of  humanity,  of  new  enlightenment,  and 
of  universal  reason  and  conscience,  which  Christianity  has 
to  meet,  and  for  refusing  to  meet  which  it  is,  under  some  of 
its  forms,  failing  to  maintain  itself  as  the  supreme  principle 
of  human  progress. 

The  best  science,  the  strongest  humanity,  the  purest  con- 
science and  reason  of  our  time,  are  represented  by  Professor 
Huxley,  in  his  controversy  with  perhaps  the  most  eminent 
living  champion  of  traditional  evangelical  orthodoxy,  the 
Hon.  W.  E.  Gladstone  ;  and  to  Professor  Huxley  Mr.  Glad- 
stone has  made  this  concession  : 

"  I  will  not  dispute  that  in  these  words,  '  Do  justly,  love 
mercy,  and  walk  humbly  with  thy  God,'  is  conveyed  the 
true  ideal  of  religious  discipline  and  attainment.  It  may 
be  that  we  shall  find  that  Christianity  itself  is  in  some  sort 
a  scaffolding,  and  that  the  final  building  is  a  pure  and 
perfect  Theism." 

Mr.  Gladstone  refers  to  the  historical  Christianity  of 
creeds  and  churches,  which  is  commonly  designated  as 
Apostolic  Christianity,  under  the  assumption  that  "  Apos- 

(9) 


10  INTRODUCTORY  CHAPTER. 

tolic"  means  original,  authoritative,  final.  This  assump- 
tion comes  into  question,  under  Mr.  Gladstone's  concession, 
if  there  is  any  question  as  to  the  original  authoritative 
finality  of  "Apostolic."  And  such  question  has  been 
steadily  rising  for  more  than  half  a  century. 

In  1823  the  celebrated  Jeremy  Bentham  published,  under 
the  name  of  Gamaliel  Smith,  a  volume  of  400  vigorous  and 
bold  pages  entitled  Not  Paul,  but  Jesus. 

Some  twenty  years  later  the  now  eminent  historical 
writer,  James  Anthony  Froude,  published  a  small  volume, 
called  The  Nemesis  of  Faith,  in  which  the  young  Oxford 
man  of  the  story  is  represented  as  saying :  first  of  the 
Bible  ;  and  then  of  Christ : 

"  I  believe  that  we  may  find  in  the  Bible  the  highest  and 
purest  religion  ....  most  of  all  in  the  history  of  him  in 
whose  name  we  are  called.  His  religion — not  the  Christian 
religion,  but  the  religion  of  Christ — the  poor  man's  gos- 
pel ;  the  message  of  forgiveness,  of  reconciliation,  of 
love  ....  no  hell  terrors,  none  of  these  fear  doctrines." 

"  We  say  the  Bible  was  written  by  God  ....  There  is 
nothing  in  it  but  what  men  might  have  written  ;  much,  oh 
much,  which  it  would  drive  me  mad  to  think  any  but  men, 
and  most  mistaken  men,  had  written." 

"  Instead  of  a  man  to  love  and  follow,  we  have  a  man- 
god  to  worship.  From  being  the  example  of  devotion,  he 
is  its  object ;  the  religion  of  Christ  ended  with  his  life,  and 
left  us  instead  but  the  Christian  religion." 

StiU  more  distinctly,  at  the  end  of  another  twenty 
years,  an  eminent  English  Broad  Churchman,  Rowland 
Williams,  D.D.,  put  on  record  this  discrimination  between 
a  Christianity  of  Christ,  and  other  Christianities  not  of 
Christ : 

"There  was  one  faith  of  Christ;  and  another  of  the 
Apostles  and  men  after  the  Apostles  ;  and  yet  another  of 
the  monks  after  Athanasius." 

The  process  of  free  critical  study  of  the  scriptures  and 
faiths  of  mankind,  which  inevitably  follows  from  the  new 
developments  of  what  Bishop  Butler  calls  "learning  and 


BIBLES  AND  BELIEFS  OF  MANKIND.  H 

liberty,"  turns  on  the  question  whether  the  names  of  Moses, 
of  Paul,  and  of  Apostles  and  authors  of  Gospels,  does  not 
largely  represent  what  may  be  regarded  as  historical  scaf- 
folding, around  the  pure  original  Christianity  of  Christ. 
The  scholar,  in  view  of  what  he  finds  in  other  religions,  in- 
evitably asks  whether  these  names  do  not — to  some  extent 
at  least  stand  for  developments — in  some  degree  sim- 
ilar to  those  of  the  other  great  religions.  To  great  num- 
bers of  persons  deeply  stirred  by  the  new  interest  every- 
where seen  in  the  other  religions  of  the  world,  insufficient 
knowledge  suggests  cutting  loose  altogether  from  the 
Christian  name  and  faith.  It  may  serve  to  correct  this  ten- 
dency of  extreme  radicalism  to  give  some  indication  of  the 
possibility  of  stopping  upon  the  Christianity  of  Christ, 
whatever  else  may  be  left,  and  of  thereby  coming  into 
fraternal  touch  with  the  other  religions  of  mankind. 

A  thoughtful  English  Catholic,  Mr.  W.  S.  Lilly,  in  a  re- 
cent volume  on  "  The  Claims  of  Christianity,"  shows  in 
some  remarks  on  the  teaching  of  Mohammed,  how  the 
recognition  of  pure  and  perfect  theism  may  reveal  a  unity 
of  the  religions  of  the  world,  when  their  respective  scaffold- 
ings are  removed.  In  regard  to  revelation,  Mr.  Lilly  says  : 

"  Without  committing  ourselves  to  the  dictum  that  the 
only  monopoly  of  which  any  religion  can  boast  is  a 
monopoly  of  the  errors  peculiar  to  itself,  we  may  safely 
affirm  with  Cardinal  Newman  that  'Revelation,  properly 
speaking,  is  a  universal,  not  a  local  gift ' ;  that  '  there  is 
something  true  and  divinely  revealed,  in  every  religion,  all 
over  the  earth '  ". 

And  of  "  the  central  thought  of  Mohammed's  religious 
teaching,"  "the  living  and  life-giving  truth  whereof  Mo- 
hammed's mind  was  full,"  Mr.  Lilly  says  : 

"  The  Divine  Unity  making,  upholding,  governing,  per- 
fecting all  things,  was  the  rock  on  which  he  built.  He  felt 
that  the  mysteries  encompassing  us  are  great,  are  ineffable  ; 
but  that,  however  dark  to  us,  they  are  not  darkness  in 
themselves  :  that  at  the  heart  of  existence  is  Mind,  Person- 
ality, Law.  This  is  the  faith  stamped  upon  every  line  of 


12  INTRODUCTORY  CHAPTER. 

the  Ku'ran,  inspiring  its  finest  poetry,  and  piercing  through 
its  most  turgid  rhapsodies,  in  virtue  of  which  it  has  been 
for  thirteen  centuries  a  pillar  of  the  cloud  by  day,  and  a 
pillar  of  fire  by  night,  guiding,  through  the  wilderness  of 
life,  countless  millions  of  our  race.  Such  was  Mohammed's 
theism.  His  ethics  flowed  from  it. 

"  That  everywhere  there  reigns  an  inexorable  order,  that 
the  supreme  duty  of  man  is  to  apprehend  it  and  to  conform 
to  it— this  is  the  great  truth  which  gifted  souls  in  all  ages, 
and  of  all  creeds,  have,  more  or  less  clearly,  apprehended 
and  set  forth.  It  is  '  the  law  ruling  in  the  three  worlds,' 
which  is  the  underlying  thought  of  Gotama's  teaching.  It 
is  that '  queen  and  mistress  of  mortals  and  immortals,' 
which  Pindar  celebrates.  It  is  that  law  which  Hooker 
called  '  the  voice  of  God,'  and  which  he  cannot  abrogate, 
for  '  He  cannot  deny  Himself.'  And  this  law  is  summed  up 
for  Islam  in  the  pregnant  words  'Allah  Akbar.'  To  accept 
what  is  allotted  to  us  ni  this  life,  humbly  and  trustingly, 
doing  the  duty  which  lies  before  us,  is  what '  Allah  Akbar 
[God  is  Very  Great]  really  means." 

An  eminent  English  scholar,  of  Oxford,  Prof.  J.  Estlin 
Carpenter,  sent  to  the  parliament  of  religions  a  paper  in 
which  he  drew  from  the  facts  now  known  as  to  the  sacred 
books  of  the  world  the  lesson  that  we  need  to  see  revelation 
not  in  one  of  them,  in  its  form  and  letter,  but  in  all  of 
them,  for  their  deeper  suggestion  and  best  significance,  un- 
derneath whatever  defective  form  and  imperfect  letter. 
Prof.  Carpenter  said : 

"The  Christian  fathers  of  the  fourth  century  credited 
Demetrius  Phalereus,  the  large-minded  librarian  of  Ptolemy 
Philadelphus,  about  250  B.C.,  with  the  attempt  to  procure 
the  sacred  books  not  only  of  the  Jews,  but  also  of  the  Ethi- 
opians, Indians,  Persians,  Elamites,  Babylonians,  Assyrians, 
Chaldeans,  Romans,  Phoenecians,  Syrians,  and  Greeks. 
The  great  Emperor  Akbar  (the  contemporary  of  Queen 
Elizabeth),  invited  to  his  court  Jews,  Christians,  Mohamme- 
dans, Brahmans,  and  Zoroastrians.  He  listened  to  their 
discussions,  he  weighed  their  arguments,  until  (says  one  of 


BIBLES  AND  BELIEFS  OF  MANKIND.  13 

the  native  historians)  there  grew  gradually  as  the  outline  on 
a  stone  the  conviction  in  his  heart  that  there  were  sensible 
men  in  all  religions. 

"  One  after  another,  our  age  has  witnessed  the  resurrec- 
tion of  ancient  literatures.  Philology  has  put  the  key  of 
language  into  our  hands.  Shrine  after  shrine  in  the  world's 
great  temple  has  been  entered ;  the  songs  of  praise,  the 
commands  of  law,  the  litanies  of  penitence,  have  been 
fetched  from  the  tombs  of  the  Nile  or  the  mounds  of  Meso- 
potamia, or  the  sanctuaries  of  the  Ganges.  The  Bible  of 
humanity  has  been  recorded.  What  will  it  teach  us  ?  I 
desire  to  suggest  to  this  congress  that  it  brings  home  the 
need  of  a  conception  of  revelation  unconfined  to  any  par- 
ticular religion,  but  capable  of  application  in  diverse  modes 
to  all. 

"  The  sacred  books  of  the  world  are  necessarily  varied  in 
character  and  contents.  Yet  no  group  of  scriptures  fails  to 
recognize  in  the  long  run  the  supreme  importance  of  con- 
duct. Here  is  that  which  in  the  control  of  action,  speech, 
and  thought  is  of  the  highest  significance  for  life.  This 
consciousness  sometimes  lights  up  even  the  most  arid  wastes 
of  sacrificial  detail.  Enter  an  Egyptian  tomb  of  the  cen- 
tury of  Moses'  birth  and  you  will  find  that  the  soul  as  it 
came  before  the  judges  in  the  other  world  was  summoned  to 
declare  its  innocence  in  such  words  as  these  :  '  I  am  not  a 
doer  of  what  is  wrong,  I  am  not  a  robber,  I  am  not  a  mur- 
derer, I  am  not  a  liar,  I  am  not  unchaste,  lam  not  the  causer 
of  others'  tears.'  Is  the  standard  of  duty  here  implied  less 
noble  than  that  of  the  decalogue  ?  Are  we  to  depress  the 
one  as  human  and  exalt  the  other  as  divine  ?  More  than 
five  hundred  years  before  Christ  the  Chinese  sage,  Lao-Tsze, 
bade  his  disciples,  '  Recompense  injury  with  kindness,'  and 
at  the  same  great  era,  faithful  in  noble  utterance,  Gautama 
the  Buddha  said,  '  Let  man  overcome  auger  by  liberality  and 
the  liar  by  truth.'  Is  this  less  a  revelation  of  a  higher 
ideal  than  the  injunction  of  Jesus, '  Resist  not  evil,  but 
whosoever  smiteth  thee  on  thy  right  cheek  turn  to  him  the 
other  also  ? '  The  fact  surely  is  that  we  cannot  draw  any 


14  INTRODUCTORY  CHAPTER. 

partition  line  through  the  phenomena  of  the  moral  life  and 
affirm  that  on  one  side  lie  the  generalizations  of  earthly 
reason  and  on  the  other,  the  declarations  of  heavenly  truth. 
The  utterances  in  which  the  heart  of  man  has  embodied  its 
glimpses  of  the  higher  vision  are  not  all  of  equal  merit,  but 
they  must  be  explained  in  the  same  way.  The  fact  is  that 
man  is  so  conscious  of  his  weakness  that  in  his  earlier  days 
all  higher  knowledge,  the  gifts  of  language  and  letters,  the 
discovery  of  the  crafts,  the  inventions  of  civilization,  poetry 
and  song,  art,  law,  philosophy,  bear  about  them  the  stamp 
of  the  superhuman.  '  From  thee,'  sang  Pindar  (nearest  of 
Greeks  to  Hebrew  prophecy),  '  cometh  all  high  excellence  to 
mortals.'  Read  one  of  the  Egyptian  hymns  laid  in  the  be- 
liever's coffin  ere  Moses  was  born : 

'  Praise  to  Amen-Ra,  the  good  God  beloved,  the  ancient 
of  heavens,  the  oldest  of  the  earth,  Lord  of  Eternity,  Maker 
Everlasting.  He  is  the  causer  of  pleasure  and  light,  maker 
of  grass  for  the  cattle  and  of  fruitful  trees  for  man,  causing 
the  fish  to  live  in  the  river  and  the  birds  to  fill  the  air,  lying 
awake  when  all  men  sleep  to  seek  out  the  good  of  his  crea- 
tures. We  worship  thy  spirit  who  alone  hast  made  us  ;  we, 
whom  thou  has  made,  thank  thee  that  thou  hast  given  us 
birth  ;  we  give  thee  praises  for  Thy  mercy  to  us.' 

"  Is  this  less  inspired  than  a  Hebrew  psalm  ?  Study  that 
antique  record  of  Zarathustra  in  the  Gathas,  which  all 
scholars  receive  as  the  oldest  part  of  the  Zend  Avesta. 
Does  it  not  rest  on  a  religious  experience  similar  in  kind  to 
that  of  Isaiah  ?  Theologies  may  be  many,  yet  religion  is 
but  one.  It  was  after  this  truth  that  the  Vedic  seers  were 
groping  when  they  looked  at  the  varied  worship  around 
them,  and  cried,  '  They  call  him  India,  Mitra,  Varuna, 
Agni,  sages  name  variously  him  who  is  but  one  ;'  or  again, 
'  The  sages  in  their  hymns  give  many  forms  to  him  who  is 
but  one.'  It  was  the  essential  fact  with  which  the  early 
Christians  were  confronted  as  they  saw  that  the  Greek  poets 
and  philosophers  had  reached  truths  about  the  being  of  God 
not  all  unlike  those  of  Moses  and  the  prophets.  Their  solu- 
tion was  worthy  of  the  freedom  and  universality  of  the  spirit 


BIBLES  AND  BELIEFS  OF  MANKIND.  15 

of  Jesus.  They  were  for  recognizing  and  welcoming  truth 
wherever  they  found  it,  and  they  referred  it  without  hesita- 
tion to  the  ultimate  source  of  wisdom  and  knowledge,  the 
Logos,  at  once  the  minor  thought  and  the  uttered  Word 
of  God.  The  martyr  Justin  affirmed  that  the  Logos  had 
worked  through  Socrates,  as  it  had  been  present  in  Jesus ; 
nay,  with  a  wider  outlook  he  spoke  of  the  seed  of  the  Logos 
implanted  in  every  race  of  man.  In  virtue  of  his  fellowship, 
therefore,  all  truth  was  relation  and  akin  to  Christ  himself. 
He  said,'  Whatsoever  things  were  said  among  all  men,  are  the 
property  of  us  Christians.'  The  Alexandrian  teachers 
shared  the  same  conceptions.  The  divine  intelligence  per- 
vaded  human  life  and  history,  and  showed  itself  in  all  that 
was  best,  in  beauty,  goodness,  truth.  In  all  ages,  affirmed 
the  author  of  the  Wisdom  of  Solomon,  '  wisdom  entering 
into  holy  souls  maketh  them  friends  of  God  and  prophets.' 
So  we  may  claim  in  its  widest  application  the  saying  of 
Mohammed:  'Every  nation  has  a  quarter  of  the  heavens 
(to  which  they  turn  in  prayer),  it  is  God  who  turneth  them 
towards  it.  Hasten  then  emulously  after  good  wheresoever 
ye  be,  God  will  one  day  bring  you  all  together.' " 

In  so  far  as  the  soul  discerns  God,  the  reverence,  adora- 
tion, trust,  which  constitute  the  moral  and  spiritual  ele- 
ments of  its  faith,  are  in  fact  identical  through  every 
variety  of  creed.  They  may  be  more  or  less  clearly  articu- 
late, more  or  less  crude  and  confused  or  pure  and  elevated, 
but  they  are  in  substance  the  same.  In  the  adoration  and 
benedictions  of  righteous  men,  said  the  poet  of  the  Masnavi- 
i-Ma'navi, "  the  praises  are  mingled  into  one  stream  ;  all  the 
vessels  are  emptied  into  one  river,  because  he  that  is  praised 
is  in  fact  only  one.  In  this  respect  all  religions  are  only  one 
religion."  When  St.  Paul  quoted  the  words  of  Aratus  on 
Mars  Hill,  "  For  we  also  are  his  offspring,"  did  he  not  recog- 
nize the  sonship  of  man  to  God  as  a  universal  truth  ?  Was 
not  this  the  meaning  of  Jesus  when  he  bade  his  followers 
pray,  "  Our  Father  who  art  in  Heaven  ? "  If  there  is  a 
"true  light  which  lighteth  every  man  that  cometh  into 
the  world,"  will  not  every  man  as  he  lives  by  the  light, 


16  INTRODUCTORY  CHAPTER. 

himself  also  show  forth  God  ?  The  word  of  God  is  not  of 
single  application.  It  is  boundless,  unlimited.  For  each 
man  as  he  enters  into  being,  there  is  an  idea  in  the  divine 
mind  (may  we  not  say  in  our  poor  human  fashion  ?)  of  what 
God  means  him  to  be.  That  dwells  in  every  soul. 

Thus  conceived,  the  history  of  religion  gathers  up  into 
itself  the  history  of  human  thought  and  life.  It  becomes 
the  story  of  God's  continual  revelation  to  our  race.  To 
realize  the  sympathy  of  religions  is  the  first  step  towards 
grasping  this  great  thought.  May  this  Congress  hasten  the 
day  of  mutual  understanding,  when  God,  by  whatever  name 
we  hallow  him,  shall  be  all  in  all ! 

In  a  like  spirit  of  broad,  profound  faith,  Prof.  Milton  S. 
Terry,  in  a  parliament  paper  on  "  The  Sacred  Books  of  the 
World  as  Literature/'  said  : 

"  I  am  a  Christian,  and  must  needs  look  at  things  from  a 
Christian  point  of  view.  But  that  fact  should  not  hinder 
the  broadest  observation.  Christian  scholars  have  for  cen- 
turies admired  the  poems  of  Homer  and  will  never  lose  in- 
terest in  the  story  of  Odysseus,  the  myriad-minded  Greek, 
who  traversed  the  roaring  seas,  touched  many  a  foreign 
shore  and  observed  the  habitations  and  customs  of  many 
men.  Will  they  be  like  to  discard  the  recently  deciphered 
Accadian  hymns  and  Babylonian  penitential  psalms  ?  Is  it 
probable  that  men  who  can  devote  studious  years  to  the 
philosophy  of  Plato  and  Aristotle  will  care  nothing  about 
the  invocations  of  the  old  Persian  Avesta,  the  Vedic  hymns, 
the  doctrines  of  Buddha  and  the  maxims  of  Confucius? 
Nay,  I  repeat  it,  I  am  a  Christian  ;  therefore,  I  think  there 
is  nothing  human  or  divine  in  any  literature  of  the  world 
that  I  can  afford  to  ignore.  My  own  New  Testament  scrip- 
tures enjoin  the  following  words  as  a  solemn  com- 
mandment : 

'  Whatever  things  are  true,  whatever  things  are  worthy 
of  honor,  whatever  things  are  just,  whatever  things  are 
pure,  whatever  things  are  lovely,  whatever  things  are  of 
good  report,  if  there  be  any  virtue  and  if  there  be  any 
praise,  exercise  reason  upon  these  things.' " 


GODS   OF   BABYLONIA   AND   ASSYRIA. 


The  goddess  ISHT AR  of  NINEVEH 
standing  on  a  gryphon. 

(From  an  impression  of  a  cylinder-seal 
in  the  British  Museum.) 


The  Assyrian  god  DAGON. 

(From  a  bas-relief  on  the  walls  of 
the  palace  of  Assur-nasir-pal, 
king  of  Assyria  B.C.  885-860), 
discovered  at  Calah  (Nimrud), 
now  in  the  British  Museum.') 


The  Babylonian  MOON-GOD. 

'From  an  impression  of  a  cylinder-seal 
in  the  British  Museum.) 


The  Assyrian  heroes,  GILGAMISH  and  EABANI. 

wrestling  with  a  lion  and  a  bull. 
(From  an  impression  of  a  cylinder-seal  in  the  British  Museum.) 


EGYPTIAN  GODS  AND  GODDESSES 


AMEN, 
father  of  the  gods 


PTAH, 
the  Create 


RA, 

the  Sun-god. 


THOTH, 
scribe  of  the  gods. 


The  goddess          The  goddess  SEKHET,  HAPI 

Jtrfge  of  the  dead.    KEITH,  the  Weaver.  the  Sun-flame.  the  god  of  the  Nile. 


l« 

*^    ,JT  O> 


«1^§£ 
film 

liUii 

fif«I 

»!  '5  5         J=  J= 

|!!|1| 

gfifi 

fiirij 

iiili 

SfcW^  S^T, 
l-"O-O  3.E  C 

jSs|jg- 

^fc"5H 


.S    r*    w5         "B  =  5  p     !r 

^^    S|H4 

^        HJ          •£  fc  rt-Sl5-- 


BABYLONIAN  BOUNDARY 
STONE  OR  LANDMARK, 

recording  the  purchase  of 
a  plot  of  ground  in  Blt- 
Hanbi  from  Amil-Bel,  the 
son  of  Hanbi,  by  Marduk- 
Nasir.an  officer  of  the  king 
of  Babylon. 

(British  Museum,  No.  106.) 


The  figures  upon  the  upper  part 
of  the  stone  are  supposed  to  re- 
present certain  gods  and  signs 
of  the  Zodiac.  The  inscription 
upon  the  reverse  gives  the  details 
of  the  place  wherein  the  plot  of 
land  was  situated,  and  states  that 
the  price  of  the  land,  viz.  816 
pieces  of  silver,  was  paid  in  kind, 
and  that  the  name  of  the  land- 
surveyor  was  Shapiku,  the  son 
ofltti-Marduk-baladhu.  It  closes 
with  a  series  of  curses  upon  any 
future  governor  of  Bit-Hanbi,  or 
officer  of  the  government,  or 
other  person,  who  shall  remove 
this  "everlasting  landmark"  or 
attempt  to  interfere  with  the 
boundaries  of  the  land  described 
upon  it.  The  gods  Anu,  Bel,  Ea, 
Sin,  Shamash,  Ishtar,  Marduk, 
Adar  Gula,  Rammanu  and  Nebo 
are  entreated  to  destroy  any  such 
offender  and  his  children  for  ever 
and  ever. 


BAKED  TERRA-COTTA  TABLET,  inscribed  in  cuneiform 
characters  with  the  Assyrian  Account  of  the  Deluge, 
from  the  Library  of  Assur-bani-pal,  king  of  Assyria 
(B.C.  668-626),  at  Nineveh. 

(British  Museum,  No.  K.  3375-) 

The  Assyrian  account  of  the  Flood  is  told  to  the  mythical  hero  Gilgamish  by  Khasisadra 
the  sage.  The  gods  Anu,  Bel,  Ea,  and  Adar,  assembled  together  in  the  city  Surippak  on  the 
Euphrates,  decreed  a  flood,  and  they  bade  Khasisadra  to  build  a  ship  or  ark  large  enough  to 
hold  himself,  his  family,  and  his  servants  and  cattle.  When  the  ship  was  ready,  Khasisadra 
entered  with  his  possessions,  and  closed  the  door,  and  the  floods  came  and  destroyed 
mankind.  The  flood  lasted  six  days  and  seven  nights,  when,  the  goddess  Ishtar  having 
entreated  the  gods  on  behalf  of  mankind,  the  rain  ceased.  The  ship  sailed  over  the  sea 
towards  the  land  of  Nizir,  where  it  remained  until  the  waters  abated.  After  seven  days 
Khasisadra  sent  forth  a  dove,  but  it  returned.  He  next  sent  forth  a  swallow,  and  that  also 
returned ;  and  lastly  he  sent  out  a  raven,  which  did  not  come  back  again.  When  Khasisadra 
saw  this,  he  sent  forth  his  family  and  servants  from  the  ark,  and  upon  an  altar,  set  up  upon 
a  mountain  peak,  he  offered  sacrifices  to  the  gods.  The  gods  accepted  the  sacrifices,  and 
rejoiced  in  their  sweet-smelling  savour;  they  clustered  about  them  like  flies.  The  "bow 
of  Anu  "  (the  Sky-god)  is  mentioned. 


THREE  OF  THE  FRAGMENTS  OF  A  CLAY  CYLINDER 
OF  SARGON,  KING  OF  ASSYRIA  18.0.722-705). 

(From  the  Library  of  Assur-bani-pal,  king  of  Assyria  (B.  C.  668-6*6),  at 
Nineveh     [British  Museum,  Nos.  1668  a,  1671].) 

The  inscription  states  that  Sargon  made  war  against  the  Medes,  and  gives  a  list  of  the 
names  of  the  governors  of  Median  cities.  It  also  gives  a  fairly  full  account  of  his  famous 
campaign  in  the  ninth  year  of  his  reign  against  Azuri.  king  of  Ashdod,  when  Hezekiah 
was  king  of  Judah  (see  Isa.  xx.  I).  Sargon  succeeded  in  crossing  the  moat,  thirty-six 
feet  deep,  which  the  inhabitants  of  Ashdod  had  flooded,  and  captured  the  city.  The  people 
of  Philistia,  Judah,  Edom  and  Moab  had  sent  gifts  to  Pharaoh,  king  of  Egypt,  and  had 
asked  his  help  ;  but  the  result  of  their  mission  is  not  known.  Sargon  attacked  the  allied 
forces  near  Egypt,  and  defeated  them,  and  their  leaders  fled. 


THREE  COLUMNS  FROM  A  CUNEIFORM  TEXT  OF  NEBU- 
CHADNEZZAR II,  king  of  Babylon  (8.0.605-561), 

(Inscribed  in  archaic  Babylonian  characters  upon  a  black  basalt  slab  found 

among  the  ruins  of  Babylon,  now  in  the  India  Office.) 

This  text  records  the  genealogy  and  titles  of  Nebuchadnezzar,  and  declares  his  reverence 
for  the  gods  Marduk  and  Ncbo.  To  build  a  temple  in  honour  of  the  god  Marduk,  Nebu- 
chadnezzar has  brought  together  gold,  silver,  precious  stone-,,  bronze,  costly  woods,  &c. ; 
and  he  describes  the  great  works,  architectural  and  other,  which  he  undertook  to  the  glory 
of  his  gods,  the  beauty  of  his  city,  and  the  good  of  his  people.  He  restored  and  completed 
Imgur-Bel  and  Nimitti-Bel.  the  great  walls  of  Babylon,  which  his  father  Nabopolassar  had 
begun,  and  he  fortified  Babylon  on  all  sides. 


f'*Qt 


DOCUMENT  ON  PAPYRUS,  FROM  EGYPT,  in  the  form  of  a 
roll  bound  round  with  strips  of  papyrus  and  sealed  with 

two  clay  seals;  of  the  Graeco-Roman  period. 
2  )  (British  Museum.) 

UNBAKED    BRICK,  made   of  Nile  mud  and  chopped   straw, 
stamped  with  the  prenomen  of  Rameses  II, 
king   of  Egypt,   Usr-maat-Ra,  setep-en-Ra 
(about  B.C.  1330). 

(From  brick  No.  6020  in  the  British  Museum.) 


, 

\| 
1 

1 


THE    MOABITE    STONE. 

(Paris,  Museum  of  the  Louvre.) 

Monument  dedicated  to  the  god  Kem6sh  by  Mcsha,  king  of  Moab,  about  B.  C.  SjKj.jojecord  his  victory 


command  of  his  god.  The  stone,  which  measures  3  ft.  loi 
in  the  Phoenician  character,  was  found  at  Dibhan  in  the 
in  pieces,  but  about  two-thirds  cf  the  fragments  were  re 
text  of  the  inscription  frorc  the  paper  impression  which  i 


he  undertook  l>y 

<  2  ft.  X  I4i  in.,  and  contains  34  lines  of  inscription 
d  of  Moab  in  1868.  It  was  unfortunately  broken 
/ered,  and  it  is  possible  to  give  a  nearly  complete 
>  taken  before  the  stone  was  broken. 


CYLINDER-SEAL,  INSCRIBED   WITH   THE 
NAME  OF  DARIUS. 

The  trilingual  cuneiform  inscription  reads: — "1  am  Darius  the  great 
King."  The  seal  is  of  hard  stone,  cut  in  the  form  of  a  cylinder,  and 
is  engraved  with  a  design  representing  the  king  hunting  lions;  the 
emblem  of  the  great  god  of  Persia,  in  the  shape  of  a  winged  figure  pro- 
tecting the  king,  being  placed  above. 


FRAGMENT  OF  A  CLAY  TABLET,  inscribed  in  cuneiform 
characters  with  part  of  the  Assyrian  Account  of  the 
Creation,  from  the  Library  of  Assur-bani-pal,  king  of 
Assyria  (B.  c.  668-626),  at  Nineveh. 

(British  Museum,  No.  K.  5419.) 

The  text  describes  a  time  when  water  was  the  parent  of  all  things,  when  there  was  universal 
darkness  and  when  as  yet  there  was  neither  heaven,  nor  earth,  and  when  the  gods  them. 


BRICK  OF  NEBUCHADNEZZAR,  II  KING  OF  BABYLON 
(B.C.  605-561). 

The  inscription  reads:  "I  am  Nebuchadnezzar,  the  king  of  Babylon,  the  restorer  of  the 
temples  of  Sag-ili  and  Zida,  the  eldest  son  of  Nabopolassar,  king  of  Babylon."  Bricks  used 
in  the  construction  of  public  buildings  bore  the  stamp  of  the  king  in  whose  reign  they 
were  made.  This  brick  measures  13  x  13  in. ;  it  is  now  in  the  British  Museum 


EXTRACT  FROM  A  CUNEIFORM  TEXT  recording  the  capture 

of  Jerusalem,  inscribed  on  a  clay  cylinder  of  the  Annals  of 

Sennacherib  (B.C.  705-681),  now  in  the  British  Museum. 

The  substance  of  Sennacherib's  account  is  as  follows :— "  Six  and  forty  of  the  fenced 
cities,  and  the  fortresses,  and  the  villages  round  about  them,  belonging  to  Hezekiah  the 
Jew,  who  had  not  submitted  to  my  rule,  I  besieged  and  stormed  and  captured.  I  carried 
away  from  them  two  hundred  thousand  and  one  hundred  and  fifty  souls,  great  and  small, 
•male  and  female,  and  horses,  mules,  asses,  camels,  oxen,  and  sheep  without  number.  In 
his  house  in  Jerusalem  I  shut  up  Hezekiah  like  a  bird  in  a  cage.  I  threw  up  mounds 
round  about  the  city  from  which  to  attack  it,  and  I  blockaded  his  gates.  The  cities  which 
I  had  captured  from  him  I  took  away  from  his  kingdom  and  I  gave  them  to  Mitinti,  king 
Of  Ashdod."  .  .  . 


7 


HEBREW  MS.  (Exod.  xx.  1-5)—  Written  earlier  tnan  A.D.gi6. 

(British  Museum,  Add.  444  5  •) 

Portions  of  the  Pentateuch.    The  text  is  arranged  in  two  columns  to  the  page, 
and  is  accompanied  by  the  Massorah  Magna  and  Parva. 


SYRIAC  MS.  (Exod.  xiii.  14-16)— A.  D.  464. 

(British  Museum,  Add.  MS.  14,435.)* 

Four  books  of  the  Pentateuch,  viz.  Genesis,  Exodus,  Numbers,  and  Deuteronomy,  ac- 
cording  to  the  Peshitta  version,  in  the  Estrangela-Syriac  character.  Written  in  the  city  of 
Amid,  A.  O.  464:  the  oldest  dated  Biblical  manuscript  in  existence.  From  the  monastery 
of  St.  Mary  Deipara  in  the  Nitrian  Desert  of  Egypt. 


SAMARITAN   MS.   (Deut.  i.  44-ii.  7)-A.D.  1219. 
(Cambridge.  Univ.  Library,  Add.  714.) 

The  manuscript  is  bilingual,  Samaritan  and  Arabic  in  Samaritan  characters,  written 
parallel  double  columns.     This  plate  represents  the  Arabic  text. 


o? 
••* 


SAMARITAN  MS.  (Deut.  i.  44-"-  7)-A-D- 

(Cambridge,  Univ.  Library,  Add.  714.) 

The  manuscript  is  bilingual,  Samaritan  and  Arabic  in  Samaritan  characters,  written  in 
parallel  double  columns.    This  plate  represents  the  Samaritan  text. 


AO  >  CTO  J  c.KATf  YXAC 

P  \  O  CT€0€l  M«H^tC«l 

-rof  c  r  o  M-rS  y  KVtof  M  i 

- 


cV  N     e  eo>  A?  -x  i 
Tcii  H  n  XTf  lci$  NTH  c  l 

CODEX  VATICANUS  (i  Esdras  ii.  i-8)-Fourth  century. 

(Rome,  Vatican  Library.) 

The  Bible  in  Greek,  written  in  uncial  letters  probably  in  the  fourth  century.  The  text  is 
arranged  in  three  columns  to  a  page,  except  in  the  poetical  books  of  the  Old  Testament, 
which  are  written  in  double  columns.  Apparently  in  the  tenth  century,  the  writine  was 
carefully,  but  quite  unnecessarily,  retraced  in  darker  ink,  only  such  words  and  letters 
being  left  untouched  as  appeared  to  the  writer  to  be  superfluous  in  a  correct  text.  The 
same  hand  added  the  breathings  and  accents.  The  MS.  was  already  in  the  Vatican  Library 
in  Rome  in  the  fifteenth  century,  but  nothing  is  known  of  its  previous  history. 


eneAeyceNAi 

€AYT*-l*t:'CFyiSlAl|  **'* 
KA-KAJ  H  NITOKOf A 


Al 

CODEX  SINAITICUS  (Esther  ii.  3-8)— Fourth  or  fifth  century. 
(Leipzig,  Royal  Library.) 

uncial  letters  probably  in  the  fourth  or  fifth  century.    The  text  is  arranged 


p  -rcL  >  x  o  i  "n  x  |»  XTT.X  isn  -vcn  OY  < 


-ne  TT  x  hj  •  re  C  CL>  c  VVTCI>C  XT  i  o> 
Hi  e  i<e  i  t^io  i  o  uxe  KXKXI  o  K-I'CI>- 


TXOC  ) 

CODEX   ALEXANDRINUS   (St.  Luke  xii.  54~xiii.  4> 

Fifth  century. 

'(British  Museum,  Royal  MS.  I  D.  v-viii.) 

The  Bible  in  Greek,  written  in  uncial  letters  in  the  fifth  century  The  text  is  arranPed 
in  two  columns  to  a  We.  It  once  belonged  to  the  Patnarchal  Chamber  of  Alexandria 
whence  ftsTame),  an/w«  probably  carried  away  by  Cyril  Lucar,  Patriarch  of  Alexandra. 
who  became  Patriarch  of  Constantinople  in  .62,.  Cyril  sent  it  as  a  present  to  K,r,R 
Charles  the  First  in  1627.  It  came  into  the  possession  of  the  British  Museum  with  the  rest 
of  the  Royal  MSS. 

TU  N  cu  <\t>iTe  n\$suor>iT 

s  epi  em  »ylj  o  s  sps 

s  ec  u  ir>  fg  e  a  cu  o  Re.<s«^ 


MTNOU  is  s  m>\ 


LATIN   GOSPEL   (St.  Matt.  xii.  42-45)—  Sixth  century. 

(British  Museum,  Harley  MS.  1775.) 

The  Four  Gospels,  in  Latin,  of  the  version  of  Saint  Jerome,  written  in  uncial  letters  in  the 
sixth  century.  The  line  written  by  the  corrector  at  the  top  of  the  page  is  followed  by  the 
letters  ft.  d.  (probably  hie  deest),  and  is  to  be  inserted  at  the  end  of  line  5,  which  is  followed 
by  the  letters  h.  s.  (probably  hie  scribas  or  hie  supple). 


w  o  r»Cs  i  ixo 


r  c:  H  fVi  -i-errr  JLV 

COPTIC  MS.   (St.  Luke  v.  5-9)—  Eighth  century  or  earlier. 
(Zouche  Collection.) 

The  New  Testament  written  in  the  Sahidic  or  Theban  dialect  of  the  Coptic  language. 
It  is  one  ol  the  oldest  known  Coptic  MSS  of  the  Bible.  The  letters  *  *.  on  the  margin  of 
line  23  mark  the  beginning  of  the  Euseb.an  section  No.  ^i.  Parallel  passages  in  other  Gospels 
are  afso  referred  to.  The  MS  was  brought  from  Egypt  by  the  late  Archdeacon  Tattam.  ' 


ai}d  Races 


World's  Bibles. 


THE  systems  of  religion  which  are  of  chief  account  in 
human  history  may  be  noted  by  their  place  in  the 
annals  of  mankind,  by  their  relation  to  each  other,  and  by 
their  significance  as  factors  of  human  culture. 

The  Babylonian,  which  later  became  that  of  Assyria,  with 
some  very  significant  changes ;  the  Egyptian,  hardly  less 
ancient  than  the  Babylonian,  and  not  less  original ;  and  the 
Hebrew,  now  found  to  be  largely  borrowed,  its  material  from 
Babylonia  and  its  spirit  from  Assyria,  or  from  the  kindred 
Canaanite  or  Phoenician  cult, — form  a  group  in  the  south- 
western ancient  field,  of  extreme  interest  and  importance, 
from  the  Semitic  shadows  which  fell  on  them,  out  of  the 
desert  and  the  wilderness,  and  from  them  on  the  historical 
developments  which  discipleship  attempted  of  the  teaching 
and  story  of  Christ. 

Contiguous  to  Egypt  and  to  Phoenicia,  Greece  developed  a 
tradition  of  reason  and  humanity  profoundly  instructive  in 
its  facts  and  its  form,  and  of  a  very  deep  influence  from  the 
lessons  of  light  found  in  it,  by  the  earlier  teachers  of  his- 
torical Christianity,  and  not  less  from  errors  of  method  with 
scripture,  and  of  speculation  in  doctrine,  which  the  same 
teachers  accepted  and  transmitted,  with  disaster  the  most 
deplorable  to  the  pure  original  truth  of  Christ. 

Far  to  the  northwest  of  the  Semitic  group,  on  the  Aryan 

(17) 


18      LANDS  AND  RACES  OF  THE  WORLDS  BIBLES. 

ground  from  which  the  Greek  race  had  originally  gone  west, 
there  sprang  into  immense  world-wide  development  another 
and  vaster  group,  which  very  early  gave  the  Zoroastrianism 
of  Persia,  now  called  Parsee,  and  the  Vedic  Brahmanism  of 
India,  which  we  designate  Hinduism;  while  Brahmanism, 
through  the  extraordinary  person  and  work  of  Buddha, 
yielded  Buddhism,  on  a  basis  of  deep  reformation  and  pro- 
found 'fulfilment'  of  traditional  Hindu  faith;  and  about 
the  same  time  yielded  the  Jain  sect  of  heretics  (atheist  and 
saint-worshipping). 

In  the  remotest  east  appeared  two  systems  of  China,  the 
Taouism  of  Lao-tse,  notable  chiefly  as  the  older  of  the  Chi- 
nese systems,  and  Confucianism,  constructed  by  Confucius 
on  the  basis  of  sagacious  selection  from  the  traditions  hand- 
ed down  from  Chinese  antiquity. 

Two  great  religions  of  later  date  stand  unrelated  to  other 
systems  and  to  each  other,  the  Christian,  a  profoundly  revo- 
lutionary development  upon  Judaism,  more  richly  indi- 
vidual from  Christ  as  a  Teacher  than  even  Christian  scholar- 
ship yet  understands,  and  Mohammedanism,  marvellously 
built  upon  the  character,  life,  teaching,  and  scripture  (Koran) 
of  Mohammed. 

In  characteristic  elements  and  historical  place  and  prom- 
inence, Christianity  appears  asserting  itself  against  and 
above  all  other  systems,  with  Brahmanism,  Buddhism,  and 
Mohammedanism  especially  confronting  it,  and  together 
outnumbering  it  more  than  two  to  one.  The  power  of  Mo- 
hammedanism over  inferior  races,  those  of  Africa  especially, 
and  not  less  to  convert  than  to  accomplish  some  degree  of 
elevation,  has  challenged  not  only  humanitarian  but  Chris- 
tian interest.  Among  the  more  thoughtful  disciples  of  the 
great  systems  of  India,  whether  drawn  from  Vedic  scripture 
or  from  the  teaching  of  Buddha,  the  ethics  and  theism  of 
Christ  have  already  had  a  profoundly  modifying  effect, 
tending  to  christianize  to  a  certain  extent.  What  may  be 
called  the  New  India  frankly  accepts  Christ  as  ft  Teacher, 
and  distinctly  adopts  a  Christianity  of  the  fatherhood  of 
God  and  the  brotherhood  of  man. 


ORIGIN  OF  THE  WORLD'S 
SACRED  BOOKS. 

FTJeanincj  of  the  Term  Bible. 


r~plHE  word  Bible  comes  to  us  from  Egypt  through  the 
JL  Greek.  A  plant  widely  cultivated  in  Lower  Egypt 
gave  a  stem,  from  the  fibrous  parts  of  which  ancient  writing 
material  was  made.  One  of  the  ancient  Egyptian  names  of 
this  plant  was  P  apu,  and  this  gave  in  Greek  the  word 
papyrus,  from  which  we  have  paper.  A  second  name  in 
Greek  for  the  same  thing  was  byblos,  also  of  Egyptian  origin. 
Herodotus  always  uses  byblos,  and  from  this  word  came  the 
Greek  word  biblion,  a  writing  or  writing  material,  a  little 
book.  A  single  example  of  it  or  a  single  writing  would  be 
small,  and  the  word  has  the  ending  of  a  diminutive.  To, 
biblia,  the  plural,  was  used  for  writing  material  in  any  quan- 
tity, and  for  such  a  number  of  specimens  of  writing  as  would 
form  what  we  call  a  book.  A  bible  meant  no  more  than  a 
paper  or  single  writing,  and  it  would  have  been  all  the  same 
for  correct  use  of  words  if  time  and  change  had  given  us  a 
Holy  Paper  and  the  daily  bibles  of  Journalism,  instead  of  a 
Holy  Bible  and  the  daily  papers. 

There  is  no  authority  anywhere  for  our  use  of  the  word 
Bible.  The  plural  term,  TA  BIBLIA,  was  first  brought  into 
use  by  a  Greek  scholar,  Chrysostom,  towards  the  close 
of  the  fourth  century  after  Christ.  It  meant  The  Books, 
Hebrew  and  Christian,  in  use  among  Christians.  In  course 
of  time,  hundreds  of  years  later,  when  learning  was  con- 
fined to  ecclesiastics  ignorant  of  Greek,  and  using  Latin 
only,  in  which  a  word  like  Biblia  would  seem  to  be  a  femi- 
nine singular,  the  correct  sense  of  Books  was  lost,  and  that 

(19) 


20          ORIGIN  OF  THE  WORLD'S  SACRED  BOOKS. 

of  Book  took  its  place.  As  a  matter  of  correct  learning 
any  Bible  except  the  Koran  of  Mohammed  is  a  collection 
of  books  wholly  separate  each  from  the  other  in  their  origin, 
character,  and  authority,  and  brought  into  unity  by  tra- 
dition and  usage  only.  This  tradition  and  usage  may  be 
wise  and  right,  but  they  have  no  such  ground  of  authority 
as  any  separate  original  book  might  have.  Ignorance  has 
had  much  to  do  with  usage  and  no  scholar  can  assume 
that  wisdom  has  guided  tradition.  Tradition  was  sceptical 
at  first  about  the  book  of  Revelation,  one  of  the  earliest 
written  and  most  genuine  books  of  the  New  Testament  col- 
lection of  books.  It  was  put  last  for  this  reason,  when  it 
should  have  been  put  among  the  first.  Ignorance  of  the 
real  facts  has  led  to  taking  the  last  words  of  this  peculiar 
book  as  meant  to  apply  to  the  whole  of  our  Bible.  These 
words  forbid  adding  to  or  taking  from  "  the  words  of  the 
prophecy  of  this  book,"  or  "  the  words  of  the  book  of  this 
prophecy,"  on  pain  of  loss  of  eternal  life.  The  writer  had 
in  mind  his  own  book  only,  with  views  about  it  not  at  all  in 
harmony  with  any  future  making  of  a  volume  in  which  his 
book  should  take  a  doubtful  last  place. 

In  the  several  accounts  of  writings  held  to  be  Sacred 
Scriptures,  under  different  religions,  it  will  be  found  that 
usage  and  tradition  have  in  all  cases  taken  one  identical 
course  to  put  a  stamp  of  unity  upon  a  collection  of  writings, 
and  make  a  Bible  by  binding  together  in  use  and  authority 
a  number  of  separate  books  or  productions.  Christians  have 
almost  uniformly  held  that  for  our  Bible  this  was  rightly 
done,  and  for  all  other  Bibles  of  mankind  wrongly  done. 
Be  this  as  it  may,  the  facts  show  that  it  has  been  similarly 
done  in  all  cases,  and  that  similar  convictions  have  led  to 
usage  and  tradition  creating  all  the  Bibles  of  mankind.  If 
it  has  been  naturally  done  in  the  Christian  instance,  as  well 
as  in  others,  and  has  served  for  supernatural  or  spiritual 
suggestion  in  all  instances  alike,  but  without  external  abso- 
lute authority  in  any,  religion  becomes  a  humble  search,  an 
obedient  waiting,  an  effort  and  endeavor  in  which  all  the 
races  under  all  the  faiths  are  men  and  brethren. 


JOAN  OF  ARC.— DE  CHATILLON.— One  of  the  memorable  scenes  in  the  life  of  a 
marvellously  sincere  religious  enthusiast,  whose  dreams  made  her  at  once  a  saint  and  a 
soldier. 


FORBIDDEN  READING.— KARL  OOMS.— A  reminiscence  in  effective  art  of  occasions 
now  long  past  when  the  Bible  in  the  vernacular  tongue  was  not  free  to  the  people,  and  to 
even  read  it  in  private  was  to  incur  the  penalties  of  sedition. 


Qtd  and 


L 

ROfflflN  D0THOLIC  VIEW  OF  THE  BIBLE. 


THE  CATHOLIC  OETHODOX  and  high  unqualified  view 
of  the  Bible  as  the  absolute  Word  of  God,  a  unit 
of  supernatural  utterance,  composed  indeed  of  "  the  sacred 
books  of  the  Jews  and  Christians,"  and  making  "a  large 
volume  of  writings,"  but  all  alike  "  Holy  Writ,  composed 
under  the  inspiration  of  the  Holy  Ghost,"  was  set  forth 
in  the  Parliament  of  Religions,  by  Rt.  Rev.  Dr.  Robert 
Seton,  a  Roman  Catholic  divine.  Quoting  an  eminent 
authority,  Dr.  Seton  said  of  the  writings,  Jewish  and  Chris- 
tian, gathered  into  one  Divine  Library  or  Holy  Bible,  that 
they  "  must  be  held  to  be  divine  in  this  sense  that  they  are 
the  books  of  God  as  their  efficient  cause,  and  that  God 
is  the  author  of  these  books  by  His  supernatural  action 
upon  their  human  writers";  and  he  further  said  that  "the 
canonical  books  being  always  regarded  as  utterances  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  we  are  not  surprised  that  Saint  Augustine 
writes  to  Saint  Jerome :  '  So  great  is  the  fear  and  reverence 
which  I  have  learned  to  show  to  those  books  of  Scripture 
which  are  alone  called  canonical,  that  I  most  firmly  believe 
none  of  their  authors  to  have  erred  in  any  particular.' " 

"  The  Church,''  said  Dr.  Seton,  "  had  always  taught  that  God  is  the 
one  author  of  the  Old  and  New  Testament ;  but  the  Vatican  Council 
more  clearly  declared  that  the  Church  holds  the  books  of  the  Old 
and  New  Testament  to  be  sacred  and  canonical,  'not  because,  hav- 
ing been  carefully  composed  by  mere  human  industry,  they  were 

(21) 


22  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  VIEW  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

afterwards  approved  by  her  authority ;  nor  merely  because  they  con- 
tain revelation  with  no  admixture  of  error;  but  because,  having  been 
written  by  the  inspiration  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  they  have  God  for  their 
author,  and  have  been  delivered  as  such  to  the  Church  herself.' " 

Dr.  Seton,  however,  completed  this  statement  by  saying 
that  "  the  inspiration  of  Scripture— or  rather  our  certainty 
of  this  inspiration — rests  upon  the  infallibility  of  the 
Church,  whose  object  is  the  whole  revealed  Word  of  Grod"; 
the  general  fact  being  that  "  according  to  our  view  the  Bible 
does  not  contain  the  whole  of  revealed  truth,"  much  of  this 
consisting  of  the  teaching  of  the  Church,  "the  living  uner- 
ring authority,  to  whom  infallibility  was  promised  and 
given  ";  "  nor  is  it  necessary  for  every  Christian  to  read  and 
understand  it,"  because  the  Church,  which  "  is  historically 
independent  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,"  may  stand  in  place  of 
them  as  a  source  of  instruction. 

Dr.  Seton  quoted  "  Saint  Augustine,  the  greatest  of  the 
doctors,"  as  having  declared :  "  I  would  not  believe  the  Gos- 
pel unless  on  the  authority  of  the  Church."  And  he  put 
the  Church  above  the  Bible  by  saying : 

"The  authority  of  the  Sacred  Scriptures,  although,  of  course,  very 
great  in  the  Church,  is  not  of  itself  supreme  and  paramount,  being 
only  a  part  of  the  revealed  word  of  God,  and  subject  in  its  interpreta- 
tion and  understanding  to  the  controlling  influence  of  the  spoken 
Word  of  God  commonly  called  Tradition." 

In  view  of  the  fact  that  "  the  Holy  Scriptures  have  been 
translated  into  every  language,"  Dr.  Seton  said:  "But 
among  these  almost  innumerable  versions  one  only,  which 
is  called  the  Vulgate,  is  authorized  and  declared  to  be 
'authentic'  by  the  Church";  the  Council  of  Trent  having 
"  ordained  and  declared  that  the  said  old  and  vulgate  edition, 
which,  by  the  lengthened  use  of  so  many  centuries,  has 
been  approved  of  in  the  Church,  be,  in  public  lectures,  dis- 
putations, sermons,  and  expositions,  held  as  authentic  ;  and 
that  no  one  is  to  dare  or  presume  to  reject  it  under  any  pre- 
text whatever." 

Dr.  Seton  argues  from  this  declaration  of  Trent,  that  the 
version  so  pronounced  authentic  "  must  fairly  represent  the 


ROMAN  CATHOLIC  VIEW  OF  THE  BIBLE.  23 

original,  and  does  not  substantially,  or  in  anything  of  mo- 
ment, depart  from  the  true  sense  of  the  Scripture."  The 
history  of  the  Vulgate,  Jerome's  Latin  Bible,  he  speaks  of 
as  follows  : 

"  It  is  the  common  opinion  that  from  the  first  age  of  Christianity  one 
particular  version  \i.  e.,  of  the  Old  Testament  Hebrew  books]  made 
from  the  Septuagint,  was  received  and  sanctioned  by  the  Church 
in  Rome,  and  used  throughout  the  West.  Among  individual  Chris- 
tians almost  innumerable  Latin  translations  were  current ;  but  only 
one  of  these,  called  the  Old  Latin,  bore  an  official  stamp.  It  is 
uncertain  whether  this  translation  was  made  in  Africa  or  in  Italy.  It 
was  early  called  the  Italic  version.  The  Vulgate  in  our  modern  sense 
is  partly  derived  from  it,  and  began  with  the  work  of  Saint  Jerome,  at 
the  end  of  the  fourth  century.  He  made  an  entirely  new  translation 
from  the  original  [Hebrew  or  Greek]  text  of  some  parts  of  Scripture; 
corrected  some  parts  of  the  ancient  Italic  version,  and  left  other  parts 
of  this  same  untouched.  These  translations,  corrections,  and  portions 
left  untouched  by  Saint  Jerome,  being  brought  together,  form  the  Vul- 
gate, which,  however,  did  not  displace  the  old  version  for  two  centuries, 
although  it  spread  rapidly,  and  constantly  gained  strength,  until  about 
A.D.  600  it  was  generally  received  in  the  churches  of  the  West,  and  has 
continued  ever  since  in  common  use." 

Dr.  Seton's  account  of  the  way  in  which  the  Bible  came 
into  the  hands  of  the  Church  is  as  follows : 

"Only  seven  of  the  Apostles  and  disciples  of  our  Lord  left  anything 
written,  and  when  Saint  Luke  composed  the  Acts  there  were  already 
many  local  churches  governed  by  their  own  pastors ;  and  Saint  Paul 
had  commended  the  Romans,  saying,  '  Your  faith  is  spoken  of  in  the 
whole  world,'  forty  years  before  the  last  book  of  the  New  Testament, 
the  Apocalypse  or  Revelation  of  Saint  John,  was  committed  to  writing. 
Some  ten  generations  of  Christians  lived  and  died  before  that  collec- 
tion of  sacred  books  called  the  Bible  was  universally  known  and 
received. 

"The  Christian  Church  did  not  receive  the  canon  of  Old  Testa- 
ment Scripture  from  the  Jewish  Synagogue,  because  there  was  no 
settled  Hebrew  canon  until  long  after  the  promulgation  of  the  gospel. 
The  inspired  writers  of  the  New  Testament  did  not  enumerate  the  books 
received  by  Christ  and  his  disciples.  Nevertheless  we  are  certain  that 
the  Septuagint  version  or  translation  of  the  Old  Testament  Scriptures 
into  Greek,  made,  some  part  (the  Pentateuch)  at  Alexandria  about 
280  B.C.,  and  the  rest,  made  also  in  Egypt  before  133  B.C.,  which  con- 
tains several  books  now  thrown  out  by  the  Jews,  was  favorably  viewed 


24  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  VIEW  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

and  almost  constantly  quoted  from  by  them,  so  that  Saint  Augustine 
says  that  it  is  '  of  most  grave  and  pre-eminent  authority.'  It  is  supposed 
to  be  the  oldest  of  all  the  versions  of  the  Scriptures  [i.  e.,  the  Hebrew, 
Old  Testament  Scriptures],  and  was  commonly  used  in  the  Church  for 
four  centuries,  since  from  it  was  made  that  veiy  early  Latin  translation 
which  was  used  in  the  West  before  St.  Jerome's  Vulgate.  It  was  held 
in  great  repute  for  a  long  time  by  the  Jews  and  read  in  their  syna- 
gogues, until  it  became  odious  to  them  on  account  of  its  use  by  Chris- 
tians. From  it  the  great  body  of  the  Fathers  have  quoted,  and  it  is  still 
used  in  the  Greek  Church.  It  contains  all  the  books  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment which  Catholics  acknowledge  to  be  genuine.  The  Christian 
writers  of  the  first  three  centuries  were  unanimous  in  accepting  these 
books  as  inspired,  including  those  called  deuterocanonical,  and  rejected 
by  the  Jews.  The  canon  of  Scripture  never  varied  in  Rome.  The 
Bible,  having  become  an  occasion  of  bitter  religious  controversy,  the 
canonicity  of  the  Scriptures  was  thoroughly  discussed  and  forever  set- 
tled for  Catholics  by  the  Council  of  Trent,  which  uses  these  words, 
April  8th,  1546,  A.D.  :  '  The  Synod,  following  the  example  of  the  Ortho- 
dox Fathers,  receives  and  venerates  with  an  equal  affection  of  piety  and 
reverence,  all  the  books  both  of  the  Old  and  of  the  New  Testament- 
seeing  that  one  God  is  the  author  of  both— and  it  has  thought  it  meet 
that  a  list  of  the  sacred  books  be  inserted  in  this  decree.' " 

The  list  includes,  in  addition  to  39  Old  Testament  and  27 
New  Testament  books,  which  orthodox  Protestants  accept, 
seven  of  the  Apocryphal  books  of  the  Old  Testament,  "  called 
deuterocanonical  and  rejected  by  Jews,"  as  also  by  Protest- 
ant Christians.  These  are  Tobit,  Judith,  Wisdom,  Ecclesi- 
asticus,  Baruch,  and  First  and  Second  Maccabees.  In  giving 
the  list  the  Trent  declaration  pronounced  the  four  Gospels 
to  be  "according  to  Matthew,  Mark,  Luke,  and  John";  the 
Acts  to  have  been  "written  by  Luke  the  Evangelist";  and 
it  ascribed  fourteen  Epistles  to  "  Paul  the  Apostle,"  includ- 
ing Hebrews  ;  and  three,  with  the  Apocalypse,  to  "  John  the 
Apostle."  Dr.  Seton,  as  the  statements  already  given  im- 
ply, gives  this  as  the  Catholic  definition  of  inspiration  : 

"  Inspiration  is  a  certain  influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit  upon  the  mind 
of  a  writer  urging  him  to  write  and  so  acting  upon  him  that  his  word 
is  truly  the  work  of  God." 

The  Vatican  Council  of  1870  laid  down  the  following 
canon : 


ROMAN  CATHOLIC  VIEW  OF  THE  BIBLE.  25 

"If  any  one  shall  not  receive  as  sacred  and  canonical  the  books  of 
Holy  Scripture,  entire  with  all  their  parts,  as  the  Holy  Synod  of  Trent 
has  enumerated  them,  or  shall  deny  that  they  have  been  divinely 
inspired,  Let  him  be  Anathema." 

Of  the  duty  of  the  church  to  instruct  in  matters  of  Scrip- 
ture, Dr.  Seton  says : 

"One  of  the  duties  incumbent -upon  the  pastors  of  the  church,  in  the 
conduct  of  public  worship,  has  ever  been  the  reading  of  the  Scriptures, 
with  an  explanation  of  what  was  read  or  an  exhortation  derived  from 
it.  During  the  Middle  Ages,  the  one  course  of  learning  which  exceeded 
in  importance  all  other  coursee,  was  the  study  of  the  Scriptures;  so  that 
it  is  impossible  to  read  the  works  of  mediaeval  scholars  without  perceiv- 
ing how  thoroughly  they  were  acquainted  with  the  letter,  and  imbued 
with  the  spirit  of  Holy  Writ. 

"  At  a  later  period  the  Council  of  Trent  ordained  that  lectureships  of 
sacred  Scriptures,  where  not  already  founded,  were  to  be  established  in 
cathedral  and  collegiate  churches  and  in  the  monasteries  of  monks,  and 
asked  the  public  authorities  to  endow  such  lectureships — 'so  honorable 
and  the  most  necessary  of  all ' — '  that  the  heavenly  treasure  of  the  sacred 
books,  which  the  Holy  Ghost  has  with  the  greatest  liberality  delivered 
unto  men,  may  not  lie  neglected.' 

"The  Church  ardently  supports  all  efforts  for  a  deeper  study  and  a 
profounder  knowledge  of  the  sacred  Scriptures,  nor  does  she  interfere 
with  the  interpretation  of  the  sacred  text  when  it  is  undertaken  with, 
at  least  an  implied  subordination  to  the  higher  law. 

"  Catholic  commentators  may  differ  even  from  the  greatest  and  most 
orthodox  of  their  predecessors,  only  they  are  not  at  liberty  to  attach  to 
Scripture  a  meaning  in  conflict  with  the  unanimous  consent  of  th» 
Fathers  or  a  doctrinal  decision  of  the  Church." 


II. 

©rtftodox  Protestant 

View  of  tfte  I3i6fe, 


THE  PEOTESTAISTT  OKTHODOX  view  of  the  Bible  proceedb 
to  no  small  extent  upon  the  same  lines  as  the  Catholic. 
It'  it  casts  out  the  seven  Apocryphal  books  named  as  Holy 
Writ  by  the  Council  of  Trent,  the  Catholic  apologist  can 
truly  say  that  the  early  Christians  had  less  doubt  about 
these  books  than  about  some  of  our  New  Testament  books, 
and  the  honest  scholar  is  compelled  to  admit  that  our 
Esther,  Daniel,  Chronicles,  Ezra,  and  Nehemiah,  are  in  dif- 
ferent ways  as  doubtfully  divine  as  the  seven  Catholic  Apoc- 
rypha. If  a  high  conception  of  God's  Word  written  can 
cover  all  that  is  embraced  in  the  Protestant  Bible,  and  com- 
mend sixty-six  separate  human  writings  to  free  private 
judgment  as  the  absolute  infallible  revelation  of  the  mind 
of  God,  the  Catholic  list  of  seventy-three  writings,  held  in 
the  same  way  as  absolute  revelation,  but  with  the  require- 
ment that  none  shall  read  without  pious  heed  to  the  teach- 
ing of  the  Church,  as  a  controlling  interpretation  of  the 
mind  of  God,  does  not  put  any  new  strain  upon  faith.  The 
doctrines  openly  insisted  on  by  Catholicism,  that  the 
Church  necessarily  controls  the  interpretation  of  Scrip- 
ture ;  that  from  the  Church  in  her  ministry  of  instruction 
many  persons,  most  persons,  in  fact,  not  to  say  all  "the 
faithful,"  must  inevitably  take  such  knowledge  of  revela- 
tion as  is  unto  salvation ;  and  the  declaration  of  anathema 
upon  whoever  should  contravene  the  teaching  held  to  be 
divine  by  the  Church  ;  gave  way  in  appearance  more  than 
in  fact  when  the  Catholic  system  was  broken  up  by  the  rise 

(26) 


ORTHODOX  PROTESTANT  VIEW  OF  THE  BIBLE.     27 

of  Protestant  sects.  To  each  of  those  sects  it  became  neces- 
sary to  have  a  teaching,  and  to  impose  this  with  a  rigor 
oftentimes  exceeding  the  Catholic.  Practically  Presbyteri- 
anism,  Congregationalism,  Methodism,  and  the  individual- 
ism even  of  eccentric  expounders  and  evangelists,  have  held 
the  Catholic  doctrine  of  Scripture,  with  the  difference  only 
of  applying  it  to  sixty-six  separate  writings  instead  of  to 
seventy-three.  That  doctrine  is  a  direct  tradition  from  early ' 
Jewish  opinion,  the  logic  of  which  has  dominated  all  the 
generations  from  that  of  Ezra  to  our  own,  except  as  the 
growth  of  mental  freedom,  variously  qualifying  the  ortho- 
doxy of  individuals  or  of  sects,  has  more  or  less  created  a 
contradiction  between  professed  belief  and  real  belief. 

In  the  article  "  Inspiration,"  by  a  Scotch  divine,  Rev.  Dr. 
T.  M.  Lindsay,  in  the  Encyclopaedia  Britannica,  the  Protest- 
ant Orthodox  view  is  given  in  these  terms : 

"  'Inspiration '  is  used  to  express  the  fact  that  holy  men  of  old  spakt, 
as  they  were  moved  by  the  Spirit  of  God.  The  idea  is  not  exclusively 
Jewish  or  Christian;  pagans  have  had  their  inspired  speakers  and 
writers  and  their  ideas  of  inspiration,  and  these  earlier  pagan  notions 
have  had  their  effect  on  some  of  the  forms  which  the  Christian  doc- 
trine has  assumed. 

"The  classical  languages  contain  many  words  and  phrases  express- 
ive of  this  idea.  Artistic  powers  and  poetic  talents,  gifts  of  prediction, 
the  warmth  of  love  and  the  battle  frenzy,  were  all  ascribed  to  the  power 
of  the  god  possessing  the  man  inspired.  And  these  words  were  taken 
over  into  Christian  theological  writing,  and  used  to  describe  what  Jew- 
ish and  Christian  divines  have  called  inspiration. 

"  In  Christian  theology  inspiration  always  has  to  do  with  the  belief 
that  God  has  "  wholly  committed  to  writing '  His  revelation,  and  that 
men  have  it  permanently,  fully,  and  in  an  infallibly  trustworthy  way. 

"The  doctrine  of  inspiration  in  Christian  theology  contains  very 
little  reference  to  the  psychological  state  of  the  persons  inspired,  and 
when  it  does  enter  into  such  details  we  may  generally  trace  their  pres- 
ence back  to  the  influence  of  pagan  ideas  or  words. 

"Our  knowledge  of  the  opinions  of  ancient  Jewish  thinkers  about 
inspiration  comes  chiefly  from  the  Apocrypha,  from  Josephus,  and 
from  Philo  Judseus.  The  writers  of  the  Apocrypha  do  not  give  us  any 
theory  or  doctrine  of  inspiration.  It  is  in  I.  Maccabees,  xii.  9,  that  the 
expression  '  the  Holy  Books '  is  first  used  of  Old  Testament  books ;  and 
it  is  evident  that  the  Pentateuch,  or  the  Books  of  the  Law,  were  held 


28     ORTHODOX  PROTESTANT  VIEW  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

in  special  reverence,  but  beyond  this  we  do  not  find  a  doctrine  of  inspi- 
ration. 

"  Nor  does  Josephus  formally  state  or  discuss  the  dogma  in  his  writ- 
ings, but  his  language  shows  that  he  and  his  contemporaries  [the  second 
half  of  the  first  century  after  Christ]  believed  that  the  Old  Testament 
Scriptures  were  the  "Word  of  God. 

"It  is  Philo  [a  Jew  of  Alexandria  in  Egypt  who  lived  from  about 
20  B.C.  to  later  than  40  A.D.]  who  first  seeks  to  give  a  theory  of  inspira- 
tion, and  he  does  so  by  bringing  the  reflections  of  Plato  upon  the  pagan 
inspiration  or  mania  to  explain  the  Jewish  doctrine.  Following  Plato, 
Philo  says  that  inspiration  is  a  kind  of  'ecstasy,'  and  he  seems  to  imply 
that  the  degree  of  inspiration  is  greater  in  proportion  to  the  uncon- 
sciousness or  at  least  to  the  passivity  of  the  man  inspired  (the  inspired 
person  being  possessed,  passive  in  the  hands  of  the  inspiring  deity,  no 
longer  himself,  but  the  god  who  for  the  moment  dwelt  in  him,  and  used 
him  as  he  might  an  inanimate  instrument).  The  prophet,  he  says,  does 
not  speak  any  words  of  his  own ;  he  is  only  the  instrument  of  God, 
who  inspires  and  who  speaks  through  him ;  but  he  says  that  there  are 
degrees  of  inspiration,  and  that  all  portions  of  Scripture  have  not  the 
same  depth  of  inspiration.  Moses  has  the  first  place  in  the  scale  of 
inspired  writers ;  but  this  idea  of  degrees  of  inspiration,  a  conception 
borrowed  from  Plato,  does  not  seem  to  prevent  Philo  from  thinking 
that  the  very  words  of  the  Old  Testament  were  all  inspired  of  God.  It 
was  also  a  common  opinion  among  the  Rabbins,  that  not  merely  the 
thoughts  and  words,  but  even  the  vowel  points  and  accents,  were  of 
divine  origin ;  but  this  idea  seems  to  have  been  compatible  with  the 
theory  that  there  were  three  degrees  of  inspiration  (for  '  the  Law,  the 
Prophets,  and  the  other  Books '),  the  highest  being  the  inspiration  of 
the  Pentateuch  and  the  lowest  that  of  the  Hagiographa  (Holy  Writing's 
of  the  third  class). 

"The  early  Christian  Church  seems  to  have  simply  taken  over  the 
Jewish  views  about  the  inspiration  of  the  Old  Testament;  and,  when 
the  New  Testament  canon  was  complete  [several  generations  after 
Christ],  they  transferred  the  same  characteristics  to  the  New  Testament 
writings  also. 

"  It  is  difficult  to  gather  any  consistent  doctrine  of  inspiration  from 
the  writings  of  the  early  fathers  of  the  Church,  and  when  they  do  speak 
of  inspiration  it  seems  as  if  they  were  thinking  more  of  the  psycho- 
logical process  going  on  in  the  mind  of  the  inspired  man  than  of  the 
result  in  an  inspired  book.  We  find  the  doctrine  of  inspiration 
described  under  such  metaphors  as  the  Platonists  were  accustomed  to 
use ;  and  Montanus  could  appeal  to  the  almost  unanimous  idea  of  the 
Church  that  prophecy  implied  both  passivity  and  ecstasy.  The  Apolo- 
gists were  accustomed  to  plead  for  the  credibility  of  the  inspiration  of 


ORTHODOX  PROTESTANT  VIEW  OF  THE  BIBLE.     29 

the  Scriptures  by  appealing  to  the  oracle  of  Dodona,  to  the  supernatu- 
ral character  of  the  Sibylline  books,  and  to  the  universally  accepted 
fact  of  mania. 

' '  The  early  theologians,  when  discussing  the  inspiration  of  the  Apos- 
tles, forgot  the  writing  in  describing  the  writers,  and  enlarged  on  the 
powers  communicated  to  them  to  guide  the  Church,  to  work  miracles, 
and  to  foretell  the  future.  The  promise  of  the  Spirit,  however,  was 
not  confined  to  the  Apostles ;  all  believers  were  to  share  in  it.  Justin 
Martyr  [in  the  first  half  of  the  second  century  after  Christ]  speaks  of 
the  miraculous  powers  of  the  Apostles,  and  of  the  spiritual  gifts  of  all 
Christians,  as  if  the  two  were  the  same;  and  Tertullian  [active  A. D. 
190-220],  while  he  does  draw  a  distinction  between  the  inspiration  of 
the  Apostles  and  that  common  to  all  believers,  declares  that  the  differ- 
ence is  one  of  degree.  There  emerged  in  due  time  out  of  these  con- 
flicting tendencies  a  double  doctrine  of  inspiration — the  inspiration  of 
Scripture,  which  insured  that  the  knowledge  they  communicated  was 
correct,  and  the  inspiration  of  the  Church,  which  insured  that  the 
knowledge  infallibly  communicated  was  infallibly  understood. 

' '  The  Schoolmen  accepted  the  doctrine  of  inspiration  as  it  came  to 
them  from  the  fathers,  but  methodized  it.  They  recognized  that  a  rev- 
elation which  is  primarily  doctrinal,  and  that  only,  requires  infallibility 
in  interpretation  as  well  as  infallibility  in  delivery ;  and  so  the  inspira- 
tion of  the  Church  was  as  important  as  the  infallibility  of  Scripture. 
As  time  went  on  the  infallible  interpretations  were  collected,  and  side 
by  side  with  an  infallible  Scripture  was  the  infallible  tradition. 

"Many  of  the  Schoolmen  held  [in  view  of  large  parts  of  Scripture 
which  do  not  contain  doctrinal  statements,  nor  give  rules  of  holy  liv- 
ing], that  there  were  two  kinds  of  inspiration  in  Scripture,  the  direct, 
which  is  to  be  found  where  doctrinal  and  moral  truths  are  directly 
taught,  and  the  indirect,  which  appears  in  historical  passages,  whence 
the  doctrinal  and  moral  can  only  be  indirectly  evolved  by  the  use  of 
allegorical  interpretation. 

"The  real  gist  of  the  Reformation  doctrine  of  Scripture  was  this, 
that  Scripture  was  a  means  of  grace,  a  means  of  awakening  the  new 
life  in  the  heart ;  that  above  all  the  Scripture  was  the  sword  of  the 
Spirit,  and  that  its  main  use  was  to  pierce  the  heart  and  conscience. 
Inspiration  secured  that  the  Scriptures  should  be  instinct  with  God's 
power  for  salvation,  able  to  appeal  with  the  very  power  of  God  to  the 
hearts  and  consciences  of  men,  as  well  as  full  of  the  knowledge  which 
God  has  pleased  to  communicate  to  man.  The  Reformers  were  content 
to  leave  the  doctrine  of  inspiration  without  much  further  definition, 
but  they  took  the  full  advantage  of  the  spiritual  form  of  the  doctrine 
to  use  great  freedom  with  the  letter  of  Scripture. 

"  Their  successors,  the  Protestant  Scholastics,  acted  otherwise.  They 


30    ORTHODOX  PROTESTANT  VIEW  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

dwelt  on  the  fact  that  inspiration  secured  accuracy,  rather  than  on  the 
fact  that  it  brought  with  it  spiritual  power.  Gerhard  held  that  the 
writers  were  the  'pens,'  the  'amanuenses',  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  Cal- 
ovius  and  Quenstedt  say  the  same.  Quenstedt  holds  that  everything  ir. 
Scripture  conies  from  the  infallible  divine  assistance  and  direction,, 
from  a  special  suggestion  and  dictation  of  the  Holy  Spirit;  and  he 
says  that  because  Scripture  is  inspired  it  is  of  infallible  truth  and  free 
from  every  error ;  canonical  Scripture  contains  not  the  very  slightest 
error  either  in  fact  or  in  word ;  whatever  things  it  relates,  all  and  every 
one  of  them,  are  of  the  very  highest  truth,  whether  they  be  ethical  or 
historical,  chronological,  topographical,  or  verbal;  there  is  no  igno- 
lance,  no  want  of  knowledge,  no  forgetfulness,  no  lapse  of  memory  in 
Scripture.  The  framers  of  the  Formula  Consensus  Helvetica  went 
further,  and  declared  that  the  Old  Testament  was  inspired  of  God  in 
its  matter,  its  words,  its  consonants,  its  vowels,  and  its  punctuation." 

"The  Socinians  and  certain  Arminians,  such  as  3piscopius,  who 
started  with  the  idea  that  the  Bible  is  simply  a  communication  of 
knowledge,  resuscitated  the  scholastic  idea  of  partial  inspiration.  They 
held  that  inspiration  was  only  required  to  communicate  knowledge 
which  the  writer  could  not  otherwise  obtain,  and  they  usually  asserted 
that  only  the  doctrinal  parts  of  the  Bible  were  inspired,  while  the  his- 
torical were  not. 

"  Those  who  hold  naturalistic  views  of  revelation  reduce  inspiration 
to  a  peculiar  aptitude  for  and  sympathy  with  moral  and  religious  truth. 
Others,  although  believing  in  the  supernatural  character  of  revelation, 
hold  that  there  is  no  warrant  to  suppose  anything  specially  super- 
natural about  the  committal  of  the  revelation  to  writing,  and  believe 
that  God  left  His  revelation  to  be  recorded  in  the  natural  course  of 
providence  by  men  who  had  perhaps  a  larger  share  than  their  fellows 
of  the  spiritual  enlightenment  common  to  all  believers.  Others  again 
have  revived  the  doctrine  of  Thomas  Aquinas  that  parts  of  the  Bible 
are  inspired,  and  other  parts  are  not. 

"To  meet  such  theories,  orthodox  theologians  have  invented  the 
terms  plenary  inspiration  and  verbal  inspiration,  but  the  phrases  are 
neither  very  exact  or  very  enlightening." 


HI. 

The  Higher  Briticism 
View  of  the 


HE  HIGHER  CEITICISM  view  of  the  Bible,  which  is  now  the 
__  burning  question  of  Protestant  orthodoxy,  is  the  reas- 
sei  don  against  Protestant  scholasticism  of  the  early  tendency 
of  the  Reformation  to  make  the  appeal  of  spiritual  truth  to 
the  heart  and  conscience  of  supreme  importance,  and  to  take 
full  advantage  of  this  supreme  importance  of  the  spiritual 
to  use  great  freedom  with  the  letter  of  Scripture.  It  is  the 
revolt  of  spiritual  genius,  of  practical  devotion  to  making 
religion  effective,  against  the  barren  pursuit  of  dogma  ;  and, 
with  this,  the  revolt  of  honest  new  knowledge  and  honest 
free  faith  against  the  ignorance,  the  credulity,  the  supersti- 
tion, the  degrading  bondage  to  traditions  of  darkness  and 
wrong,  which  both  Catholic  and  Protestant  dogmatism  have 
too  often  meant,  and  do  still  more  or  less  mean. 

The  extreme  of  scholastic  imagination  of  supernatural 
perfection  of  the  whole  letter  of  the  Bible,  reached  by  Prot- 
estant scholasticism  not  less  than  by  Catholic,  and  in  a  form 
nearer  than  the  Catholic  to  the  wildest  extravagance  of  Rab- 
binical dogmatism,  without  moreover  any  proof  whatever 
that  the  Bible  itself  requires  or  suggests  such  a  doctrine, 
proceeded  upon  ignorance  the  most  deplorable  of  the  facts 
of  authorship  and  of  literature,  of  history  and  of  teaching, 
which  scholarly  study  of  the  several  sections  of  the  Bible, 
and  of  its  individual  books,  compels  an  honest  inquirer  to 
take  account  of.  The  now  celebrated  Dr.  Charles  A.  Briggs, 
who  peculiarly  represents  the  new  departure  within  lines 
supposed  to  be  strictly  orthodox,  had  a  paper  in  the  Parlia- 

(81) 


32      THE  HIGHER  CRITICISM  VIEW  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

ment  of  Religions,  ostensibly  making  apology  for  the  Bible 
as  the  Word  of  God,  truthful  and  trustworthy,  but  embody- 
ing also  these  points  of  surrender  of  the  common  view : 

"  We  are  obliged  to  admit  that  there  are  scientific  errors  in  the  Bible, 
errors  of  astronomy,  of  geology,  of  zoology,  of  botany,  and  of  anthro- 
pology. In  all  these  respects  there  is  no  evidence  that  the  authors  of 
these  sacred  writings  had  any  other  knowledge  than  that  possessed  by 
their  contemporaries. 

"  There  are  historical  mistakes  in  the  Christian  Scriptures,  mistakes 
of  chronology  and  geography,  errors  of  historical  events  and  persons, 
discrepancies  and  inconsistencies  in  historians.  They  used  ancient 
poems,  popular  traditions,  legends  and  ballads,  regal  and  family 
archives,  codes  of  law  and  ancient  narratives.  There  is  no  evidence 
that  they  received  any  of  this  history  .by  revelation  from  God.  There 
is  no  evidence  that  the  Divine  Spirit  corrected  their  narratives  either 
when  they  were  lying  uncomposed  in  their  minds,  or  written  in  manu- 
scripts." 

' '  The  most  exact  textual  criticism  leaves  us  with  numerous  errors  in 
Holy  Scripture,  just  where  we  found  them  in  the  transcribed  texts  of 
other  sacred  books." 

' '  The  higher  criticism  recognizes  faults  of  grammar,  of  rhetoric,  and 
of  logic  in  the  Hebrew  and  Christian  Scriptures.  The  Biblical  authors 
used  the  language  with  which  they  were  familiar,  some  of  them  classic 
Hebrew,  others  of  them  dialectic  and  corrupted  Hebrew.  Some  of  them 
have  a  good  prose  style,  others  of  them  have  a  dull,  tedious,  pedantic 
style.  Some  of  them  are  poets  of  the  highest  rank,  others  of  them 
write  such  inferior  poetry  that  one  is  surprised  that  they  did  not  use 
prose.  Some  of  them  reason  clearly,  profoundly,  and  convincingly, 
others  of  them  reason  in  a  loose,  obscure,  and  unconvincing  manner. 
Some  of  them  present  the  truth  like  intuitions  of  light,  others  labor 
with  it,  and  eventually  deliver  it  in  a  crude  and  undeveloped  form." 

"  The  higher  criticism  shows  us  that  the  most  of  the  sacred  books 
were  composed  by  unknown  authors,  that  they  have  passed  through 
the  hands  of  a  considerable  number  of  unknown  editors,  who  have 
brought  together  the  older  materia)  without  removing  discrepancies, 
inconsistencies,  and  errors.  Judging  from  their  work,  it  seems  most 
probable  that  they  were  not  guided  bv  the  Divine  Spirit  in  their  gram- 
mar, in  their  rhetoric,  in  their  logical  expressions,  in  their  arrange- 
ment of  their  material,  or  in  their  general  editorial  work." 

"  The  errors  of  Holy  Scripture  are  not  errors  of  falsehood,  or  of  de- 
ceit; they  are  such  errors  of  ignorance,  inadvertence,  and  of  partial 
and  inadequate  knowledge,  as  belong  to  man  as  man." 

"The  religion  of  the  Old  Testament,  inculcates  some  things  whk h 


THE  HIGHER  CRITICISM  VIEW  OF  THE  BIBLE.    33 

are  hard  to  reconcile  with  an  inerrant  revelation.  The  sacrifice  of 
Jeptha's  daughter,  and  the  divine  command  to  Abraham  to  offer  up  his 
son  Isaac  as  a  whole  burnt  offering,  seem  unsuited  to  a  Divine  religion. 
There  is  indeed  no  prohibition  of  the  offering  up  of  children  in  the 
earliest  codes  of  the  Hexateuch.  The  prohibition  was  first  made  in  the 
Deuteronomic  code,  and  originated  somewhat  late  in  the  history  of 
Israel.  The  early  Hebrews  shared  with  the  Canaanites  and  other 
neighboring  nations  in  the  practice  of  offering  up  their  children  in  the 
flame  to  Goa.  God  accepted  the  sacrifice  of  Jeptha  [his  daughter 
killed  on  the  altar,  with  a  knife,  by  her  father's  hand].  He  graciously 
accepted  the  ram  instead  of  Isaac.  He  provided  a  sacrificial  system 
which  gradually  grew  in  wealth  of  symbolism  through  the  ages  of 
Jewish  history.  God  was  training  Israel  to  understand  the  meaning  of 
a  higher  sacrifice,  even  the  obedience  of  the  Christ  in  a  holy  life  and  a 
martyr  death  in  the  service  of  God  and  of  humanity ;  and  of  the  sim- 
ilar sacrifice  that  every  child  of  God  is  called  upon  to  make.  The  offer- 
ing up  of  children  and  of  domestic  animals  and  grains  was  all  a  pre- 
paring discipline.  The  training  was  true  and  faithful  for  the  time. 
These  were  the  forms  in  which  it  was  necessary  to  clothe  the  divine 
law  of  sacrifice  in  its  earlier  stages  of  revelation.  These  partial  forms 
were  the  object-lessons  by  which  the  little  children  of  the  ancient  world 
could  be  trained  to  understand  the  inerrant  law  of  sacrifice  for  men. 
They  have  their  propriety,  as  elementary  forces,  but  they  err  from  the 
idea  of  religion  as  it  lies  eternally  in  the  mind  and  will  of  God.  The 
prophets  with  great  difficulty  and  with  increasing  opposition  from 
priests  and  peop/e,  gradually  taught  them  that  the  sacrifices  must  be  of 
broken  and  contrite  hearts,  and  of  humble,  cheerful  spirits." 

"We  cannot  defend  the  morals  of  the  Old  Testament  at  all  points. 
Nowhere  are  polygamy  and  slavery  condemned.  The  time  had  not 
come  in  the  history  of  the  world  when  they  could  be  condemned.  Is 
God  responsible  for  the  twin  relics  of  barbarism  because  he  did  not  con- 
demn them,  but  on  the  contrary  recognized  them  ?  The  patriarchs 
were  not  truthful  ;  their  age  seems  to  have  had  little  apprehension  of 
the  principles  of  truth,  yet  Abraham  was  faithful  to  God,  the  father 
of  the  faithful,  the  friend  of  God.  David  was  a  sinner,  but  his  life  as 
a  whole  was  such  that  we  must  admire  and  love  him  as  one  of  the  best 
of  men,  and  we  are  not  surprised  that  the  heart  of  God  went  out  to 
him  also.  The  commendation  of  Jael  by  the  theophanic  angel  for  the 
treacherous  slaying  of  Sisera  could  not  be  commended  in  our  age,  and 
it  is  not  easy  to  understand  how  God  could  have  commended  it  in  any 
age.  And  yet  it  is  only  in  accord  with  the  spirit  of  revenge  which 
breathes  in  the  command  to  exterminate  the  Canaanites,  which  ani- 
mates the  imprecatory  psalms,  which  is  threaded  into  the  story  of 
Esther,  and  which  stirred  Nehemiah  in  his  arbitrary  government  of 


84      THE  HIGHER  CRITICISM  VIEW  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

Jerusalem.  The  Old  Testament  times  were  not  ripe  for  the  higher  rev- 
elation—the different  ethical  world  into  which  Christ  lifts  us,  and  G-od 
condescended  to  a  partial  revelation  of  his  will  such  as  would  guide  his 
people  hi  the  right  direction  with  as  steady  and  rapid  a  pace  as  they 
were  capable  of  making.  Through  all  the  stages  of  divine  revelation 
laws  were  given  which  were  but  the  scaffolding  of  the  temple  of  holi- 
ness." 

"  When  we  come  to  the  doctrinal  teachings  of  the  Old  Testament, 
there  are  at  times  representations  of  vindictiveness  in  God,  a  jealousy 
of  other  gods,  a  cruel  disregard  of  human  suffering  and  human  life,  an 
occasional  vacillation  and  change  of  purpose,  the  passion  of  anger  and 
arbitrary  preferences,  which  betray  the  inadequacy  of  Israel  to  under- 
stand, and  the  errancy  of  their  conceptions  and  representations  ;  and 
there  are  doubtless  dark  strands  of  national  prejudice,  of  pharisaical 
particularism,  of  faulty  psychology,  and  of  occasional  exaggeration  of 
the  more  external  forms  of  ceremonial  sin." 

Yet  for  professional  orthodox  apology  Dr.  Briggs  does  not 
hesitate  to  insist  that  "  the  Holy  Scriptures  of  the  Christian 
Church  are  faithful  guides  to  God  and  salvation,"  "  the  Old 
and  New  Testaments  true,  holy,  and  divine";  that  while 
other  sacred  books  are  but  "  as  torches  of  varying  size  and 
brilliancy  lighting  up  the  darkness  of  the  night,"  the  He- 
brew and  Christian  "  are  like  the  sun,  dawning  in  the  earliest 
writings  of  the  Old  Testament,  rising  in  prophetic  word  and 
priestly  thorah  [law],  in  lyric  psalm  and  in  sentences  of  wis- 
dom, until  the  zenith  is  reached  in  the  gospel  of  Jesus 
Christ";  that  the  authors  of  Bible  writings  "had,  when 
they  wrote  concerning  matters  of  religion,  that  insight,  that 
foresight,  that  grasp  of  conception  and  power  of  expression  " 
which  they  did  not  have  in  other  matters  ;  that  "  they  made 
no  mistakes  in  religious  instruction";  that  they  gave  "the 
history  of  G-od's  redemptive  workings  "  with  "  no  essential 
errors  in  the  redemptive  facts  and  agencies";  that  "none  of 
the  mistakes  and  errors  which  have  been  discovered  disturb 
the  Religious  lessons  of  Biblical  history";  that  the  bad 
writing  and  bad  reasoning  and  varied  erring  work  of  un- 
known authors  and  unknown  editors  still  left  "  an  inspira- 
tion which  suggests  the  religious  lessons  to  be  imparted"; 
that  "  the  divine  communication  was  given  with  such  clear- 
ness as  to  guide  men  aright  in  a  religious  life,"  to  "give 


THE  HIGHER  CRITICISM  VIEW  OF  THE  BIBLE.      35 

them  true,  faithful,  reliable  guidance  in  holy  things,"  not- 
withstanding the  "  errors  of  ignorance,  inadvertence,  partial 
and  inadequate  knowledge,  and  incapacity  to  express  the 
whole  truth  of  God,"  which  we  are  forced  to  admit ;  that 
the  worst  features  of  Hebrew  usage,  such  as  throwing 
one's  children  into  the  fire  of  sacrifice,  were  useful  and  neces- 
sary object-lessons ;  that  wrong  conceptions  of  God  in  Old 
Testament  teaching,  making  him  cruel,  jealous,  vindictive 
an  angry  and  arbitrary  deity,  "  do  not  mar  the  grandeur  of 
the  true  God  in  the  Old  Testament ";  that  "  the  dark  strands 
[in  Jew  humanity]  do  not  mar,  but  rather  serve  to  enhance 
the  golden  strands  which  constitute  the  major  part  of  the 
cord  which  binds  our  race  into  an  organism  in  the  interests 
of  a  perfect  and  glorified  humanity";  and  that  the  Jew 
"ideals  of  redemption  are  divine  ideals  which  the  human 
race  has  not  yet  attained." 

On  this  last  point  Dr.  Briggs  says : 

"The  most  characteristic  doctrines  of  the  Old  Testament  as  well  as 
the  New  Testament,  are  the  doctrines  of  redemption.  These  are  so 
striking  that  they  entitle  us  to  regard  Biblical  history  as  essentially  a 
history  of  redemption,  and  Biblical  literature  as  the  literature  of  re- 
demption. The  Biblical  scheme  of  redemption  is  so  vast,  so  compre- 
hensive, so  far-reaching,  that  the  Christian  church  has  thus  far  failed 
in  apprehending  it.  The  central  nucleus  of  this  redemption  is  the  Mes- 
sianic idea.  Man  is  to  pursue  the  course  of  divine  discipline  until  he 
attains  the  holiness  of  God.  Israel  is  to  be  a  kingdom  of  priests,  a  holy 
nation.  All  the  world  is  to  be  incorporated  as  citizens  of  Zion.  Zion 
is  the  light  and  joy  of  the  entire  earth.  A  Messianic  king  is  to  reign 
over  all  nations.  A  Messianic  prophet  is  to  be  the  redeemer  of  all.  A 
priestly  king  is  to  rule  in  peace  and  righteousness,  a  kingdom  of  priests. 
All  evil  is  to  be  banished  from  nature  and  from  man.  The  animal 
kingdom  is  to  share  in  the  universal  peace.  The  vegetable  world  is  to 
respond  in  glad  song  to  the  call  of  man.  There  are  to  be  new  heavens 
and  a  new  earth,  as  well  as  a  new  Jerusalem,  from  which  all  the 
wicked  will  be  excluded." 


IV. 


f 


HE  EXTREME  LIBEEAL  view  of  Scripture  is  of  a  compara- 
tively  recent  school  of  Christian  thought,  and  as  it  is  not 
as  yet  as  generally  understood  as  the  older  and  more  orthodox 
view,  it  requires  more  extended  treatment  in  order  to  ade- 
quately present  this  new  conception  of  inspiration.  This 
view  may  be  said  to  stand  upon  what  is  held  to  be  the 
simple  essential  Christianity  of  Christ,  as  a  Teacher  whose 
position  and  doctrine  it  is  claimed  can  be  critically  deter- 
mined from  the  existing  records,  and  whose  gospel,  very 
unlike  that  of  Paul,  or  of  any  Apostles  so-called,  was  one 
of  pure  theistic  humanism,  wholly  ethical  and  humani- 
tarian, not  standing  dogmatically  upon  theism  even,  much 
less  upon  any  doctrinal  Messianism,  but  finding  in  love  to 
man  an  adequately  acted  faith  in  God,  and  calling  all  men, 
of  all  religions,  to  the  fellowship  of  loving  one  another,  and 
the  communion  of  united  trust  in  and  dependence  on  a 
common  Heavenly  Father. 

In  this  view  of  the  Christianity  of  Christ,  a  new  Chris- 
tianity which  is  yet  the  oldest  and  the  truest  Christianity, 
the  various  religions,  Our  own  included,  are  natural  dispen- 
sations making  more  or  less  adequate  approach  to  the  high 
est  and  purest  religion,  the  coming  of  which  by  observation, 
in  a  church,  or  in  a  book,  or  in  human  society,  the  instructed 
Teacher  will  not  permit  us  to  expect,  although  it  is  in  fact 
in  the  midst  to  all  men  everywhere,  and  to  all  scriptures  or 
literatures  which  at  all  represent  the  higher  life  and  the 
purer  endeavors  of  mankind.  The  several  scriptures  and 
religions,  in  this  view,  are  chapters  of  universal  revelation, 

(36) 


EXTREME  LIBERAL  VIEW  OF  SCRIPTURE.          37 

each  perhaps  carrying  its  own  impressive  lesson,  and  all 
needing  to  be  considered  in  order  to  a  just  and  fall  concep- 
tion of  the  highest  and  purest  religion. 

The  initial  difficulty  in  this  position  is  that  of  compre- 
hending a  Christianity  of  pure  spirit  and  truth,  apart  from 
our  common  historical  Christianity,  and  a  Christianity  of 
Christ  himself,  separate  from  other  forms  of  Christianity 
represented  in  the  New  Testament.  In  order  to  this  com- 
prehension, it  is  necessary  to  see  clearly  that  the  essence, 
center,  and  substance  of  Christianity  is  ethical,  is  of  life,  of 
the  moral  attitude,  and  is  not  of  the  intellect  and  of  dogma. 
It  rises  into  knowledge  of  God,  of  Christ  as  a  person,  by  one 
path  only,  that  of  respect  for  the  character  of  love,  in  God 
and  in  Christ.  It  reads  Scripture  to  one  end,  and  in  one 
way  only,  that  of  the  spirit  of  love  for  increase  of  that  spirit, 
— never,  as  the  heathen  do,  to  make  the  writings  divine  and 
make  a  bondage  of  the  mind  to  text  and  tenet.  Not  only 
that,  it  judges  Scripture,  judges  what  has  been  thought 
sacred  history,  to  cut  away  and  cast  away  everything  which 
obstructs  the  spirit  of  love,  or  puts  any  other  ideal  in  its 
place.  It  scouts  as  the  very  antithesis  of  faith,  the  error  of 
false  belief,  the  narrow  idea  of  any  people  or  any  writings 
specially  shutting  up  in  themselves  the  revelation  of  God, 
the  mind  of  Christ,  the  power  of  true  Christianity.  .In  the 
Oxford  Bampton  lectures  of  Canon  Fremantle,  a  defence  is 
made  at  great  length  of  this  spiritual  way  of  conceiving 
Christianity.  Thus  Fremantle  says : 

"  There  is  a  proleptic,  or  anticipatory  Christianity,  of  which  we  may 
see  traces  deep  down  in  the  convictions  of  the  various  races  of  men. 
There  is  also  an  unconscious  Christianity  in  modern  times,  by  which 
men  are  being  trained.  Ideas  and  moral  influences  pass  from  man  to 
man  and  from  nation  to  nation,  through  all  the  forms  of  human  inter- 
course, without  as  well  as  within  the  pale  of  Christendom. 

"We  can  find  no  standing-ground  until  we  identify  Christianity  with 
moral  goodness,  and  the  Christian  Church  in  its  idea  and  ultimate 
development  with  the  whole  moral,  social,  and  political  system  by 
which  the  human  race  is  growing  to  its  fulness.  The  Christian  Church 
is  absolutely  universal.  Humanity  in  its  widest  sense  contains  the 
materials  of  constant  worship,  communion,  and  edification.  The  ser- 


38          EXTREME  LIBERAL  VIEW  OF  SCRIPTURE. 

vice  of  God  is  not  so  much  any  formal  function,  not  even  of  public 
prayer,  as  that  of  a  life  pervaded  by  the  Christian  spirit  of  universal, 
self -renouncing  love.  The  Christian  Church  needs  to  indicate  its  capac- 
ity to  be  the  organ  of  Christian  universality.  Certainly,  it  never  can 
be  the  organ  of  universal  love,  so  long  as  correct  definitions  of  the 
great  objects  of  faith  and  of  the  spiritual  processes  of  redemption  are 
made  the  test  of  fellowship.  Help  men  to  realize  the  divine  now  in 
their  common  life;  promote  a  love  which  expands  to  the  full  measure 
of  that  of  God.  Christianity  is  to  be  regarded  as  a  life,  not  as  the 
holding  of  a  series  of  propositions.  It  is  by  the  conscience  mainly 
that  the  principles  which  lie  at  the  roots  of  the  Christian  life  are  appre- 
hended, and  the  feeling  of  them  is  often  genuine  when  the  definition 
of  them  is  inadequate.  When  the  Church  is  seen  to  be  the  constant 
inspirer  of  human  progress,  there  will  be  no  sceptics  but  those  to  whom 
human  progress  is  indiff  erent.  The  best  thing  that  Christians  can  do 
for  the  faith  of  mankind  is  to  exhibit  the  real  power  of  Christ  and  of 
his  spirit  as  a  redeeming  influence  in  the  whole  wide  field  of  human 
life.  It  is  impossible  for  those  who  take  a  narrow  view  of  Christianity 
to  be  frankly  hopeful.  They  see  that  the  secular  fields  of  human 
activity  are  winning  upon  men  more  and  more,  while  Christianity, 
considered  merely  as  a  system  of  worship,  doctrine,  and  beneficence,  is 
barely  holding  its  ground." 

One  of  the  zealous  opponents  of  conscious  new  departure 
from  orthodox  views,  has  put  on  record  the  following  singu- 
larly clear  statement  of  the  fundamental  conception  necessi- 
tating such  departure : 

"When  you  speak  of  the  indispensableness  of  faith  in  Christ,  what 
Christ — or  rather  what  revelation  of  Christ — do  you  mean  ?  I  think 
you  must  admit  that,  owing  to  mental  idiosyncrasies,  prejudices,  edu- 
cational bias,  men  often  get  very  incorrect  and  distorted,  and  always 
get  very  partial  and  inadequate,  views  of  Christ,  even  from  the  Gospels, 
and  that  the  methods  of  presentation  of  him,  at  least  by  '  orthodox ' 
preachers  are  often  such  as  convey  very  erroneous  notions  of  him. 

"It  seems  to  me  that  Christ  is  presented  to  men  not  only  in  the  Gos- 
pels, but  also  in  humanity.  The  man  who  loves  and  serves  his  fellow- 
men  really  accepts  and  embraces  that  humanity  which  merely  finds 
its  perfection  in  Jesus  Christ,  and  so  really  accepts  Christ,  though  he 
may  never  have  heard  of  his  story  in  the  Gospels,  or  may  even  have 
rejected  some  false  conception  of  him.  Whereas,  the  man  who  has 
no  sympathy  with  or  love  for  men,  really  rejects  Christ,  though  he  may 
fairly  worship  some  imaginary  conception  of  him  which  he  has  cre- 
ated for  himself  out  of  the  materials  supplied  by  the  Gospels.  This 
view  seems  to  me  to  be  of  immense  practical  importance,  for  there  is 


EXTREME  LIBERAL  VIEW  OF  SCRIPTURE.          39 

among  evangelical  Christians  much  too  great  a  tendency  to  regard  an 
attitude  of  mind  toward  an  ideal  conception  as  saving  faith  instead  of 
a  devotion  of  the  life  to  him  as  he  stands  before  us  in  humanity." 

In  view  of  such  a  conception  of  Christianity,  there  inevi- 
tably rises  this  radically  significant  question  :  Does  not  the 
tendency  to  wrongly  make  devotion  of  life  in  imitation  of 
Christ  secondary,  and  to  rest  in  that  worship  of  Christ 
which  is  a  mere  attitude  of  mind  towards  an  ideal  concep- 
tion, go  back  to  Paul  and  the  first  discipleship  generally, 
constituting  their  departure  from  the  genuine  teaching  of 
Christ,  and  thus  making  the  Christianity  of  the  Apostles' 
Creed,  and  indeed  of  any  dogmatic  faith,  an  obstructive 
scaffolding  to  be  removed,  that  the  real  Christianity  of 
Christ,  based  in  perfectly  pure  natural  religion,  and  built  to 
the  height  of  universal  supernaturalism  of  the  spirit,  may 
be  made  manifest— a  religion  primarily  of  love  to  man  and 
completed  by  trust  in  God  ;  a  religion  of  service,  and  not  a 
religion  of  salvation. 

Mr.  Fronde,-  the  historian,  who  wrote  (1849)  his  "  The  Ne- 
mesis of  Faith,"  to  picture  the  damage  to  life  done  by  a 
creed  of  dogmatic  strictness,  put  this  expression  of  himself 
into  the  mouth  of  the  Oxford  student  of  his  story : 

"I  believe  that  we  may  find  in  the  Bible  the  highest  and  purest 
religion,  most  of  all  in  the  history  of  him  in  whose  name  we  are  all 
called.  His  religion — not  the  Christian  religion,  but  the  religion  of 
Christ — the  poor  man's  gospel;  the  message  of  forgiveness,  of  recon- 
ciliation, of  love ;  and,  oh,  how  gladly  would  I  spend  my  life,  in  sea- 
son and  out  of  season,  in  preaching  this.  But  I  must  have  no  hell 
terrors,  none  of  these  fear  doctrines ;  they  were  not  in  the  early  creeds. 
God  knows  whether  they  were  ever  in  the  early  gospels,  or  ever  passed 
his  lips." 

Mr.  Froude  set  down  his  judgment  as  a  reader  of  the 
documents  of  early  Christianity  in  these  words :  '•  The 
religion  of  Christ  ended  with  His  life,  and  left  us  instead 
but  the  Christian  religion."  What  Mr.  Froude  meant  seems 
to  have  been  that  discipleship  overlaid  the  pure  truth  of 
Christ  with  a  system  of  views  about  Christ  which  became 
the  recognized  Christian  religion,  while  the  true  religion  of 
Christ  was  lost  sight  of  in  great  part. 


40          EXTREME  LIBERAL  VIEW  OF  SCRIPTURE. 

An  eminent  English  Broad-Churchman,  Dr.  Kowland 
Williams,  left  this  record  of  his  judgment  upon  what  Mr. 
Froude  calls  "  the  Christian  religion,"  in  contrast  with  "  the 
religion  of  Christ'-: 

"Whosoever  will  know  the  truth,  before  all  things  let  him  avoid  the 
creed  called  Athanasian.  Which  creed,  if  any  one  thinks  that  Atha- 
nasius  wrote  it,  without  doubt  he  is  utterly  deceived.  A  monk  of  the 
West  wrote  it  in  Latin  a  hundred  years  after  Greek  Athanasius  died  in 
the  East.  There  was  one  faith  of  Christ,  and  another  of  the  Apostles, 
and  men  after  the  Apostles,  and  yet  another  of  the  monks  after  Atha- 
nasius. The  Godhead  of  the  Father  of  Jesus  was  all  one,  but  wisdom 
its  eternal  offspring,  and  life  its  eternal  breathing.  Whosoever  would 
know  the  truth,  before  all  things  it  is  necessary  that  he  believe  in  God 
our  Saviour.  We  know  God  by  reason,  for  he  made  us,  and  by  faith, 
for  he  teaches  us,  though  we  see  him  not  with  the  eye.  He  whose 
reason  is  strongest  will  believe  most  firmly;  and  he  whose  love  is  deep- 
est will  understand  most  truly.  The  infinite  is  not  man,  that  we  should 
measure  his  thought,  nor  the  son  of  man,  that  we  should  ascribe  to 
him  weakness.  Do  good  unto  all  men,  and  hope  well  of  them,  for 
they  are  the  children  of  one  Father.  Mankind  is  the  only-begotten  of 
God  in  the  flesh ;  and  by  breathing  the  divine  love  we  become  one  spirit 
with  the  Father.  I  believe  in  the  Eternal  Spirit,  whose  scripture  is  the 
world,  and  whose  son  is  mankind." 

Mr.  W.  R.  Greg,  one  of  the  most  acute  and  sagacious  of 
modern  essayists,  wrote : 

"I  am  disposed  to  believe,  that  when  we  have  really  penetrated  to 
the  actual  teaching  of  Christ,  and  fairly  disinterred  that  religion  of 
Jesus  which  preceded  all  creeds  and  schemes  and  formulas,  and  which 
we  trust  will  survive  them  all,  we  shall  find  that,  so  far  from  this,  the 
true  essence  of  Christianity,  being  renounced  or  outgrown  by  the  pro- 
gressive intelligence  of  the  age,  its  rescue,  re-discovery,  purification  and 
re-enthronement  as  a  guide  of  life,  a  fountain  of  truth,  an  object  of 
faith,  a  law  written  on  the  heart,  will  be  recognized  as  the  grandest  and 
most  beneficent  achievement  of  that  intelligence." 

Rev.  Dr.  James  Martineau  closes  a  long  life  of  conserva- 
tive devotion  to  advanced  study  of  Christian  faith  and 
thought,  with  this  double  judgment  upon  the  present  out- 
look: 

I.  "The  conception  of  a  canonized  literature  belongs  to  a  stage  of 
culture  that  has  passed  away ;  what  was  once  used  as  a  divine  text-book 


EXTREME  LIBERAL  VIEW  OF  SCRIPTURE.          41 

has  become  a  human  literature ;  we  have,  therefore,  no  authoritative 
text-book  of  divine  truth  and  human  duty ;  so  we  must  open  our  minds 
to  all  that  speaks  divinely  to  them,  whether  in  the  Bible  or  elsewhere; 
we  are  not  to  accept  from  the  Bible  any  doctrine  or  duty  on  the  mere 
ground  of  its  being  sanctioned  there,  but  are  to  make  our  acceptance 
of  it  conditional  on  its  standing  the  tests  of  truth  and  obligation.  I 
claim  it  as  a  noble  though  severe  advantage  that,  through  failure  of  the 
text-book  principle,  we  are  driven  from  words  to  realities,  and  must 
sink  right  home  to  the  inward  springs  of  religion  in  our  nature  and 
experience  ;  it  is  the  unwritten  oracles  of  God  that  have  most  deeply 
stirred  the  hearts  of  the  devout;  the  ever-living  God  is  the  one  reality 
that  is  ever  with  us,  from  moment  to  moment  speaking  within  us,  not 
less  present  to  us  for  knowledge  and  love  than  to  ancient  seekers  and 
servants  of  his  will." 

II.  "  From  the  person  of  Jesus  everything  official,  attached  to  him  by 
evangelists  or  divines,  has  fallen  away;  and  he  is  simply  the  divine 
flower  of  humanity,  the  realized  possibility  of  life  in  God — no  con- 
sciously exceptional  part  to  play.  It  was  inevitable  that  by  his  disciples 
Jesus  should  be  identified  with  the  ideal  messiah.  When  he  was  so, 
whether  and  how  far  with  sanction  from  himself,  are  secondary  ques- 
tions, I  will  only  say  that,  when  the  really  historical  elements  in  the 
gospels  are  cleared  from  later  additions  and  editors'  coloring,  it  appears 
to  me  very  doubtful  whether  he  personally  claimed  the  messianic  char- 
acter. Even  with  the  apostles  themselves,  the  messianic  drama  was  not 
to  be  inaugurated  till  his  return  from  heaven,  for  which  they  were  on 
the  watch  until  death.  So  long  as  the  Scriptures  were  to  us  a  divine 
text-book,  and  the  statements  of  the  authors  were  taken  on  trust,  we 
believed  in  this  drama  as  a  reality  yet  to  come.  I  have  spoken  of  it  as 
having  lost  its  credibility  and  reality,  because  the  central  condition, 
which  held  it  all  together— the  return  from  heaven — has  failed  and 
come  to  naught  eighteen  centuries  ago.  An  eschatology  thus  unful- 
filled in  its  very  nucleus  cannot  retain  our  faith  in  its  accessories.  The 
poor  device  of  slipping  the  date  and  putting  it  all  off  ad  libitum  is  an 
evasion  which  can  satisfy  no  honest  mind.  And  with  the  eschatology 
must  fall  away  from  the  person  of  Jesus  all  the  official  claims  of  which 
it  is  the  sequel.  It  belonged  to  his  age  to  see  in  him  the  messianic  king. 
It  belongs  to  every  age  to  follow  him  with  venerating  spirit  as  the 
divine-souled  Galilean  prophet,  the  supreme  representative  of  the  filial 
life  in  God  and  self-identification  with  humanity  to  which  the  pure  in 
heart  are  called." 

And  more  particularly  with  reference  to  a  true  theology 
and  a  usage  of  true  faith  in  public  worship,  Dr.  Martineau  has 
said  in  the  preface  to  his  "  Ten  Services  of  Public  Prayer  "  : 


42          EXTREME  LIBERAL  VIEW  OF  SCRIPTURE. 

"  The  uniform  theology  once  supposed  to  pervade  the  New  Testament, 
and  to  carry  the  seal  of  divine  authority,  breaks  up,  on  more  accurate 
research,  into  several  distinct  types,  belonging  to  different  stages  of  the 
early  Christianity,  and  blending  the  pure  essence  of  Christ's  personal 
religion  with  theories  about  him  often  conflicting  and  always  fallible. 
Not  only  have  the  Petrine,  the  Pauline,  and  the  Johannine  conceptions 
of  the  Gospel  their  separate  characteristic  phraseology,  to  which  no 
common  measure  can  be  applied ;  but  in  all  of  them  the  permanent 
divine  element  has  to  be  discriminated  from  the  temporary  vehicle  of 
thought  which  conveyed  it  to  the  passing  age.  No  one  who  has  once 
become  familiar  with  the  definite  images  and  ideas  of  the  Messianic 
Christianity  in  any  of  its  forms  can  ever  again  give  to  its  language  the 
loose  and  large  interpretation  which  alone  renders  it  available  for  the 
voice  of  living  piety.  He  knows  that  it  really  means  what  he  cannot 
mean." 

Dr.  Martineau  tells  fully  and  clearly  no  more  than  many 
nominally  orthodox  thinkers,  scholars,  and  earnest  Christian 
people  are  thinking,  even  if  not  openly  confessing.  The 
Congregationalism  of  England  has  no  worthier  pulpit  repre- 
sentative than  the  great  preacher  at  Birmingham,  Rev.  R 
W.  Dale,  who  succeeded  John  Angell  James,  a  noted  evan- 
gelical of  the  last  generation.  Mr.  Dale  published,  January, 
1877,  a  paper  in  which  he  said : 

"There  is  a  sense  in  which  it  may  be  said  that  large  numbers  of 
Congregationalists  are  without  a  theology."  "We  have  no  theological 
system.  The  Congregational  tradition  has  been  broken.  We  have  lost 
our  old  traditions,  and  they  are  now  irrecoverable.  Among  the  present 
aspects  of  our  theological  thought,  perhaps  none  is  more  obvious  than 
the  general  disappearance  of  Calvinism.  I  have  no  doubt  that  there 
are  many  Congregationalists  who  think  that  they  are  Calvinists.  This 
was  the  impression  of  Mr.  Angell  James.  He  said  to  me  once  with 
great  energy— raising  his  arm  and  clenching  his  hand  as  he  said  it— 
'I  hold  the  doctrines  of  Calvinism  with  a  firm  grasp.'  '  But,'  said  I, 
'you  never  preach  about  them.'  'Well,'  he  replied,  'you  know  that 
there  is  not  much  about  them  in  the  Bible.'  Bees,  when  one  happens 
to  die  in  the  hive,  leave  the  dead  body  where  it  lies,  but  seal  up  the  cell 
with  wax.  Our  modern  Calvinists  treat  doctrine  very  much  in  the 
same  way.  But  something  more  than  Calvinistic  teaching  is  gone. 
The  spirit  which  belonged  to  the  Augustinian  and  Calvinistic  theology 
is  gone  (that  spiritual  root  which  made  God  everything,  man  nothing). 
The  creed  has  gone.  Christ  is  our  brother  only ;  he  is  hardly  our  Lord." 

The  liberal  view  holds  that  this  is  a  return  to  Christ,  and 


EXTREME  LIBERAL  VIEW  OF  SCRIPTURE.  43 

to  the  highest  and  purest  religion  found  by  searching  and 
sifting  Christian  Scripture,  when  we  examine  with  due  care 
the  vast  field  within  which  Christ  and  the  Bible  come  before 
us.  Christ  was  our  brother  only,  a  human  Teacher  and  a 
Master  of  discipleship  only,  in  the  fragments  of  the  record 
which  reflect  the  original  facts.  The  record  as  a  whole  does 
not  reflect  either  him  as  he  was  or  his  teaching  as  he  left  it. 
It  did  not  come  into  existence  until  after  Paul  and  others  had 
made  over  the  idea  of  him  which  true  report  at  the  time 
would  have  given.  It  gives  very  little  of  the  teaching  which 
it  mentions  as  having  come  from  Christ,  and  it  almost  sup- 
presses the  fact  that  "  Teacher "  was  the  title  under  which 
Christ  appeared  among  his  fellow-men. 

It  is,  however,  related  of  Christ  that  "  he  opened  his  mouth 
and  taught  them  ";  and  that  "  the  multitude  were  astonished 
at  his  teaching:  for  he  taught  them  as  having  authority 
and  not  as  the  Scribes."  The  Scribes  were  the  Scripturalists 
or  Biblical  men,  and  the  new  departure  made  by  Christ 
turned  upon  his  not  using  Hebrew  Scripture  as  of  authority. 
He  did  not  open  the  Bible  to  teach,  but  he  opened  his  mouth 
and  taught,  not  only  without  regard  to  Scripture,  but 
contrary  to  it.  The  sermon  on  the  mount  preserves  half  a 
dozen  instances  of  his  citation  of  Scripture  for  contradiction 
and  correction,  and  we  may  reasonably  surmise  that  a  full 
and  faithful  report  of  his  teaching  would  give  us  a  hundred 
times  as  much.  "  Ye  have  heard  that  it  was  said  to  them  of 
old  time  "  was  his  formula  in  citing  scripture  for  contradic- 
tion and  correction:  plainly  showing  that  the  belief  of 
Scribes  and  Pharisees — the  Biblical  men  and  the  strict  Or- 
thodox— was  not  of  any  weight  to  him.  "We  know  that" 
God  spake  unto  Moses,  but  as  for  this  man  we  know  not 
whence  he  is,"  is  the  keynote  of  the  true  history ;  though 
with  it  comes,  what  "  some  of  the  Pharisees  said":  "This 
man  is  not  from  God,  because  he  keepeth  not  the  Sabbath." 

In  the  apocryphal  gospel  of  Nicodemus  Pilate  is  made  to 
say  :  "They  accuse  him  of  one  thing,  that  he  breaketh  the 
sabbath,"  and  more  fully  his  accusers  say :  "  He  overthrow- 
eth  the  scriptures  and  breaketh  the  sabbath."  The  Jew 


44          EXTREME  LIBERAL  VIEW  OF  SCRIPTURE. 

faith  in  sacrifice  and  sabbath,  scripture  and  synagogue, 
found  offence  worthy  of  death  in  Christ's  free  and  pure 
views  of  religion  in  the  heart  and  life.  In  the  Clementine 
Homilies,  a  writing  of  the  early  church  of  a  type  quite  un- 
like the  Pauline,  we  find  a  good  deal  of  reference  to  the  fact 
that  Christ  in  his  teaching  openly  separated  between  true 
and  false  parts  of  scripture.  Thus  Peter  is  represented  as 
saying  (Horn.  ii.  50) : 

•'  As  to  the  mixture  of  truth  with  falsehood,  I  remember  that  on  one 
occasion  he,  finding  fault  with  the  Sadducees,  said,  '  Wherefore  ye  do 
err,  not  knowing  the  true  things  of  the  scriptures:  and  on  this  account 
ye  are  ignorant  of  the  power  of  God. '  But  if  he  cast  up  to  them  that 
they  knew  not  the  true  things  of  the  scriptures,  it  is  manifest  that  there 
are  false  things  in  them.  And  also,  inasmuch  as  he  said,  '  Be  ye  pru- 
dent money-changers,'  it  is  because  there  are  genuine  and  spurious 
words.  And  whereas  he  said  '  Wherefore  do  ye  not  perceive  that 
which  is  reasonable  in  the  scriptures  ? '  he  makes  the  understanding 
of  him  stronger  who  voluntarily  judges  soundly." 

Another  passage  (Horn.  ii.  52)  implies  that  Christ  was  un- 
derstood to  have  anticipated  the  rooting  up  of  much  that 
Hebrew  scripture  had  taught  and  that  he  proffered  lessons 
of  truth  to  be  reached  by  searching  and  sifting  scripture. 
The  passage  begins  by  remarking  how  sacrifices,  etc.,  have 
passed  away,  and  then  adds : 

"Hence,  therefore,  he  said,  '  Every  plant  which  the  Heavenly  Father 
has  not  planted  shall  be  rooted  up.'  ....  Also  he  cried  and  said, 
'  Come  unto  me  all  who  labor, '  that  is,  who  are  seeking  the  truth  and 
not  finding  it;  and  elsewhere,  '  Seek  and  find,'  since  the  truth  does  not 
lie  on  the  surface." 

The  next  passage  (Horn.  ii.  53)  reflects  still  further  the 
.undoubted  tendency  of  the  teaching  of  Christ  to  "overthrow 
the  scriptures  "  of  Judaism.  It  reads  : 

"  In  addition  to  this,  willing  to  convict  more  fully  of  error  the 
prophets  from  whom  they  asserted  that  they  had  learned,  he  proclaimed 
that  they  died  desiring  the  truth,  but  not  having  learned  it,  saying, 
'  Many  prophets  and  kings  desired  to  see  what  ye  see,  and  to  hear  what 
ye  hear,  and  verily  I  say  to  you  that  they  neither  saw  nor  heard.' " 

In  near  connection  with  this  (Horn.  ii.  56),  a  most  import- 
ant word  of  Christ  is  quoted.  The  words  in  italics  are  not 
in  our  gospel : 


EXTREME  LIBERAL  VIEW  OF  SCRIPTURE.          45 

"  If  ye  then,  being  evil,  know  to  give  good  gifts  unto  your  children, 
how  much  more  shall  your  Heavenly  Father  give  good  things  to  those 
who  ask  him  and  to  those  who  do  his  will." 

This  makes  the  words  much  more  natural  as  the  preamble 
to  Christ's  greatest  word :  "  All  things,  therefore,  whatso- 
ever ye  would  that  men  should  do  unto  you,  even  so  do  ye 
also  unto  them :  for  this  is  the  Law  and  the  Prophets." 
The  whole  of  the  Prophets  as  well  as  the  whole  of  the  Law, 
in  a  simple  commandment  of  conduct,  service  of  man  as  suf- 
ficient service  of  God;  sacrifice,  sabbath,  synagogue,  and 
scripture  left  out  of  view. 

A  later  passage  of  the  Homilies  (Horn,  xviii.  20)  recurs  to 
the  thought  about  the  truths  of  scripture  compared  with 
the  errors  of  scripture.  Peter  is  represented  as  saying : 

"Somewhere  also  he  says,  wishing  to  exhibit  the  cause  of  their  error 
more  distinctly  to  them,  '  On  this  account  ye  do  err,  not  knowing  the 
true  things  of  the  scriptures  ;  on  which  account  ye  are  ignorant  also 
of  the  power  of  God.'  Wherefore  every  man  must  become,  as  the 
Teacher  said,  a  judge  of  the  books  written  to  try  us.  For  thus  he  spake, 
'  Become  experienced  bankers.'  Now  the  need  of  bankers  arises  from 
the  circumstance  that  the  spurious  is  mixed  with  the  genuine." 

The  use  of  the  phrase  "  the  Teacher,"  to  designate  Christ, 
reflects  one  of  the  surest  facts  of  his  true  life,  that  he  was 
f amiliaTly  known  as  "  the  Teacher  "  and  passed  under  this, 
and  no  other,  title,  not  even  Kabbi,  much  less  Messiah,  or 
Son  of  Man,  until  theories  about  him  after  his  death  had 
applied  pious  imagination,  pious  exegesis,  and  pious  specu- 
lation and  prophecy,  to  doing  over  parts  of  the  record,  while 
about  all  that  was  best  was  left  to  perish,  or  had  perished 
from  the  first  for  want  of  interest  in  doubting  disciples  to 
preserve  it.  Yet  we  have,  in  the  altered  record  even,  inef- 
faceable evidence  of  the  true  case  of  Christ  with  his  disci- 
ples. The  following  are  notes  of  words  in  the  first  gospel 
which  show  that  Christ  appeared  as  a  simple  teacher,  not 
using  the  name  of  Rabbi,  not  basing  instruction  on  Hebrew 
scripture,  but  going  strongly  contrary  to  it,  and  not  author- 
izing any  new  scripture  or  new  authority  apart  from  evident 
simple  truth : 


46          EXTREME  LIBERAL  VIEW  OF  SCRIPTURE. 

"And  he  opened  his  mouth  and  taught  them  saying  :  Blessed  are 
the  poor  in  spirit;  Blessed  are  they  that  mourn ;  Blessed  are  the  meek; 
Blessed  are  they  that  hunger  and  thirst  after  righteousness;  Blessed 
are  the  merciful ;  Blessed  are  the  pure  in  heart ;  Blessed  are  the  peace- 

"  Ye  have  heard  that  it  was  said,  Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor  and 
hate  thine  enemy  ;  but  I  say  unto  you,  Love  your  enemies,  that  ye 
may  be  sons  of  your  Father  which  is  in  heaven  :  for  he  maketh  his 
sun  to  rise  on  the  evil  and  the  good,  and  sendeth  rain  on  the  just  and 
the  unjust.  Ye  therefore  shall  be  perfect  as  your  Heavenly  Father  is 
perfect. 

"If  ye,  being  evil,  know  how  to  give  good  gifts  unto  your  chil- 
dren, how  much  more  shall  your  Father  which  is  in  Heaven  give  good 
things  to  them  that  ask  him  ?  All  things  therefore  whatsoever  ye 
would  that  men  should  do  unto  you,  even  so  do  ye  also  unto  them:  for 
this  is  the  law  and  the  prophets. 

"Every  one  therefore  which  heareth  these  words  "of  mine  and  doeth 
them,  shall  be  likened  unto  a  wise  man,  which  built  his  house  upon  a 
rock. 

"And  the  multitudes  were  astonished  at  his  teaching;  for  he  taught 
them  as  having  authority  and  not  as  their  scribes.  And  great  multi- 
tudes followed  him." 

[The  Pharisees  said  (John  vii.  49)  of  the  mass  of  the  peo- 
ple, "This  multitude  which  knoweth  not  the  law  are  ac- 
cursed." Christ  gave  them  the  whole,  both  law  and  proph- 
ets, in  a  simple  commandment  of  brotherly  love,  with  no 
dependence  on  any  words  of  scripture,  with  strong  contra- 
diction of  those  words  which  had  been  used  for  Jewish 
separatism  and  not  for  humanity,  and  with  theology  reduced 
to  the  simplest  naturally  reasoned  preamble  to  a  religion  of 
conduct,  a  preamble  of  natural  confidence  in  the  absolute 
goodness  of  God ;  and  the  wise  man  he  found  in  the  doer  of 
his  simple  words ;  not  in  any  believer,  save  as  conduct  is 
belief ;  and  not  in  any  building  on  Mosaic  or  other  Bible 
words,  except  as  conduct  framed  upon  the  golden  rule  took 
all  that  was  essential  of  those  words.  Hence  the  natural- 
ness of  such  words  as  the  following.] 

"  There  came  unto  him  one  scribe  and  said,  Teacher,  I  will  follow 
thee  whithersoever  thou  goest. 

"The  Pharisees  said  unto  his  disciples,  Why  eateth  your  Teacher 
with  the  publicans  and  sinners  ? 


EXTREME  LIBERAL  VIEW  OF  SCRIPTURE.          47 

"  Certain  of  the  scribes  and  Pharisees  answered  him,  saying,  Teacher, 
we  would  see  a  sign  from  thee. 

"They  that  received  the  half -shekel  came  to  Peter  and  said,  Doth 
not  your  Teacher  pay  the  half -shekel  ? 

"And  behold,  one  came  to  him  and  said,  Teacher,  what  good  thing 
shall  I  do  that  I  may  have  eternal  life  ? 

''  Then  went  the  Pharisees  and  took  counsel  how  they  might  ensnare 
him  in  talk.  And  they  send  to  him  their  disciples,  saying,  Teacher, 
we  know  that  thou  art  true  and  teachest  the  way  of  God  in  truth,  and 
carest  not  for  any  one ;  for  thou  regardest  not  the  person  of  men. 

"On  that  day  there  came  to  him  the  Sadducees,  and  asked  him,  say- 
ing, Teacher,  Moses  said,  If  a  man  die,  etc. 

"And  a  lawyer  asked  him,  Teacher,  which  is  the  great  commandment 
in  the  law  ? 

"Be  not  ye  called  Rabbi;  for  one  is  your  Teacher  and  all  ye  are 
brethren. 

"  The  disciples  came  to  Jesus,  saying,  Where  wilt  thou  that  we  make 
ready  to  eat  the  passover.  And  he  said,  Go  into  the  city  to  such  a  man, 
and  say  unto  him,  the  Teacher  saith,  My  time  is  at  hand ;  I  keep  the 
passover  at  thy  house  with  my  disciples. 

"And  Judas,  which  betrayed  him,  answered  and  said,  Is  it  I,  Rabbi  ? " 

Judas  showed  his  specially  Jewish  feeling  by  saying  Rabbi 
instead  of  Teacher.  Christ  showed  Ms  simply  human  con- 
sciousness by  the  designation,  appearing  in  all  the  gospels, 
of  himself  as  "the  Teacher,"  in  a  moment  of  his  life,  that  of 
this  last  passover,  when,  if  he  was  to  figure  as  the  Messiah, 
or  as  God's  Only  Son,  made  an  atoning  sacrifice,  he  must 
have  been  supremely  conscious  of  it.  The  absence  of  that 
consciousness  in  every  one  of  the  four  gospels,  coupled  with 
the  absence  of  all  reference  in  the  fourth  gospel  to  any  insti- 
tution of  a  supper  ordinance,  or  of  anything  of  moment  at 
this  "  last  supper,"  except  a  lesson  of  serving  one  another  in 
love,  gives  us  one  page,  authentic  beyond  all  question,  on 
which  truth  has  engraved  forever  the  aspect  of  simple  hu- 
manity and  of  natural  instruction  which  Christ  stood  in 
when  the  Jews,  alleging  Mosaic  authority,  fell  on  him  and 
secured  his  death.  There  mu?t  have  been  for  some  time  on 
his  part  a  very  pronounced  demonstration  of  simple,  thor- 
ough, revolutionary  teaching,  not  as  a  Rabbi  looking  only 
to  the  Law,  written  or  oral,  but  as  a  radical  reformer,  ap- 
pealing to  reason  and  conscience,  in  order  to  so  common  a 
recognition  of  him  as  an  independent  Teacher. 


48          EXTREME  LIBERAL  VIEW  OF  SCRIPTURE. 

And  in  this  connection  may  be  mentioned  the  form  in 
which  the  Clementine  Homilies  report  the  answer  of  Christ 
to  one  who  called  him  "  Good  Teacher,"  and  asked  the  way 
of  life.  In  Horn,  xviii.  1,  it  is  given  as,  "  Do  not  call  me 
good ;  for  One  is  good,  the  Father  who  is  in  the  heavens." 
And  in  the  same  Homily  (xviii.  3)  Peter  is  represented  as 
saying : 

"Our  Teacher  himself  first  said  to  the  Pharisee  who  asked  him, 
'What  shall  I  do  to  inherit  eternal  life?'  ' Do  not  call  me  good ;  for 
one  is  good,  even  the  Father  who  is  in  the  heavens.'  " 

The  terms  used  here  suggest  what  the^e  can  be  little  doubt 
of,  that  if  we  had  a  better  history  of  Christ,  we  should  hear 
much  more  than  we  do  of  the  Heavenly  Father  of  all  men, 
and  of  the  Teacher  whose  lessons  of  love  and  trust  rested, 
not  on  Hebrew  scripture,  but  on  simple  grounds  of  reason 
and  conscience,  of  spirit  and  truth,  such  as  all  men  can  ap- 
prehend. The  paper  of  Rev.  Theodore  T.  Munger,  D.D.,  in 
the  Parliament  of  Religions,  had  this  statement,  showing 
the  leaning  of  orthodox  exposition  to  the  liberal  view  of  the 
relation  of  Christ  to  Hebrew  scripture : 

"  Christ  is  to  be  put  among  the  poets,  those  who  see  into  the  heart  of 
things  and  feel  the  breath  of  the  Spirit,  the  inner  meaning  of  life,  eter- 
nity and  its  eternal  hymn  of  truth  and  love.  Christ  stood  upon  the 
Hebrew  scriptures  not  as  an  authoritative  guide  in  religion  but  as  illus- 
trative of  truth.  His  relation  to  them  was  literary  and  critical ;  he 
emphasized,  he  selected  and  passed  over,  taking  what  he  liked  and 
leaving  what  did  not  suit  his  purpose. 

"  The  thoughtful  reader  resents  putting  the  inspiration  of  the  Hebrew 
scriptures  into  a  rule  or  form,  and  he  refuses  to  read  them  under  a  no- 
tion of  authority  that  bars  up  the  avenues  of  the  mind,  and  turns  every 
mental  faculty  into  a  nullity.  Christianity  is  a  wide  thing  and  nothing 
that  is  human  is  alien  to  it.  Christ  is  humanity  as  it  is  evolving  under 
the  power  and  grace  of  God,  and  any  book  touched  by  the  inspiration 
of  this  fact  belongs  to  Christian  literature.  All  inspired  literature 
stands  squarely  upon  humanity,  and  insists  upon  it  on  ethical  grounds 
and  for  ethical  ends— and  this  is  essential  Christianity." 

In  a  view  so  broad  and  so  profound  as  this,  all  religions 
and  all  scriptures  may  be  found  approaches  to  pure  and  true 
Christianity,  schoolmasters  to  lead  men  of  every  race  and 
every  land  to  one  supreme  ideal  of  grace  and  truth. 


THE    LAND 

OF 

SACRED    BOOKS. 


TO  "Ur  of  the  Chaldees,"  which  appears  in  Hebrew 
scripture  as  the  fatherland  of  Abram,  from  which 
he  departed  for  "  the  West,"  as  Palestine  was  called,  we  may 
perhaps  look  for  the  oldest  sacred  writings  of  mankind.  By 
name  it  was  Ur,  "  the  city,"  a  city  of  commerce  and  civiliza- 
tion, relatively  as  notable  as  New  York  or  Liverpool, — ' — 
of  a  group  of  cities  in  the  lower  Euphrates-Tigris  region, 
representing  a  grand  period  of  human  culture  during  many 
centuries  before  the  supposed  time  of  Abram. 

But  it  is  to  Ur,  not  alone,  but  as  in  the  foreground  of  a 
group  of  cities,  of  which  it  was  the  least  ancient.  Eridu,  or 
Eri-duga,  "  the  Holy  City,"  called  also  "  the  lordly  city,"  and 
"  the  land  of  the  sovereign,"  was  the  great  centre  of  culture, 
civilization,  and  commerce  we  know  not  how  long  before 
4000  B.C.  It  stood  on  the  east  side  of  the  Euphrates,  at  the 
head  of  the  Persian  gulf,  which  was  then  very  much  farther 
inland  than  now.  As  generations  passed,  the  head  of  the 
gulf  was  filled  up  with  alluvium  from  the  great  stream,  and 
from  this  it  lost  its  rank  as  a  port,  while  the  trend  of  devel- 
opment up  the  river  left  it  behind  as  a  capital.  The  newer 
city  of  Erech,  some  distance  higher  up,  and  also  on  the  east 
side  of  the  Euphrates,  became  the  chief  capital  for  both 
power  and  culture.  Later  still  Ur  became  "  the  city,"  stand- 
ing on  the  west  side  of  the  Euphrates  some  distance  below 
Erech  and  not  far  above  Eridu.  It  ranked  in  that  far  land 

(49) 


50  BABYLONIA  AND  ASSYRIA. 

and  remote  age  as  Chicago  does  in  America  to-day.  Baby- 
lon, though  founded  very  early,  did  not  take  the  lead  until 
a  much  later  period,  about  2300  B.C.  Assyria,  with  Nineveh 
for  its  greatest  city,  came  to  the  front  very  much  later,  about 
1400  to  1300  B.C.  The  Genesis  designation  of  Ur  as  "  Ur  of 
the  Chaldees,"  in  the  supposed  time  of  Abram,  shows  a 
writer  not  accurately  informed,  as  the  Caldai  or  Chaldees  are 
first  known  in  the  history  not  earlier  than  900  B.C.,— or  per- 
haps,  as  the  most  recent  knowledge  shows,  1200  B.C.,— and 
Chaldrca  is  inaccurately  used  for  Babylonia. 

Mr.  Sayce,  speaking  of  Shalmaneser's  reign,  B.C.  858-824, 
says  that  the  Caldai  or  Chaldeans  are  heard  of  first  at  this 
time,  that  they  formed  a  small  but  independent  principality 
on  the  seacoast,  and  that  they  are  to  be  distinguished  care- 
fully from  the  Casdim  or  Semitic  "  conquerors "  of  Scrip- 
ture. The  Hebrew  writers  at  a  much  later  date,  looking  back 
to  early  Semitic  conquering  power  in  Babylonia,  made  the 
"-torical  mistake  of  calling  it  Chaldean.  The  true  Chaldean 
was  akin  to  the  Akkadian.  The  original  small  tribe  on  the 
Persian  gulf,  when  Chaldea  only  covered  the  marshes  of  the 
coast,  worked  their  way  north  until,  under  Merodach-Bala- 
dan,  they  became  masters  of  Babylon,  and  prepared  the  way 
for  Babylonia  to  be  called  Chaldea.  This  was,  however,  as 
late  as  722  to  700  B.C.,  and  even  then  without  any  real  ground 
for  the  change  of  name, — unless  we,  upon  the  latest  knowl- 
edge, find  this  in  the  fact  that  the  great  Nebuchadrezzar 
(whose  name  is  misspelled  in  our  Bible)  was  of  the  Caldai 
tribe. 

The  Hebrew  Bible  knows  next  to  nothing  of  the  great 
ages  of  culture  and  empire  before  Abram.  In  the  Genesis 
story  of  man  after  the  Hood  we  read  that  Nimrod  "  began  to 
be  a  mighty  one  in  the  earth,"  and  that  "the  beginning  of 
his  kingdom  was  Babel,  and  Erech,  and  Accad,  and  Calneh 
in  the  land  of  Shinar "  ;  and  that  "  out  of  that  land  went 
Asshur  and  builded  Nineveh."  It  is  a  little  later  said  that 
when  mankind  were  all  one  "  they  found  a  plain  in  the  land 
of  Shinar  and  dwelt  there,"  and  there  built  Babel,  using 
brick  laid  with  bitumen  for  mortar.  Farther  on  in  the  his- 


BABYLONIA  AND  ASSYRIA.  51 

tory  we  are  told  how  Abram  and  his  father  migrated  from 
"  Ur  of  the  Chaldees,"  to  go  into  the  land  of  Canaan  ;  how 
they  stopped  at  Harran,  "  the  Boad,"  in  the  extreme  north- 
west of  the  Euphrates  valley,  where  the  great  highway  of 
travel  turned  west  towards  the  upper  corner  of  the  Mediter- 
ranean and  the  extreme  north  of  Syria  ;  and  how,  after  the 
father  had  died  in  Harran,  205  years  old,  leaving  considera- 
ble wealth,  Abram,  at  the  age  of  75,  got  together  all  the  sub- 
stance and  all  the  souls  that  had  become  his  in  Harran,  and 
went  west,  into  Canaan,  and  south  through  Palestine,  and 
still  on  thence  down  into  Egypt,  whence  he  came  back 
into  Palestine, "  very  rich  in  cattle,  and  in  silver,  and  in  gold." 
This  is  the  first  thing  told  us  about  Abram,  who  figures  as 
a  nomad  and  a  trader  to  begin  with,  in  the  Bedouin  fashion 
of  the  Semitic  desert.  And  this  story  of  Abram  preserves 
the  true,  though  faint  outline  of  history,  in  sweeping  from 
"  Ur  of  the  Chaldees  "  in  the  lower  Euphrates  valley,  up  by 
Babylon  to  Nineveh,  and  to  Harran,  high  up  the  river,  on 
the  road  to  Canaan,  and  through  Palestine  into  Egypt  in 
the  valley  of  the  Nile.  Ur,  Erech,  Accad,  and  Babel,  in  the 
land  of  Shinar,  refer  to  cities  of  Babylonia.  And  Assyria 
lying  north  of  Babylonia  was  a  daughter  land  to  the  older. 
The  whole  region  of  the  Euphrates  and  Tigris  was  early 
called  (by  the  Greeks)  Mesopotamia,  but  natural  features 
make  a  marked  distinction  between  the  great  alluvial  plain 
of  Babylonia,  and  the  great  table-land  of  Assyria  north, 
from  about  the  point  where  the  two  rivers  come  nearest  to 
each  other.  Harran  was  in  the  northwest  on  the  great  high- 
way from  Ur  and  Babylon  and  Nineveh  to  "  the  west,"  where 
Canaan  lay,  and  thence  through  Palestine  to  Egypt.  The 
great  highway  of  travel,  and  trade,  and  war,  for  near  forty 
centuries  before  Christ,  was  that  over  which  Abram  is  said 
to  have  taken  his  way, — not  as  a  journey  but  as  a  course  of 
migration.  And  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  "  Abram " 
means  tribes  rather  than  an  individual,  and  many  genera- 
tions of  their  journeying  by  the  great  road  from  Ur,  or  the 
desert  land  near  Ur,  round  by  Harran  and  Canaan  to  the 
vicinity  of  the  Nile. 


52  BABYLONIA  AND  ASSYRIA. 

The  earliest  map  in  Labberton's  Historical  Atlas  is  "  Bab- 
ylonia before  the  Semitic  Conquest,  about  4000  B.C."  It 
shows  the  lower  Tigris-Euphrates  region,  beginning  at  the 
point  where  the  two  rivers,  having  come  within  twenty  miles 
of  each  other,  spread  apart  again,  enclosing  a  vast  alluvial 
plain,  lying  between  the  highlands  east  of  the  Tigris  and  the 
desert  west  of  the  Euphrates  ;  an  agricultural  region  of  ex- 
treme fertility.  At  the  date  named  two  kindred  tribes  had 
gone  west  from  the  coast  and  the.  highlands  on  the  east,— 
the  Sumer  into  the  lower,  lesser,  southeast  part  of  the  plain, 
next  the  head  of  the  Persian  gulf,  and  the  Akkad  into  the 
upper,  larger,  northwest  part.  The  Sumer  migration  may 
have  been  the  earlier,  but  the  Akkad  filled  the  larger  place, 
and  to  no  small  extent  "  Akkadian  "  may  be  used  to  cover 
both  in  their  relations  to  later  history.  These  Akkadians 
and  Sumerians  were  not  Aryan,  nor  were  they  Semitic. 
They  were  of  the  third  great  race  of  mankind— the  Tura- 
nian—but to  a  remarkable  degree  originators  of  civilization, 
culture  of  every  kind,  knowledge  and  worship,  which  passed 
from  them  to  the  inferior  Semitic  peoples,  and  thence  to 
some  of  the  chief  Aryan  nations.  They  brought  from  their 
earlier  home  in  the  eastward  highlands  the  picture  writing 
from  which  the  cuneiform  was  developed,  and  the  astrono- 
my, astrology,  temple-observatory  worship,  remarkable  burial 
customs,  belief  in  spirits,  faith  in  beneficent  deities,  and  the 
sacred  writings  or  Bible,  of  perhaps  the  earliest  known  chap- 
ter in  the  history  of  human  culture. 

The  older  legends  of  the  origin  of  culture  and  civilization 
in  Babylonia  describe  it  as  beginning  on  the  shores  of  the 
Persian  gulf  and  thence  working  its  way  to  the  northeast. 
Eridu,  of  Sumer,  figures  as  the  primitive  capital  of  the  south- 
land, the  first  home  of  the  god  of  healing  and  culture  ;  and 
with  Eridu  the  earliest  religious  texts  are  intimately  associ- 
ated. The  Snmerian  texts  seem  to  show  the  older  and  stand- 
ard proto  Babylonian  dialect,  and  those  of  Akkad  to  the 
north  a  later  phase  more  modified  by  Semitic  influence. 
Erech,  further  up  the  Euphrates  and  on  its  east  side,  was 
next  to  Eridu  a  great  seat  of  culture  in  the  southland  of 


BABYLONIA  AND  ASSYRIA.  53 

Sumer,  but  the  later  and  grander  city  of  Sumer  was  Ur,  built 
on  the  southwest  border,  west  of  the  Euphrates,  and  looking 
directly  into  the  Semitic  region,  where  the  nomad  hordes 
were  whose  invasion  so  early  altered  everything  in  Sumer 
and  Akkad.  Ur  was  by  the  meaning  of  its  name  "  the  city." 
It  seems  to  have  become  great  as  the  capital  of  a  monarch 
who  brought  all  the  southern  principalities  under  one  rule, 
making  a  single  sovereignty,  and  who  first  of  rulers  of  the 
region  became  a  great  builder  of  temples,  vast  structures  of 
brick  laid  in  bitumen,  rising  in  terraces  to  a  summit  story 
which  was  both  observatory  and  temple. 

Both  Erech,  the  older,  and  Ur,  the  younger  and  more 
splendid,  were  sacred  burial  cities,  where  for  ages,  outside 
the  walls,  were  gathered  a  countless  host,  laid  away  with 
utmost  believing  care  and  devotion.  In  Ur  rose  the  great 
temple  of  the  Moon-god,  Sin,  one  of  whose  chief  seats  was 
Sinai ;  a  deity  conceived  as  masculine  and  worshipped  as 
first  in  glory,  by  the  side  of  Samas,  the  Sun-god,  and  Istar, 
the  evening  star  (and  morning  star). 

The  northland  of  Akkad  had  a  city  of  Akkad,  to  which 
Sippara  was  a  twin  city,  with  a  special  devotion  to  worship 
of  the  Sun-god.  It  had  also  Babylon,  where  the  course  of 
development,  begun  at  Eridu,  reached  its  greatest  height, 
and  the  nearer  fame  of  which  caused  Ur,  and  Erech,  and 
Eridu  to  be  forgotten.  North  of  Akkad  began  the  great 
table-land  of  the  upper  Tigris-Euphrates  region,  where  As- 
syria was  to  rise,  and  Nineveh  was  to  rival  Babylon,  but 
almost  wholly  through  Semitic  development,  without  much 
admixture  of  Akkadian-Sumerian  elements.  The  contrast 
of  the  irrigated  plain  of  Babylonia,  the  earliest  and  richest 
garden  of  the  world,  and  the  arid  table-land  of  Assyria,  was 
profoundly  fruitful  of  results  of  every  kind.  To  the  arid 
land  the  Semitic  folk  fitted  well,  and  from  it  they  looked 
through  nature  (the  Sun-god)  to  divine  power  quite  other 
than  that  which  shone  with  unvarying  beneficence  on  the 
unvexed  garden  lands  of  Babylonia. 

Directly  east  from  Ur  begins  the  great  desert  plateau  of 
the  Semitic  nomads,  reaching  across  to  the  mountains  of 


54  BABYLONIA  AND  ASSYRIA. 

Sinai,  a  seat  of  Sin,  the  Moon -god,  where  the  highest  points 
are  8,000  feet  above  the  sea,  and  farther  north  to  the  high- 
lands bordering  the  Jordan  valley.  To  the  nomads  of  this 
region  the  civilization  and  wealth  of  Babylonia  were  an 
object-lesson  and  an  opportunity  from  a  very  early  date. 
The  first  Semitic  invasion  of  Akkad  and  Sumer,  which  made 
Babylonia  a  land  of  double  type, — its  culture  of  the  older 
type  and  its  power  for  the  most  part  that  of  the  Semitic 
intruder  from  the  desert,  came  at  a  date  not  much  later  than 
4,000  B.C.,  but  it  meant  a  conquering  class  accepting  in 
great  part  the  superior  culture  of  the  conquered.  The  Ak- 
kadian-Sumerian  people  had  studied  the  stars,  had  formed 
the  calendar,  had  arranged  the  week  of  seven  days,  with  the 
seventh  a  day  of  doing  no  work,  had  used  paper  and  made 
books,  and  had  fixed  a  usage  and  tradition  of  sacred  writ- 
ings, the  influence  of  which,  coming  through  Hebrew,  has 
lasted  to  the  present  time.  Their  later  method  of  writing 
was  by  cuneiform  letters  on  tablets  of  clay,  the  baking  of 
which  left  them  well-nigh  imperishable,  so  that  whole  libra- 
ries may  be  dug  out  of  the  mounds  which  alone  mark  to-day 
the  sites  of  cities  whose  prime  fell  twenty-five  or  thirty  cen- 
turies before  Christ.  The  land  now  desolate,  whether  the 
great  alluvial  plain  of  Babylonia  or  the  more  elevated  pla- 
teau of  Assyria  to  the  north,  was,  probably  before  Egypt,  a 
scene  of  human  development  the  full  record  of  which  would 
tell  the  story  of  the  youth  of  the  world.  The  southland 
especially,  to  which  belonged  the  names  Babylonia  and 
Chaldsea,  after  the  earlier  Akkadian  ages  were  past,  has 
been  described  as  the  centre  of  the  world's  interests  and 
rivalries ;  the  hive  out  of  which  swarmed  Assyria  and  the 
Canaanites,  and  perhaps  the  first  origins  of  Egypt ;  and  the 
world's  original  source  and  centre  of  literature  and  science. 
In  architecture,  in  arms,  in  books  and  libraries,  in  fine  art 
shown  in  beautiful  seal  cylinders  and  engraved  gems,  the 
Babylonian  Ur  was  truly  "  the  city  ";  haven  of  a  great  com- 
merce, walled  fortress  of  a  military  system,  sanctuary  of  a 
splendid  religion,  and  the  western  outpost  of  civilization, 
beyond  which  were  the  desert  haunts  of  the  Bedouins  of 


BABYLONIA  AND  ASSYRIA.  55 

Arabia.  A  great  canal  marked  the  western  limit  of  the 
alluvial  plain  of  the  Euphrates  and  the  border  of  the  desert. 

The  migration  to  "the  west"  of  Abram  probably  meant, 
not  that  it  was  from  the  city  itself  that  he  went,  nor  from 
any  part  of  the  goodly  land  of  Ur  and  Ereoh  and  Eridu,  but 
that  he  had  lived  outside  of  Ur,  in  the  near  desert  region 
where  he  could  keep  his  flocks,  and  had  made  Ur  his  place 
of  trade.  He  dwelt  in  tents,  and  in  Ur  the  tent  gave  place 
to  houses  of  brick,  plastered  within,  ornamented  with  de- 
vices in  colored  clay,  and  roofed  with  tiles  or  vaults  of  brick. 
Certain  it  is  that  Ur  and  Erech  were  far  above  the  folk  of 
Abraham  in  development  of  culture.  Their  culture  passed 
long  after  to  Assyria,  and  thence  to  the  Hebrews  and  Phoe- 
nicians and  the  Greeks.  Historical  indications  take  us 
back  in  Babylonia  to  the  thirty-eighth  century  before  Christ, 
and  permit  us  to  infer  a  long  previous  development.  Every 
great  city  of  Babylonia  had  its  library,  in  which  Akkadian 
works  appeared  as  ancient  literature,  with  translations  into 
a  more  modern  vernacular. 

The  second  of  Labberton's  historical  maps,  inscribed 
"  Chaldean  Ascendency  in  Western  Asia,  3800  B.C."  (Baby- 
lonian is  meant  by  Chaldean),  presents  "the  Empire  of 
Sargon"  and  "the  Beginnings  of  Egypt."  From  about 
4000  B.C.  the  Egypt  of  Memphis,  or  the  northland  of  the 
mouths  of  the  Nile,  and  of  Thebes,  or  the  southland,  as  far 
up  the  river  as  the  first  cataract,  though  relatively  small? 
was  thoroughly  developed  and  organized,  with  its  own  hie- 
roglyphic writing,  its  high  culture,  and  its  architecture  repre- 
sented in  the  erection  of  the  great  pyramids  ;  but  the  grand 
empire  of  that  age  was  that  of  Sargon  I.,  who  expanded 
from  Babylonia  into  the  highlands  on  the  east  and  north, 
and  westward  to  the  Mediterranean.  Sargon's  annals  which 
have  come  down  to  us  show  how  he  made  a  campaign  of 
conquest  in  Elam  to  the  east,  another  in  Syria  to  the  west, 
mastering  "the  four  quarters"  of  the  world,  and,  having 
put  down  all  rivals  in  Babylonian  cities,  again  went  west 
for  dominion,  even  as  far  as  Cyprus  in  the  Mediterranean  ; 
while  his  son,  Naram-Sin,  pushed  his  conquests  to  the 


56  BABYLONIA  AND  ASSYRIA. 

Sinaitic  Peninsula,  where  mines  of  copper  and  quarries  of 
turquoise  had  been  sought  by  the  rulers  of  Egypt  also  as 
early  as  the  Third  Dynasty,  and  whither  the  trading  ships 
of  ancient  Eridu  may  have  gone.  Earlier  considerably  than 
the  age  of  Sargon,  the  Sinaitic  Peninsula  had  supplied  to 
sculpture  in  Egypt  the  green  diorite  of  one  of  the  most 
marvellous  statues  in  the  world,  a  seated  figure  of  King 
Kephren,  of  the  Fourth  Dynasty ;  while  at  Tel-loh,  a  few 
miles  north  of  Eridu,  the  oldest  Babylonian  seat,  there 
have  been  dug  up  statues  almost  like  the  Egyptian,  of  the 
same  stone,  showing  a  monarch  seated  almost  in  the  same 
way,  and  differing  only  in  the  somewhat  ruder  work  of  the 
sculptor.  One  of  the  Tel-loh  figures  holds  in  its  lap  a  plan 
of  a  city,  on  which  is  marked  a  cubit  measure  agreeing  with 
that  used  in  Egypt  by  the  pyramid  builders,  and  differing 
from  that  used  at  a  later  date  in  Babylonia  and  Assyria. 
To  all  appearance  the  art  of  Babylonian  Tel-loh  had  migrated 
to  the  Nile,  the  younger  development  becoming  an  ad- 
vance upon  the  older. 

The  Sargon  I.  of  this  early  history  represents  Semitic 
invasion  and  conquest.  The  people  of  Sumer  in  the  south 
and  those  of  Akkad  in  the  north  of  the  Tigris-Euphrates 
plain  were  agricultural,  civilized,  and  cultivated.  The 
Semitic  invaders  came  in  upon  them  from  the  desert, 
adopted  their  culture,  with  more  or  less  change,  and  created 
a  mixed  development,  the  more  rude  race  overlying  the 
more  refined.  Akkadian  and  Sumerian  Babylonia  became 
half  Semitic,  or  superficially  Semitic,  and  as  development 
advanced  up  the  line  of  the  great  rivers,  the  line  of  Abram's 
route  to  Harran,  over  the  arid  table-land  of  the  northerly 
half  of  the  Tigris-Euphrates  region,  the  Semitic  element 
more  and  more  prevailed,  while  the  Akkadian,  and  still 
more  the  Sumerian,  clung  to  the  rich  garden  which  all 
Babylonia  was.  In  the  course  of.  ages— 1,500  to  2,000  years 
— this  advance  of  development  created  Assyria,  almost 
wholly  Semitic— a  daughter-land  to  Babylonia  indeed,  but 
predominantly  non-Babylonian  ;  rude,  rough,  fierce,  brutal, 
after  the  extreme  type  of  the  Semitic  nomads  of  the  desert. 


BABYLONIA  AND  ASSYRIA.  57 

Mr.  Sayce,  one  of  our  best  Authorities,  says  of  the  contrast 
in  "moral  and  intellectual  type"  presented  by  the  more 
Akkadian  Babylonians  and  the  more  Semitic  Assyrians : 

"The  Assyrian  has  all  the  characteristics  of  the  Semite.  His  hooked 
nose  and  angular  features  proclaim  his  origin  on  the  physical  side  as 
unmistakably  as  his  intensity,  his  ferocity,  his  love  of  trade,  and  his 
nomadic  habits  proclaim  it  on  the  moral  side.  The  Babylonian,  on  the 
other  hand,  was  square  built  and  somewhat  full-faced,  an  agriculturist 
rather  than  a  soldier,  a  scholar  rather  than  a  trader.  The  intensity  of 
religious  belief  which  marked  the  Assyrian  and  the  barbarities  which 
the  Assyrian  perpetrated  in  the  name  of  Assur,  and  loved  to  record  in 
his  inscriptions,  were  foreign  to  his  nature." 

Mr.  Sayce  goes  on  to  say  that  "it  was  from  Babylonia 
that  the  Assyrians  derived  their  system  of  writing,  the 
greater  part  of  their  literature,  their  religion,  and  their 
laws."  It  was,  however,  with  this  great  difference,  that  the 
mixture  of  Semitic  and  Akkadian  common  to  both  was  pre- 
dominantly Akkadian  in  the  more  southern  Babylonia  and 
predominantly  Semitic  in  the  more  northern  Assyria.  Of 
the  Semitic  origins  Mr".  Sayce  says  : 

"Many  of  the  words  which  the  Semites  (Hebrew,  Phoenician,  Assy- 
rian) have  in  common  seem  to  point  to  the  neighborhood  of  Babylonia 
as  the  district  from  which  those  who  used  them  originally  came.  Their 
first  home  appears  to  have  been  in  the  low-lying  desert  which  stretches 
eastward  of  Chaldea — on  the  very  side  of  the  Euplirates,  in  fact,  on 
which  stood  the  great  city  of  Ur.  Here  they  led  a  nomad  life,  over- 
awed by  the  higher  culture  of  the  settled  Akkadian  race,  until  a  time 
came  when  they  began  to  absorb  it  themselves,  and  eventually  to  dis- 
possess and  supersede  their  teachers.  The  tribes  which  travelled  north- 
ward (to  create  Assyria)  and  westward  (Hebrew  and  Phoenician),  must 
have  carried  with  them  some  of  the  culture  they  had  learnt  from  their 
Akkadian  neighbors.  And  such,  indeed,  we  find  to  be  the  case.  Nebo, 
the  Babylonian  god  of  prophecy  and  literature,  has  given  his  name  to 
towns  of  Reuben  and  Judah,  as  well  as  to  the  Moabite  mountain  on 
which  Moses  breathed  his  last,  within  sight  of  the  '  moon-city '  Jericho. 
Sinai  itself  is  but  the  mountain  of  Sin,  the  Babylonian  Moon-god  " 
[whose  most  splendid  seat  was  at  Ur]. 

Sargon  I.,  the  founder  of  an  empire  which  extended  from 
the  head  of  the  Persian  gulf,  east,  north,  and  west — from 
Elam  to  the  Mediterranean — made  Akkad,  or  Agade,  in  the 


58  BABYLONIA  AND  ASSYRIA. 

north  of  Babylonia,  his  capital*  The  story  that  was  many, 
many  centuries  after  told  of  the  birth  of  Moses  on  the  Nile 
was  first  told  of  the  birth  of  Sargon  on  the  Euphrates.  It 
narrates  as  exactly  as  possible  Sargon's  exposure  in  an  ark 
of  bulrushes,  his  rescue  and  rearing,  and  ultimate  rise  to 
power,  and  establishment  of  a  supremacy  distinctly  Semitic. 
He  figures  also  as  the  great  lawgiver,  promoter  of  letters  and 
science,  and  fountain  of  the  later  form  of  Babylonian  wis- 
dom, through  which  has  come  down  the  most  ancient  Akka- 
dian usage  and  belief.  In  connection  with  the  creation  of 
extended  Babylonian  empire,  he  gathered  at  his  capital, 
Akkad,  a  library,  and  for  this  had  two  of  the  great  stand- 
ards of  Babylonian  literature  made,  by  compilation  from 
older  writings,  (1)  a  great  work  on  astronomy,  in  sev- 
enty-two books,  with  the  title  Namar-Bili,  "  The  Observa- 
tions of  Bel,"  or  "  The  Illumination  of  Bel ";  and  (2)  a  work 
on  terrestrial  omens,  augury,  and  divination,  from  which 
the  Babylonian  sages  especially  drew  their  wisdom.  This 
execution,  by  a  conqueror,  of  two  great  works  of  science  and 
religion,  out  of  the  far  older  literary  materials  of  a  subject 
people,  antedates  the  reputed  career  of  Moses  by  twenty -five 
hundred  years. 

Sargon's  patronage  of  literature  caused  the  region  to  be 
known  as  "  the  land  of  books,"  three  thousand  three  hun- 
dred and  fifty  years  before  Ezra  the  Scribe  produced,  as  the 
foundation  fragment  of  Hebrew  scripture,  a  single  copy  of 
the  Pentateuch,  purporting  to  be  by  the  hand  of  Moses,  850 
years  after  he  was  said  to  have  lived.  And  the  so-called 
u  magical  texts  "  collected  by  Sargon  were  the  earliest  part 
of  the  Scriptures  which  became  an  elaborate  Babylonian 
Bible.  These  texts  grew  out  of  the  old  Akkadian-Sumerian 
faith  in  spirits,  a  faith  known  as  Shamanism.  In  this  early 
Shamanism  the  universe  was  one  of  spirits,  innumerable  as 
the  objects  and  forces  of  nature ;  and  religion  was  magic, 
exorcism,  dealing  by  conjuration,  incantations  and  charms, 
through  medicine-men,  conjurors,  and  priestly  magi- 
cians. The  earliest  sacred  books  were  collections  of  mag- 
ical texts,  antedating  even  old  Akkadian  ideas  of  gods,  of 


BABYLONIA  AND  ASSYRIA.  59 

divine  creators,  of  high  objects  of  worship.  Disease  was 
especially  conceived  as  possession  by  a  malevolent  spirit. 
Whatever  injured,  as  a  hurtful  wind,  was  moved  by  an  evil 
spirit.  The  magical  texts  were  adjurations  to  bad  spirits  to 
go  out,  or  to  good  spirits  to  give  aid  against  the  bad.  The 
sea,  or  the  earth,  or  the  sky,  whence  much  of  good  came, 
suggested  spirits  potent  to  help,  and  the  animals  whose  rela- 
tions to  man  were  kindly  were  thought  of  as  minor  agents 
of  benefaction — the  figure  of  a  chosen  animal  serving  as  a 
charm,  while  for  powerful  intervention  the  appeal  would  be 
to  the  great  spirits  of  heaven  and  earth,  of  the  sky,  or  the 
sun,  or  the  glorious  moon,  impressive  and  majestic  to  simple 
minds  above  every  other  object  in  nature.  The  opening 
words  of  the  great  collection  of  magical  texts  are  these : 

"  The  evil  god,  the  evil  demon,  the  demon  of  the  field,  the  demon  of 
the  mountain,. the  demon  of  the  sea,  the  demon  of  the  tomb,  the  evil 
spirit,  the  dazzling  fiend,  the  evil  wind,  the  assaulting  wind  which 
strips  off  the  clothing  of  the  body  like  an  evil  demon, — conjure,  O  spirit 
of  heaven !  conjure,  O  spirit  of  earth  !  " 

In  the  erection  of  a  faith  higher  than  primitive  Shaman- 
ism, the  Akkadian-Sumerian  mind  conceived  a  god  of  the 
deep,  and  of  the  most  ancient  city  of  Eridu,  called  Ea.  This 
oldest  figure  of  Akkadian  divinity,  their  most  ancient  Father 
Deity,  was  accounted  the  god  of  wisdom,  the  giver  to  man 
of  culture,  the  author  of  sacred  writings,  the  instructor  of 
his  worshippers  in  arts  and  sciences.  And  with  the  devel- 
opment of  Akkadian  faith  Merodach  was  figured  as  the  son 
of  Ea,  an  interpreter  of  the  will  of  Ea  to  man,  an  intercessor 
for  men,  and  especially  a  god  of  mercy,  the  bringer  of  resur- 
rection and  the  revealer  of  eternal  life.  Merodach  the  Mer- 
ciful became  in  a  later  age  the  Bel  or  Lord  of  Babylon— 
Merodach-Bel,  or  Bel-Merodach,  with  the  character  brought 
from  Eridu  the  Holy,  where  Ea  was  worshipped  as  the  Be- 
neficent Revealer,  the  great  culture  god,  who  had  come  up 
out  of  the  deep  to  be  a  teacher  to  men  of  every  excellent 
knowledge,  and  the  author  of  scriptures  for  the  benefit  of 
man.  And  as  ages  of  development  went  on  a  son  of  Mero- 
dach, Nebo,  was  added,  his  name  meaning  "  the  proclaimer," 


60  BABYLONIA  AND  ASSYRIA. 

"  the  prophet,"  and  his  office  being  that  of  the  god  of  science 
and  literature. 

Merodach  was  made  by  Semitic  influences  the  great  Sun- 
god  of  Babylon,  but  of  the  sun  in  its  kindly  offices,  its  bound- 
less beneficence,  and  Nebo  became  "the  prophet,"  "the 
writer,"  "  the  creator  of  the  written  tablet,"  "  the  maker  of 
writing,"  "the  opener,"  and  "the  enlarger  of  the  ear,"  "the 
author  of  the  oracle,"  and  in  Semitic  phrase  "  the  Scribe." 
And  as  Merodach  had  his  seven-storied  magnificent  temple 
in  Babylon,  Nebo  had  a  like  temple  in  Borsippa,  Babylon's 
great  suburb.  Nebo  became  a  popular  divinity  in  Assyria, 
because  patronage  of  literature  was  popular,  and  that  meant 
borrowing  from  Babylonia,  and  making  libraries  of  books 
which  gave  the  old  Akkadian  original,  accompanied  by  a 
translation  into  Semitic  Assyrian.  Nebo,  letters,  prophecy, 
passed  from  Babylonia  into  the  far  west  of  Canaan,  Phoenicia, 
Palestine,  by  the  same  Semitic  borrowing.  Mr!  Sayce  says : 

"In  Assyria  Nebo  was  honored  as  much  as  he  was  in  Babylonia. 
His  name  and  worship  passed  even  to  the  distant  Semitic  tribes  of  the 
west.  The  names  of  places  in  Palestine  in  which  his  name  occurs, 
proves  that  the  god  of  prophecy  was  adored  by  Canaanites  and  Moabites 
alike.  Moses,  the  leader  and  prophet  of  Israel,  died  on  Mount  Nebo, 
and  cities  bearing  the  name  stood  within  the  borders  of  the  tribes  of 
Reuben  and  Judah.  When  the  Israelites  entered  upon  their  literary 
era,  the  old  name  of  roeh,  or  'seer,'  was  exchanged  for  the  more  literary 
one  of  '  Nebi,'  or  '  prophet.'  The  literary  age  of  Israel  was  long  preceded 
by  a  literary  age  among  their  Phoenician  neighbors,  and  .the  Israelite 
literary  growth  was  contemporaneous  with  closer  relations  with  Tyre. 
As  Israel  was  to  Phoenicia  (a  borrower  and  copyist),  so  Assyria  was  to 
Babylonia.  The  Assyrians  were  a  nation  of  warriors  and  traders  rather 
than  students  ;  their  literature  was  for  the  most  part  an  exotic,  a  mere 
imitation  of  Babylonian  culture.  In  Babylonia  education  was  widely 
diffused  ;  in  Assyria  it  was  confined  to  the  learned  class." 

"Babylonia,''  says  Mr.  Sayce  again,  "  was  essentially  a  religious  coun- 
try, and  its  art,  therefore,  was  primarily  religious.  Nearly  all  the  great 
edifices,  whose  ruins  still  attract  the  traveller,  were  temples.  The  ter- 
raced temples  of  Ur,  Erech,  and  other  places,  mount  back  to  the  earliest 
times.  The  internal  walls  of  the  shrine  were  bright  with  paint  and 
bronze  and  gilding." 

Far  more  wonderful  than  the  temple  of  Solomon  was  that 


BABYLONIA  AND  ASSYRIA.  61 

at  Babylon  dedicated  to  Merodach,  the  local  supreme  god, 
and  their  form  under  Semitic  ideas,  of  the  Sun-god.  It 
dated  from  B.C.  2250,  and  bore  the  Accadian  name  E-Sagila, 
"the  house  of  the  raising  of  the  head,"  or  "of  the  lofty 
head."  The  central  structure  was  a  tower  of  solid  masonry, 
rising  in  eight  stages,  of  which  the  topmost  was  the  shrine 
of  the  beloved  god  of  Babylon,  Merodach  the  Merciful.  The 
tower,  or  ziggurat,  had  the  title  E-Temengurum, "  the  house 
of  the  foundation  stone  of  heaven  and  earth."  As  in  every 
case  of  a  ziggurat  the  summit  story  was  used  as  an  observa- 
tory, as  the  "high  places"  were,  in  a  hill  country  like 
Canaan,  an  observatory  for  worship  as  directly  near  heaven 
as  possible.  The  ascent  to  the  several  stories  and  terraces 
of  the  tower  was  by  an  incline  winding  round  all  the  towers 
on  the  outside.  The  outer  lines  of  the  temple  were  those  of 
a  large  square  inclosure  formed  by  huge  walls  of  brick,  at 
the  centre  of  which  rose  the  eight- story  tower.  The  grand 
entrance  to  the  temple  inclosure  was  called  in  Accadian  Ka- 
khilibu,  "the  gate  of  glory."  Nebuchadrezzar  says  of  it: 
"  Ka-khilibu,  the  Gate  of  Gflory,  I  made  as  brilliant  as  the 
sun."  And  he  goes  on  to  say  : 

"The  holy  seats,  the  place  of  the  gods  who  determine  destiny,  the 
Holy  of  Holies  of  the  gods  of  destiny,  wherein  on  the  great  festival  at 
the  beginning  of  the  year,  on  the  eighth  and  the  eleventh  days  (of  the 
month),  the  Divine  King,  the  God  of  heaven  and  earth,  the  Lord  of 
heaven,  descends,  while  the  gods  in  heaven  and  earth,  listening  to  him 
with  reverential  awe  and  standing  humbly  before  him,  determine  therein 
a  destiny  of  long-ending  days,  even  the  destiny  of  my  life  ;  this  Holy 
of  Holies,  this  sanctuary  of  the  kingdom,  this  sanctuary  of  the  lordship 
of  the  first-born  of  the  gods,  the  Prince  Merodach,  which  a  former  king 
had  adorned  with  silver,  I  overlaid  with  glittering  gold  and  rich  orna- 
ment." 

The  extreme  outer  walls,  enclosing  the  '  Grand  Court,'  ex- 
tended 1,156  feet  one  way  and  900  feet  the  other.  Beyond 
the  grand  court  was  a  second  court,  the  walls  of  which  ex- 
tended 1,056  feet  one  way  and  450  feet  the  other.  It  was 
called  the  court  of  Istar  (goddess  of  the  evening  star)  and 
Zamama  (a  god  of  the  southern  sun  figured  as  an  eagle).  In 
the  walls  of  this  court  were  six  gates,  the  grand  gate,  the 


62  BABYLONIA  AND  ASSYRIA. 

gate  of  the  rising  sun,  the  great  gate,  the  gate  of  the  colossi, 
the  gate  of  the  canal,  and  the  gate  of  the  tower  view.  Still 
farther  within  was  a  square,  walled  probably  and  perhaps 
paved,  in  the  centre  of  which  rose  the  ziggurat  or  temple 
tower.  A  gate  at  the  centre  of  each  side  of  this  square  gave 
entrance  from  the  grand  court.  The  first  stage  of  the  tower 
was  300  feet  square  and  110  feet  high  ;  the  second  260  feet 
square  and  60  feet  high  ;  the  third  200  feet  square  and  20 
feet  high  ;  the  fourth  170  feet  square  and  20  feet  high  ;  the 
fifth  and  sixth  respectively  140  and  110  feet  square  and  each 
20  feet  high,  and  the  seventh  or  topmost  80  feet  long  by  70 
broad  and  50  feet  high,  its  base  supported  250  feet  above  the 
foundations  of  the  whole  structure.  Other  temples  than  this 
lofty  one  were  built  round  the  base  of  the  tower ;  one  on  the 
eastern  side,  with  sixteen  shrines,  notably  those  of  Nebo, 
eldest  son  of  Merodach,  and  of  Tasmit,  his  wife, — a  temple 
measuring  117  by  67  feet ;  two  on  the  northern  side,— that 
of  Ea,  Father  and  god  of  wisdom,  142  feet  by  50  feet,  and  that 
of  Nusku,  the  supreme  messenger,  58  feet  square  ;  one  on  the 
southern  side,  117  feet  by  50  feet,  devoted  to  Anu  and  the  more 
ancient  Bel,  two  of  the  great  gods  of  early  belief ;  and  on 
the  western  side  the  chief  subordinate  buildings,  being  a 
wing  on  one  side  166  feet  by  34  feet ;  a  second  wing  on 
the  other  side  166  feet  by  108  feet ;  with  a  court  between 
these  58  feet  wide  ;  and  at  the  back  a  building  208  feet  by 
50  feet ;  these  western  buildings  containing  the  great  throne 
of  gold  of  Merodach,  the  couch  said  to  have  been  15  feet 
long  by  6  feet  8  inches  wide  ;  and  other  furniture  in  grand 
and  costly  style.  The  temple  of  Nebo  on  the  east  of  the 
tower  contained  the  Holy  of  Holies  of  prophecy  and  revela- 
tion, separate  from  that  of  Merodach  in  a  temple  on  the  west 
side.  Nebo  was  the  god  of  prophecy,  and  at  Borsippa, 
across  the  Euphrates  from  Babylon,  there  was  a  temple  in 
his  name  on  the  same  plan  as  that  of  Merodach  in  Babylon. 
The  most  ancient  story  of  culture  as  the  gift  of  Ea,  a  god 
of  the  deep,  at  the  head  of  the  Persian  gulf,  the  gate  of  the 
ocean  deep  beyond,  seems  to  imply  that  the  roar  of  the  sea 
and  the  mystery  of  the  waters  had  a  voice  to  the  wise  men 


BABYLONIA  AND  ASSYRIA.  63 

of  Erida,  who  fabled  the  coming  forth  upon  land  of  a  being, 
at  once  fish  and  man  in  form,  with  articulate  human  voice 
and  the  reason  of  a  god.  In  the  words  of  the  account  which 
has  com 3  down  to  us  through  a  Greek  borrower  from  a  Baby- 
lonian book, — 

"This  being  was  accustomed  to  pass  the  day  among  men.  He  gave 
them  an  insight  into  letters  and  sciences  and  arts  of  every  kind.  He 
taught  them  to  construct  houses,  to  found  temples,  to  compile  laws,  and 
explained  to  them  the  principles  of  geometrical  knowledge.  He  made 
them  distinguish  the  seeds  of  the  earth,  and  showed  them  how  to  collect 
the  fruits  ;  in  short,  he  instructed  them  in  everything  which  could  tend 
to  soften  manners  and  humanize  their  lives.  Moreover  he  wrote  con- 
cerning the  generation  of  mankind,  of  their  different  ways  of  life,  and 
of  their  civil  polity." 

This  earliest  Genesis  put  culture,  knowledge,  law,  duty, 
before  cosmology  and  mythology.  An  old  Babylonian  ser- 
mon, says  Mr.  Sayce,  speaking  of  the  duty  of  a  prince  to 
administer  justice  impartially  and  without  bribes,  declares 
that  if  "he  speaks  according  to  the  injunction  (or  writing) 
of  the  god  Ea,  the  great  gods  will  seat  him  in  wisdom  and 
the  knowledge  of  righteousness."  An  inscription  on  a  gem 
showing  Ea  depicted  with  the  body  of  a  man  and  the  tail  of 
a  fish,  a  symbolical  man-fish,  to  express  his  character  as  god 
of  the  deep,  designates  him  as  "  the  god  of  pure  life."  His 
name  implies  a  "  house-god,"  deity  of  dwellers  by  the  sea  or 
perhaps  of  inhabitants  of  pile-dwellings.  In  some  of  the 
figures,  partly  man  and  partly  fish,  the  fish's  skin  is  thrown, 
like  a  priestly  cloak,  over  the  man's  back,  with  the  head  of 
the  fish  appearing  behind  that  of  the  man.  The  serpent  was 
at  times  his  symbol,  and  it  is  from  this  usage  that  came  the 
possibility  of  saying  "  wise  as  a  serpent "  for  an  ideal  that 
also  said  "harrr>73ss  as  a  dove."  The  original  seat  of  the 
worship  of  Ea  was  Eridu,  the  port  at  the  mouth  of  the  Eu- 
phrates, on  the  east  side,  where  the  ships  of  Eridu  sailed  at 
least  as  far  as  Sinai,  the  land  of  Sin,  the  Babylonian  Moon- 
god,  and  perhaps  eastward  to  India.  The  fabled  location  of 
Eden  was  "  in  Eridu  teeming  with  fertility."  Here  also  arose 
the  tradition  of  "  the  tree  of  life."  It  was  "  the  cedar  tree, 
the  tree  that  shatters  the  power  of  the  incubus  upon  whose 


64  BABYLONIA  AND  ASSYRIA. 

core  the  name  of  Ea  is  recorded,"  or  as  another  description 
says,  "  the  cedar  tree,  the  beloved  of  the  great  gods,  which 
their  hand  has  caused  to  grow."  The  Semitic  ark,  a  coffer 
or  chest,  which  the  Assyrians  used,  and  which  the  Hebrews 
borrowed,  was  originally  a  ship,  the  ship  of  Ea  at  Eridu. 
The  tradition  of  a  god  of  the  deep  extended  to  all  the  great 
gods  the  symbol  of  a  ship  as  a  visible  abode  of  the  presence 
of  the  divinity.  Thus  an  old  hymn  says  of  the  ark  of  Mero- 
dach,  Ea's  great  son,  who  became  the  Bel  of  Babylon :  Bel- 
Merodach : 

"  Its  helm  is  of  cedar  wood.  .  .  . 

Its  serpent-like  oar  has  a  handle  of  gold. 

Its  mast  is  pointed  with  turquoise. 

Seven  times  seven  lions  of  the  field  (Eden)  occupy  its  deck. 

The  god  Adar  fills  its  cabin  built  within. 

Its  side  is  of  cedar  from  its  forest. 

Its  awning  is  the  palm- wood  of  Dilvun. 

Carrying  away  its  heart  is  the  canal. 

Making  glad  its  heart  is  the  sunrise. 

Its  house,  its  ascent,  is  a  mountain  that  gives  rest  to  the  heart. 

The  ship  of  Ea  is  Destiny. 

Nin-ki-gal,  the  princess  (Dav-kina),  is  the  goddess  whose  word  is  life. 

Merodach  is  the  god  who  pronounces  the  good  name. 

The  goddess  who  benefits  the  house,  the  messenger  of  Ea  the  ruler  of 
the  earth,  even  Nan-gar  (the  lady  of  work),  the  bright  one,  the 
mighty  workwoman  of  heaven,,  with  pure  and  blissful  hand  has 
uttered  the  word  of  life, — 

'  May  the  ship  before  thee  cross  the  canal ! 

May  the  ship  behind  thee  sail  over  its  mouth! 

Within  thee  may  the  heart  rejoicing  make  holiday.'  " 

This  hymn,  written  in  the  old  Akkadian  language,  and 
used  in  that  language  without  a  Semitic  version,  goes  back 
to  a  most  remote  day  at  Eridu,  before  Merodach  had  become 
the  great  Bel  or  Lord  of  Babylon.  When  the  Semitic 
changes  of  later  days  had  taken  place  the  old  Accadian  ship 
became  a  Semitic  ark,  and  as  such  was  long  after  borrowed 
by  the  Hebrews.  A  later  hymn  used  with  the  one  just 
quoted,  and  appearing  in  the  two  languages,  old  Akkadian 
and  Semitic  Assyrian,  commemorated  the  festival  of  Mero- 
dach, in  these  words : 


BABYLONIA  AND  ASSYRIA.  65 

"  This  day  the  god  has  been  made  (i.  e.,  a  new  image),  he  has  caused 

the  commemoration  feast  to  be  fully  kept. 
The  god  has  risen  among  all  lands, 
Lift  up  the  glory,  adorn  thyself  with  heroism,  O  hero  perfect  of  breast, 

bid  lustre  surround  this  image,  establish  veneration. 
The  lightning  flashes ;  the  festival  appears  like  gold ;  in  heaven  the 

god  has  been  created ;  on  earth  the  god  has  been  created. 
This  festival  has  been  created  among  the  hosts  of  heaven  and  earth. 
This  festival  has  issued  forth  from  the  forest  of  the  cedar  trees. 
The  festival  is  the  creation  of  the  god,  the  work  of  mankind. 
Bid  the  festival  to  be  fully  kept  forever;  according  to  the  command 

of  the  valiant  golden  god." 

One  of  the  hymns  to  Merodach  as  the  Bel  of  Babylon  has 
these  words  : 
•"  Thine  is  the  revelation,  the  interpretations  of  visions; 

Thine  is  the  glance,  the  seeing  of  wisdom ; 

They  magnify  thee,  O  master  of  the  strong; 

They  adore  thee,  O  king  and  mighty  prince ; 

They  look  up  to  thee,  show  unto  them  mercy ; 

Cause  them  to  behold  the  light  that  they  may  tell  of  thy  righteous- 
ness: 

Lord  of  the  world,  light  of  the  spirits  of  heaven,  utterer  of  blessings; 

Who  is  there  whose  mouth  murmurs  not  of  thy  righteousness, 

Or  speaks  not  of  thine  exaltation  and  celebrates  not  thy  glory." 

In  the  remote  pre-historic  age,  there  sprang  up  other  con- 
ceptions of  divinity  than  that  represented  in  Ea  the  Benefi- 
cent and  Merodach  the  Merciful.  Eridu  in  the  south  and 
Nipur  in  the  north  of  Babylonia  became  two  strongly  con- 
trasted religious  centres,  giving  rise  to  two  types  of  theolog- 
ical thought  and  religious  usage,  the  eventual  blending  of 
which  made  the  early  form  of  Babylonian  religion,  the  Acca- 
dian  faith  and  worship,  previous  to  any  Semitic  influences 
and  modifications. 

Eridu,  as  we  have  seen,  was  the  primitive  seat  of  the  wor- 
ship of  Ea,  the  beneficent  god  of  culture  and  of  civilization, 
from  whom  came  Merodach  the  Merciful  at  Babylon,  and 
Nebo,  god  of  illumination  and  blessing,  at  Borsippa  oppo- 
site Babylon.  The  tradition  of  Eridu  was  one  of  gods  of 
help  and  beneficence  and  endless  good  to  man.  But  of  Nipur 
the  tradition  was  one  of  ghosts  and  demons  and  all  the  pos- 


66  BABYLONIA  AND  ASSYEIA. 

sible  monsters  of  the  dread  under-world.  Instead  of  Ea, 
divinely  good  to  man,  the  god  specially  seated  at  Nipur  was 
Mul-lil,  known  as  "  the  lord  of  the  ghost-world,"  and  devel- 
oped by  Semitic  ideas  into  a  king  of  terrors.  In  one  version 
of  the  Flood  story  Mul-lil  designed  the  destruction  of  all 
mankind  without  exception,  and  upon  seeing  a  ship  on 
which  any  were  saved  "  he  stood  still  and  was  filled  with 
wrath  against  the  gods  and  the  spirits  of  heaven,"  and  cried 
out,  "  What  soul  has  escaped  therefrom.  Let  no  man  remain 
alive  in  the  great  destruction,"  while  Ea  put  in,  against  the 
furious  Mul-lil,  an  appeal  not  to  confound  the  innocent  with 
the  guilty — "  Let  the  sinner  alone  bear  his  sin ;  let  the  evil- 
doer bear  his  own  iniquity."  The  record  says  that  the  res- 
cued hero  in  offering  sacrifice  after  coming  out  of  the  ark, 
scored  Mul-lil  as  unjust  in  causing  a  deluge.  u  Let  the  gods 
come  to  my  altar,"  he  said,  "but  let  Mul-lil  not  come  to  the 
altar,  since  he  did  not  act  considerately,  but  caused  a  deluge 
and  doomed  my  people  to  destruction."  This  Akkadian 
Mul-lil  was  the  god  of  the  lower  world,  whose  messengers 
were  diseases  and  nightmares  and  demons  of  night,  and 
from  whom  came  the  plagues  and  troubles  that  oppressed 
mankind.  In  one  of  the  magical  texts,  JN~amtar,  the  plague 
demon,  is  spoken  of  as  a  "  beloved  son  of  Mul-lil,"  while  the 
wife  of  Mul-lil  is  said  to  be  Allat  or  Nin-ki-gal,  "the  queen 
of  the  mighty  land,"  where  the  dead  are. 

In  a  later  time,  under  Semitic  ideas,  Mul-lil  became  a  Bel, 
or  Lord  of  supreme  divinity,  and  especially  the  Assyrian 
Bel,  with  the  attributes  of  one  form  of  the  sun-god  ;  not  the 
beneficent  giver  of  life  and  light  to  the  world,  but  the  fierce 
wrathful  destructive  sun,  scorching  all  nature  with  his  heat, 
and  at  night  sinking  lurid  and  dreadful  into  the  darkness  of 
the  under- world.  And  as  Ea  had  a  son  Merodach,  a  god  of 
beneficence,  so  Mul-lil  had  a  son  Adar,  a  warrior  god,  who  was 
much  favored  in  Assyria,  a  nation  of  energetic  and  ruthless 
warriors.  In  Babylonia  the  arts  of  peace  found  favor;  in  Assy- 
ria those  of  war.  In  Assyria  there  was  more  of  the  unmitigated 
Semitic  genius  ;  in  Babylonia  the  Semitic  impulses  were  more 
restrained  by  Akkadian  culture.  Both  Merodach  and  Adar 


BABYLONIA  AND  ASSYRIA.  67 

were  conceived  by  the  Semitic  mind  as  forms  of  the  Sun-god ; 
Merodach  the  sun  of  life  and  light,  and  Adar  the  sun  of  the 
under-world — of  darkness  and  death.  Each  served  as  mes- 
senger of  his  father,  but  Merodach  on  errands  of  mercy  and 
beneficence,  and  Adar  on  those  of  an  implacable  warrior, 
errands  of  injury  and  destruction ;  not  for  mankind  to  do 
them  good,  but  against  mankind,  to  do  ruthless  injury,  as 
in  the  Deluge,  conceived  in  senseless  spleen  and  executed  in 
shameless  fury,  contrary  to  the  good  mind  of  all  the  other 
gods.  A  brother  of  Adar,  reputed  to  be  "  the  first-born  "  of 
Mul-lil,  was  called  Mul-nugi,  "  the  lord  from  whom  there  is  no 
return  "  ;  the  lord  of  Hades,  out  of  whose  realm  there  is  no 
escape.  The  sun  gone  down  into  darkness  under  the  earth 
was  thus  figured  as  bearing  sway  in  what  Akkadian  concep- 
tion made  "  the  great  city  "  of  the  innumerable  dead. 

Two  causes  tended  especially  to  multiplication  of  deities 
of  even  the  highest  class,  the  various  greatest  objects  in 
nature  and  the  usage  of  important  local  centres  each  naming 
some  great  god  for  its  patron  deity.  A  third  cause  most 
powerfully  tended  to  violent  contrasts  between  different 
gods,  or  different  aspects  of  the  same  god,  as  the  Sun-god, 
according  as  the  thoughts  of  men  were  due  to  violent  con- 
trasts in  nature.  In  the  garden  land  of  Eridu  lying  near  the 
bountiful  sea  there  grew  inevitably  a  cult  of  happy  trust 
and  elevating  knowledge,  while  beyond  this  Eden,  in  the 
arid  spaces  of  the  Semitic  desert,  ruled  by  the  relentless 
scorcher  of  the  summer  sky,  there  came  to  the  rude  mind  of 
the  nomad  a  culture  of  fear  and  ignorance  and  selfishness, 
intense,  energetic,  all-dominating,  such  as  made  Assyria  the 
curse  of  the  nations,  and  left  Judea  an  astonishment  and  a 
derision,  when  it  had  framed  faith  on  the  pattern  of  Assy- 
ria, and  made  hatred  of  mankind,  a  narrow  and  rigid  and 
even  malignant  separatism,  the  corner-stone  of  higher  cul- 
ture. The  subjection  of  Akkadianism  to  Semitism,  which 
came  even  at  Eridu,  which  at  Erech,  and  Ur,  and  Akkad  (city), 
and  Babylon,  was  increasingly  pronounced,  and  which  dom- 
inated completely  northward  from  Babylon  in  all  the  land 
of  Assur,  more  and  more  raised  the  Sun-god  to  prominence, 


68  BABYLONIA  AND  ASSYRIA. 

with  a  tendency  of  the  baneful,  jealous,  angry  Sun-god  to 
pre-eminence.  Sippara,  of  the  north  or  Akkad  part  of  Baby- 
lonia, close  by  the  city  Akkad,  which  was  the  capital  of 
Sargon  I.,  became  the  most  famous  Sun-god  city  of  Babylo- 
nia, and  just  as  the  magical  texts  of  Babylonian  scripture 
are  connected  with  Eridu,  so  the  body  of  Sun-god  hymns, 
which  come  into  the  second  part  of  this  scripture,  are  con- 
nected with  Sippara.  Samas,  the  Sun-god,  was  indeed  wor- 
shipped throughout  Babylonia,  but  at  Sippara  was  his  most 
splendid  service,  after  Semitic  influences  had  done  their 
work.  Even  the  Akkadian  language  of  the  hymns  to  Samas, 
as  well  as  many  touches  of  their  thought,  has  Semitic  pecul- 
iarities. 

At  Erech,  which  shared  with  Eridu  the  rank  of  a  primi- 
tive capital  in  the  south  of  Babylonia,  the  great  local  deity 
was  Ana,  the  Sky-god,  and  the  idea  of  the  sky  as  divine  car- 
ried the  mind  up  to  the  conception  of  godhead  as  a  creator. 
The  Semitic  making  over  of  ideas,  which  came  very  early  at 
Erech,  and  more  fully  than  at  Eridu,  turned  Ana,  the  sky, 
into  Ami,  the  divinity  of  the  whole  expanse  of  heaven,  the 
higher  invisible  heaven  beyond  the  visible  sky.  Then  the 
three  gods  of  Erech,  Nipur,  and  Eridu,  became  a  trinity  of 
great  gods,  Anu,  Bel  or  Mul-lil,  and  Ea;  gods  of  the  heaven 
of  heavens,  of  the  under-world,  and  of  the  watery  deep. 
Nature  is  bountiful  in  trinities,  and  Babylonia  made  an- 
other, of  the  Sun,  the  Moon,  and  the  Evening  Star,  or  Samas, 
Sin,  and  Istar;  of  whom  Sin,  the  Moon-god,  was  the  father 
of  Samas  and  Istar,  according  to  the  underlying  Akkadian 
idea  that  the  moon  existed  before  the  sun;  that  the  Moon- 
god  was  male,  not  female;  that  the  lord  of  their  hours  of 
observation  of  the  nightly  heavens,  and  of  their  temple  ob- 
servatory worship,  was  the  supreme  ruler  of  heaven  and 
earth;  and  that  the  Moon-god  rose  in  might  on  the  darkness 
of  the  underworld  of  Mul-lil,  making  way  for  the  sun  in  his 
strength  and  the  star  of  morning  (or  evening)  in  her  beauty. 

The  Babylonian  Ur  was  the  great  Moon-god  city,  and  Har- 
ran  again,  in  the  far  northwest,  was  a  special  Moon-god  cen- 
tre. To  all  appearance  both  the  contrasted  types  of  natural 


BABYLONIA  AND  ASSYRIA.  69 

faith,  that  of  the  garden  land  of  Eridu  and  that  of  the  Sem- 
itic desert,  saw  a  beloved  and  beneficent  divinity  in  the 
moon  of  night,  and  to  both  came  home  the  thought  of  the 
Moon-god  overcoming  the  darkness  and  dread  of  the  sunless 
world  of  night,  the  under- world  and  ghost-world  of  Mul-lil. 
In  honor  of  the  Moon-god  of  Ur  hymns  were  composed  and 
a  ritual  performed,  and  one  of  the  grandest  Babylonian  tem- 
ples built.  It  was  for  this  Sin,  the  Moon-god,  that  Sinai  was 
named.  The  great  temple  of  Sin  at  Ur  was  built,  or  restored, 
by  Ur-Bagas,  the  earliest  monarch  known  to  have  united  all 
Babylonia  under  one  rule.  Among  the  Moon-god  hymns 
which  have  been  recovered,  we  have  one  in  the  Akkadian 
original,  with  an  interlinear  Semitic  (Assyrian)  translation, 
signed  by  Assur-bani-pal's  chief  scr'be.  We  are  able  to  read 
both,  and  even  to  correct  errors  <  f  the  translator.  Some 
lines  of  this  hymn  run : 

"  Merciful  one,  begetter  of  the  universe, '  'ho  among  men  far  and  wide 
erects  the  supreme  shrine, 

Father  long  suffering  in  waiting,  who*  hand  upholds  the  life  of  all 
mankind  ! 

Lord,  thy  divinity  like  the  far  off  heal'  n  fills  the  wide  sea  with  fear. 

On  the  surface  of  the  peopled  earth  hi  ^ids  the  sanctuary  be  placed, 
he  proclaims  their  name. 

Father,  begetter  of  gods  and  men,  who  t  Mses  the  shrine  to  be  founded, 
who  establishes  the  offering, 

Who  proclaims  dominion,  who  gives  t  3  sceptre  to  those  whose  des- 
tiny is  fixed  unto  a  distant  day. 

First-born,  omnipotent,  whose  heart  is  immensity  and  there  is  none 
who  may  discover  it ; 

Who  makes  the  light  from  the  horizon  to  the  zenith  of  heaven,  open- 
ing wide  the  doors  of  the  sky,  and  establishing  light. 

Thou  boldest  the  lightning  and  the  rain,  defender  of  all  living  things; 
there  is  no  God  who  has  at  any  time  discovered  thy  fulness. 

In  heaven  who  is  supreme  ?    Thou  alone,  thou  art  supreme. 

On  earth,  who  is  supreme  ?    Thou  alone,  thou  art  supreme. 

As  for  thee,  thy  will  is  made  known  in  heaven,  and  the  angels  bow 
their  faces. 

As  for  thee,  thy  will  is  made  known  upon  earth,  and  the  spirits  below 
kiss  the  ground. 

As  for  thee,  thy  will  is  blown  on  high  like  the  wind;  the  stall  and 
the  fold  are  quickened. 


70  BABYLONIA  AND  ASSYRIA. 

As  for  thee,  thy  will  is  done  upon  the  earth,  and  the  herb  grows  green. 

As  for  thee,  thy  will  is  seen  in  the  lair  and  the  shepherd's  hut;  it  in- 
creases all  living  things. 

As  for  thee,  thy  will  hath  created  law  and  justice,  so  that  mankind 
has  established  law. 

As  for  thee,  thy  will  extends  as  heaven,  it  stretches  below  as  earth, 
there  are  none  that  can  record  it. 

As  for  thee,  who  can  learn  thy  will,  who  can  rival  it  ? 

In  heaven  is  thy  lordship,  in  the  earth  thy  sovereignty ;  among  the 
gods  thy  brethren  a  rival  thou  hast  not. 

King  of  kings,  of  whose  ....  no  man  is  judge,  whose  divinity  no 
god  resembles. 

Look  with  favor  on  thy  temple; 

Look  with  favor  on  Ur,  thy  city." 

In  what  Sargon,  3800  B.C.,  looking  back  to  what  was  then 
antiquity,  called  "the  remote  days  of  the  period  of  the 
Moon-god,"  the  Star  (of  evening  and  of  morning),  Istar,  was 
the  Moon-god's  glorious  daughter,  as  Samas,  the  Sun-god, 
was  the  Moon-god's  son.  One  of  the  early  Akkadian  ideas 
was  the  pre-eminence  of  woman,  and  in  Istar  appeared  the 
loftiest  ideal  of  a  goddess  of  independent  nature,  on  an  equal 
footing  with  the  greatest  gods.  She  was  a  goddess  of  the 
bond  of  family  and  home,  the  ideal  woman  throned  among 
the  great  gods.  One  of  the  old  hymns  had  these  words  : 

"  To  cause  enlightenment  to  prevail  am  I  appointed,  alone  am  I  ap- 
pointed ; 

By  the  side  of  my  father  the  Moon-god  to  cause  enlightenment  to  pre- 
vail am  I  appointed,  alone  am  I  appointed ; 

By  the  side  of  my  brother  the  Sun-god  to  cause  enlightenment  to 
prevail  am  I  appointed,  alone  am  I  appointed ; 

In  the  resplendent  heaven  to  cause  enlightenment  to  prevail  am  I  ap- 
pointed, alone  am  I  appointed; 

In  the  beginning  was  my  glory,  in  the  beginning  was  my  glory; 

In  the  beginning  was  I  a  goddess  who  marched  on  high; 

Istar  the  divinity  of  the  evening  sky  am  I; 

Istar  the  divinity  of  the  dawn  am  I ; 

Istar  the  opener  of  the  bolts  of  the  bright  heaven  is  my  glory." 

This  lofty  conception  was  contrary  to  the  low  Semitic  idea 
of  the  female.  Woman  Semitism  did  not  know.  It  knew 
the  female,  an  attachment  to  the  male.  The  female  of  man 


BABYLONIA  AND  ASSYRIA.  71 

was  as  the  female  of  the  camel  or  the  wild  ass.  Love  was  sex- 
ual excitement.  Sexual  fury  in  nature  was  a  divine  passion. 
The  Semitic  prophet,  figuring  Judea  as  a  female  espoused 
by  the  tribal  deity,  talks  as  if  he  supposed  the  woman  sub- 
ject, like  the  she  camel,  to  the  periodical  recurrence  of  a 
purely  animal  onset  of  excitement.  The  vulgar  Semitic  mind 
concentrated  itself  on  the  generative  facts.  Mr.  Sayce  re- 
marks that  "  the  keystone  of  Semitic  belief  was  the  genera- 
tive character  of  the  deity."  An  essential  beastliness  of  the 
Semitic  man,  under  the  sun  of  the  desert  and  in  the  atmos- 
phere of  the  wilderness,  tended  to  a  shocking  degradation  of 
religion.  Istar's  glory  of  woman,  equal  with  father  and 
brother,  was  changed  to  an  abomination  of  female  animal- 
ism. She  was  turned  into  the  Ashtoreth,  in  whose  worship 
sexual  fury  and  religious  frenzy  were  one;  prostitution  a 
sacrament;  and  orgies  of  lust  a  festival  of  highest  religion. 
Babylonia  without  Semitic  influences  would  have  given  us 
a  far  purer  revelation  and  far  nobler  ideals.  Mr.  Sayce 
says: 

"  Babylonia  does  not  seem  to  have  produced  any  class  of  men  like  the 
Israelitish  prophets;  but  it  produced  cultivated  scribes  and  thinkers, 
who  sought  and  found  beneath  the  superstitions  of  their  countrymen  a 
purer  religion  and  a  more  abiding  faith." 

These  construed  Istar  as  the  Virgin  Mother  of  enlighten- 
ment, the  friendly  glory  of  the  evening  and  the  morning, 
the  companion  of  night's  monarch,  the  Moon,  and  of  the 
day's  ruler,  the  Sun.  But  Semitic  influences  blotted  all  this, 
and  on  Semitic  ground,  above  all  with  the  Jews,  and  in  the 
very  temple  at  Jerusalem,  Istar  became  Ashtoreth  of  unsur- 
passable abominations. 

Mr.  Sayce  says  of  the  contrast  of  Semitic  and  Akkadian 
conceptions : 

"  In  the  Semitic  conception  of  social  life,  the  male  was  the  source  of 
life  and  authority,  the  female  being  but  his  weaker  double,  the  pale 
reflection  of  the  man.  The  father  was  the  head  of  the  family.  This 
was  the  exact  converse  of  the  ideas  that  prevailed  among  the  Akkadians. 
Here  it  was  the  mother,  and  not  the  father,  who  was  the  head  of  the 


72  BABYLONIA  AND  ASSYRIA. 

family ;  and  in  the  bilingual  texts  we  find  that  in  the  Akkadian  original 
the  female  is  always  mentioned  before  the  male,  while  the  Semitic  trans- 
lator is  careful  to  reverse  the  order.  W  oman  in  Akkad  occupied  a 
higher  position  than  she  did,  or  does,  among  the  Semites.  The  god- 
desses of  Accad  were  independent  beings,  like  the  gods  whose  equals 
they  were.  The  Semitic  female  deities  were  simply  the  complement  of 
their  male  consorts.  They  were  seldom  deemed  worthy  of  a  name  of 
their  own." 

In  his  most  recent  volume,  Mr.  Sayce,  speaking  of  u  the 
Babylonian  element  in  Genesis,"  says  : 

"  The  word  with  which  the  book  of  Genesis  opens  is  '  in  the  begin- 
ning,' while  an  Assyrian  poem  equally  tells  us  that  the  watery  deep 
was  the  '  beginning, '  of  the  heavens  and  the  earth.  Thanks  to  the  dis- 
coveries made  in  Babylonia  and  at  Tel  El-Amarna  [Babylonian  writ- 
ings found  in  Egypt],  we  have  learned  how  deep  and  lasting  was  the 
influence  of  Babylonian  culture  upon  pre-Israelitish  Canaan.  The 
belief  in  a  chaos  of  waters  within  which  the  future  heavens  and  earth 
lay,  went  back  to  the  eai'ly  dwellers  on  the  banks  of  the  Euphrates  and 
the  shores  of  the  Persian  Gulf." 

"The  Sabbath  rest  was  a  Babylonian,  as  well  as  a  Hebrew  institution. 
Its  origin  went  back  to  pre-Semitic  days,  and  the  very  name  Sabbath 
by  \vhich  it  is  known  in  Hebrew,  was  of  Babylonian  origin.  The 
Sabbath  was  also  known,  at  all  events  in  Akkadian  times,  as  a  day  on 
which  work  was  forbidden  to  be  done." 

Mr.  Sayce  implies  that  the  Jews  had  no  particular  regard 
for  the  Sabbath  until  a  late  period  in  their  history,  when 
they  learned  it  in  Babylonia,  while  in  exile  there.  "  There 
is,"  he  says,  "  little  or  no  reference  to  it  in  the  Books  of 
Samuel  and  Kings."  Mr.  Sayce  speaks  of  "  the  close  de- 
pendence of  the  '  Jehovistic '  account  of  the  creation  and 
fall  of  man  upon  Babylonia";  and  he  farther  says  : 

' '  The  fall  of  man  seems  to  be  described  in  plain  terms.  The  Bible  story 
of  the  Fall  gives  evidence,  not  only  in  the  general  outlines  and  in  the 
details  of  the  narrative,  of  its  derivation  from  Babylonia ;  but  the  very 
words  that  are  used  in  it  betray  their  Babylonian  origin.  '  Adam '  itself 
is  the  common  Babylonian  ward  for  man,  and  the  name  '  eve '  finds  its 
counterpart  in  the  Babylonian  ivat  or  '  breath.'  Methusael  is  a  purely 
Babylonian  name  Mutu-sa-ili,  '  the  man  of  God.'  We  now  know  that 
not  only  Babylonian  beliefs,  but  the  literature  itself,  had  been  brought 
to  Palestine  before  the  age  of  Moses." 


THE  BUILDING  OF  THE  PYRAMIDS.— (From  the  painting  by  G.  RICHTEK,  Munich.)— 
The  Pyramids  were  built  by  individual  monarchs  of  early  Egypt  to  serve  as  tombs,  in  part 
monumental,  but  chiefly  designed  to  provide  a  securely  concealed  inaccessible  and  eternally  safe 
burial  chamber,  within  which  the  body  of  the  monarch  might  escape  disturbance  forever,— such 
being  a  condition  of  the  future  life  of  the  spirit  which  had  dwelt  in  the  body. 


Tfte 


onian 


Babylonian  Bible  not  only  represents  Babylonia  and 
_J_  a  very  great  antiquity,  but  Assyria  also,  the  Assyrians 
having  adopted  it,  in  an  Assyrian  translation,  as  Christians 
borrowed  the  Hebrew  Bible,  in  a  Greek,  or  Latin,  or  modern 
version.  The  language  of  the  Babylonian  original  was  the 
primitive  Babylonian,  in  either  the  Sumerian  dialect  of  the 
south  or  the  Akkadian  of  the  north.  Several  successive 
portions,  representing  stages  of  the  history,  compose  the 
earlier  and  special  sacred  scriptures,  and  to  these  other  re- 
markable writings  succeeded,  making  a  Literature  not  only 
of  remarkable  interest,  but  of  remarkable  influence  down  to 
the  present  time.  The  two  most  ancient  portions  are  of  the 
south  or  Sumerian  section  of  Babylonia.  Oldest  of  all  is  a 
body  of  pieces,  most  of  them  short,  which  have  been  com- 
monly designated  the  Magical  Texts,  because  they  are,  so 
many  of  them,  arranged  for  purposes  of  incantation.  But 
they  can  be  better  called  the  Priestly  Texts,  because  they  con- 
tain a  great  deal  of  mythology,  spirit  lore,  and  even  history, 
as  set  down  by  the  priests.  They  tell  of  the  spirits  and  de- 
mons, and  of  the  gods  and  goddesses,  of  the  earlier  faith  ; 
spirits  of  wind  and  storm,  of  diseases,  of  madness,  of  drought 
and  plague,  of  all  the  ills  of  flesh,  and  the  woes  of  the  mind  •, 
and  of  the  gods  of  the  nature-system  built  by  simple  faith 
above  the  primitive  spiritism  ;  and  most  of  the  pieces  show 
that  they  were  used  in  ceremonies  designed  to  cast  out,  or 
ward  off,  or  protect  from,  demons  of  disease  and  of  destruc- 
tion. They  show  the  magician  or  conjurer  dealing  with  the 

(73) 


74  THE  BABYLONIAN  SCRIPTURES. 

spirits  of  every  kind,  and  getting  for  men  the  aid  of  the  gods 
for  dealing  with  spirits,  spirits  of  disease,  of  burning  wind 
and  storm,  of  drought  and  plague.  The  matter  of  these 
texts  is  very  varied,  showing  the  ideas  of  the  time  as  to  both 
spirits  and  gods,  scenes  on  earth,  scenes  in  the  place  of  the 
gods,  doings  of  many  kinds.  Climate,  in  the  largest  sense, 
suggests  a  great  deal.  Professor  Huxley  has  said  of  Baby- 
lonia : 

"  Except  in  the  extreme  south,  the  rainfall  is  small  and  the  air  dry. 
The  heat  in  summer  is  intense,  while  bitterly  cold  northern  blasts  sweep 
the  plain  in  winter.  Whirlwinds  are  not  uncommon ;  and  in  the  inter- 
vals of  the  periodical  inundations,  the  fine,  dry,  powdery  soil  is  swept, 
even  by  moderate  breezes,  into  stifling  clouds,  or  rather  fogs,  of  dust." 

The  ancient  conditions  were  those  of  ample  irrigation  by 
canals,  which  made  what  is  now  a  waste  of  marsh  and  wil- 
derness, the  granary  of  western  Asia.  The  weather  condi- 
tions seem  to  have  suggested  the  seven  spirits  of  varied  evil 
to  which  there  is  frequent  reference  in  the  "  Magical "  Texts. 
Thus  we  read : 
"  Troublers  unique  are  they,  troublers  of  heaven  have  they  been  born; 

They  are  whirlwind-like  ghosts;  travellers  are  they; 

Wife  they  possess  not;  child  they  begat  not; 

Lusty  offspring  they  know  not; 

Horses  which  have  come  forth  from  the  mountain  are  they; 

Unto  Ea  are  they  hostile. 

The  throne-bearers  of  the  gods  are  they ; 

To  trouble  the  canal  are  they  set; 

Before  Nergal  the  mighty  warrior  do  they  go  to  and  fro; 

0  spirit  of  heaven,  conjure!  O  spirit  of  earth,  conjure! 

O  spirit  of  Sin  (Moon -god),  god  of  the  throne  of  light,  conjure!'5 
"  Seven  are  they,  seven  are  they, 

In  the  hollow  of  the  deep  seven  they  are; 

Gleams  of  the  sky  are  those  seven. 

In  the  hollow  of  the  deep,  in  a  palace,  they  grew  up. 

Male  they  are  not,  female  they  are  not. 

Compassion  and  kindness  know  they  not, 

Prayer  and  supplication  hear  they  not; 

O  spirit  of  heaven,  conjure!  O  spirit  of  earth,  «onjurel" 
"  Mistress  they  know  not; 

The  land  like  husks  they  devour; 


THE  BABYLONIAN  SCRIPTURES.  75 

Compassion  they  know  not; 

Against  mankind  they  rage ; 

The  flesh  they  devour,  the  seed  they  sicken,  the  blood  they  drink; 

Demons  are  they,  filled  with  wickedness; 

Devourers  of  blood  unceasing  are  they. 

O  spirits  of  heaven,  conjure!  O  spirits  of  earth,  conjure! " 

"  The  reptiles  that  creep  round  and  round,  the  evil  gods  are  they; 
The  warrior  spirits  that  spare  not,  who  were  created  in  the  cloudy 

vault  of  heaven. 

These  seven  are  messengers  of  Anu  their  king ; 
In  city  after  city  do  they  cause  the  rainy  wind ; 
The  storm  that  is  in  heaven  they  bind  together  strongly; 
The  fleecy  clouds  that  are  in  heaven  making  the  rainy  wind  are  they; 
The  rushing  blast  of  the  wind  which  produces  darkness  on  a  clear  day 

are  they ; 

With  baleful  wind,  with  evil  wind  they  darted  forth; 
The  deluge  of  Rimmon,  mighty  whirlwinds  are  they; 
At  the  right  hand  of  Simmon  they  march; 
On  the  horizon  of  heaven  like  the  lightning; 
To  impose  the  yoke  they  march  in  front; 
In  the  wide  heaven,  the  seat  of  Anu  the  king,  they  set  themselves 

with  evil  purpose  and  had  no  rival." 

From  this  opening  the  text  goes  on  to  relate  the  war  of  the  seven  evil 
spirits  of  the  sky  upon  the  Moon-god.  The  ancient  Mul-lil,  god  of  the 
under-world  of  darkness,  appears  as  the  Supreme,  with  Ea  as  "  supreme 
adviser  of  the  gods";  and  Mul-lil  had  appointed  Sin,  Sairas,  and  Istar — 
Moon,  Sun,  and  Star  of  evening  and  morning — to  rule  the  cloudy 
heaven. 

"Along  with  Anu  (the  Sky)  he  had  divided  among  them  the  sover- 
eignty of  the  hosts  of  heaven;  among  the  three  of  them,  the  gods 
his  children,  he  had  divided  the  night  and  the  day";  and  on  a  day 
"those  seven,  the  evil  gods,  in  the  cloudy  region  of  heaven  darted 
forth  :  violently  they  beset  the  Moon-god.  The  evil  gods,  enlarging 
evil  heads,  evil  they  plotted  together.  From  the  midst  of  heaven,  like 
the  wind  on  the  land  they  swooped.  Mul-lil  beheld  the  darkness:  he 
says  to  his  messenger,  Nusku,  '  carry  my  word  to  the  deep ;  the  news 
of  my  son  the  Moon-god,  who  is  grievously  darkened  in  heaven,  to  Ea 
in  the  deep  convey." 

"  Nusku  exalted  the  word  of  his  lord;  to  Ea  in  the  deep  he  went  with 
the  message;  to  the  divine  prince,  the  counsellor  supreme,  the  lord,  the 
sovereign  of  the  world,  Nusku  conveyed  the  word  of  his  lord." 

"Ea  in  the  deep  listened  to  the  tale,  and  he  bit  his  lip,  with  outcry 
he  filled  his  mouth.  Ea  addressed  his  son  Merodach  and  roars  out  the 


76  THE  BABYLONIAN  SCRIPTURES. 

word :  '  Go,  my  son  Merodach !  Grievous  is  the  eclipse  of  the  Moon- 
god;  his  eclipse  in  heaven  is  proceeding;  those  seven,  the  evil  gods, 
who  swoop  like  the  deluge,  swoop  upon  the  world  like  a  storm.1" 

The  great  gods  appear  here  as  Mul-lil  of  Nipur,  Ann  of 
Erech,  and  Ea  of  Eridu, — god  of  dark  power  (Mul-lil),  god 
of  the  sky  and  of  heaven  (Anu),  and  god  of  bright  beneficent 
wisdom  (Ea).  Moon,  Sun,  and  Star, — Sin,  Samas,  and  Istar, — 
figure  as  a  subordinate  trinity.  Rimmon  was  god  of  the 
atmosphere,  of  the  bright  air,  contrasting  by  beneficence 
with  the  seven  spirits  of  the  air,  messengers  of  Anu,  whose 
behavior  got  them  a  very  bad  name.  Nergal  was  the  god 
of  war  and  of  the  planet  Mars — figured  as  a  human-headed 
and  winged  lion.  Nusku  was  Mul-lil's  messenger.  Mero- 
dach was  Ea's  great  and  good  son,  the  kind  and  merciful, 
who  took  on  at  Babylon,  under  Semitic  ideas,  the  style  of  a 
Sun-god,  but  the  Sun  of  kindly  good  to  man,  just  as  Mul-lil 
became  the  other  kind  of  Sun-god,  under  ideas  still  more 
Semitic,  a  Sun-god,  not  as  the  beneficent  giver  of  light  and 
life,  the  genial  deity  of  the  watered  fields  of  Babylonia,  but 
as  the  fierce  and  wrathful  sun  of  the  desert  and  the  arid  up- 
land, the  scorching  destroyer,  sinking  red  with  anger  into 
the  under- world  of  night. 

It  should  be  especially  noted  here  that  during  twenty  or 
thirty  centuries  before  the  copies  of  texts  and  hymns  which 
we  can  recover  were  made,  Semitic  invasion  had  been  making 
over  the  old  culture,  even  when  superstitiously  preserving 
it,  and  into  the  ancient  texts  came  later  words.  Mr.  Sayce 
remarks  on  the  central  tendency  of  the  transformations 
which  a  long  course  of  the  history  shows  : 

' '  The  rise  of  Sun-worship  at  Sippara,  the  prominence  given  to  the  solar 
element  in  Babylonian  religion  generally,  the  obliteration  of  the  older 
gods  whose  attributes  could  not  be  harmonized  with  those  of  a  Sun -god, 
and  the  identification  of  deity  after  deity  with  the  solar  Baal  (or  Bel), 
was  the  result  of  the  introduction  of  Semitic  ideas  into  the  religion  of 
Babylonia.  Perhaps  the  most  striking  transformation  ever  undergone 
by  any  object  of  religious  faith  was  the  conversion  of  Mul-lil,  the  lord 
of  the  ghost- world,  into  a  Bel  or  Baal,  a  god  of  life  and  light." 

In  fact,  however,  the  change  of  Mul-lil  into  the  Bel  he  be- 
came was  not  so  great.  It  was  the  bad  Bel  as  it  had  been 


THE  BABYLONIAN  SCRIPTURES.  77 

the  bad  Mul-lil ;  the  angry  sun,  who  was  easily  thought  of 
as  the  sun  of  the  under- world,  seen  as  he  so  often  was  going 
down  into  his  dread  abode  the  lurid  terror  of  the  world, 
Bel-Mul-lil  the  Angry. 

The  second  stage  of  Babylonian  sacred  writing  shows  a 
development  of  the  priestly  texts  into  hymns  to  various 
gods.  These  hymns  are  still  in  the  Sumerian  dialect  of 
Eridu  and  Erech.  Mr.  Sayce  says  in  regard  to  them  : 

"The  subjects  of  Akkadian  literary  composition  were  multifarious. 
Among  the  most  interesting  are  the  hymns  to  the  gods,  some  of  which 
strikingly  resemble  the  Hebrew  psalms  in  substance  as  well  as  in  form. 
Indeed,  the  parallelism  of  Hebrew  and  Assyrian  poetry  seems  to  have 
been  borrowed  from  the  Akkadians.  But  the  similarity  of  expression 
and  feeling  is  no  less  remarkable.  A  collection  was  afterwards  made  of 
these  hymns,  which  was  used  for  ritualistic  purposes,  and  regarded  as 
an  inspired  volume." 

But  the  volume  always  hung  by  the  Priestly  Texts,  as  the 
Hebrew  Bible  did  by  the  Pentateuch,  and  it  was  not  closed 
with  the  hymns  to  the  gods.  The  comparison  with  Hebrew, 
moreover,  shows  not  only  many  like  ideas  and  expressions, 
but  much  unlikeness,  with  the  Hebrew  level  lower  than  the 
Akkadian,  because  to  the  Hebrew  so  much  of  his  religion 
breathed  hatred  of  enemies  and  desire  to  have  Jahveh  join 
in  this  hatred,  while  the  Akkadian  sought  rather  to  obtain 
kindly  favor  from  strong  gods  and  good  gods.  To  no  small 
extent  the  "  magical "  characters  continue  in  the  hymns,  as 
hymns  had  also  appeared  in  the  early  texts.  Some  choice 
fragments  of  history  also  appear  in  both  the  early  texts  and 
the  later  hymns.  Both  the  texts  and  the  hymns  were  used 
for  liturgical  repetition  in  the  temples,  and  for  purposes  of 
incantation.  It  is  in  fact  important  to  understand  how  the 
usage  of  mystical  repetition,  incantation,  charms  and  spells, 
employed  not  only  special  words  of  conjuration,  but  almost 
any  bit  of  story,  hymn,  poem,  to  which  imagination  could 
assign  a  sacred  character.  It  might  be  from  mere  supersti- 
tion, or  through  priestly  invention,  that  recital  of  any  piece 
was  supposed  to  control  spirits  or  to  cure  disease.  The 
background  of  the  Babylonian  Bible  was  this  usage  of  sac- 


78  THE  BABYLONIAN  SCRIPTURES. 

raraental  sacerdotal  repetition.  If  the  hymns  became  espe- 
cially the  Babylonian  Bible,  it  was  not  without  the  feeling 
that  they  best  served  the  magical  purpose,  for  which  also 
the  old  texts  continued  to  serve.  And  while  hymns  were 
chiefly  composed,  texts  merely  magical  continued  to  be 
made.  There  have  been  recovered  fragments  only  of  texts 
and  hymns,  and  these  to  no  small  extent  as  they  had  been 
changed  in  later  times  by  Semitic  hands. 

These  are  fragments  addressed  to  Nebo,  god  of  prophecy  : 
"  To  Nebo,  the  supreme  messenger,  who  binds  all  things  together, 

The  scribe  of  all  that  has  a  nam«, 

The  lifter  up  of  the  stylus  supreme,  the  director  of  the  world, 

The  possessor  of  the  reed  of  augury, 

The  opener  of  the  wells,  the  f  ructifler  of  the  corn, 

The  god  of  the  irrigated  land  and  the  canal, 

The  glorious  lord  who  pours  out  the  oil  of  anointing." 

"  0  lord,  who  givest  the  name  to  Borsippa, 
There  is  no  power  that  can  compare  with  thy  power. 
There  is  -no  temple  that  can  compare  with  thy  temple  E-Zida ; 
There  is  no  city  that  can  compare  with  thy  city,  Borsippa; 
Thy  command  is  unchangeable  like  the  heavens,  in  heaven  thou  art 
supreme." 

"  To  Nebo  the  mighty  son,  the  overseer  of  the  hosts  of  heaven  and 

earth. 
The  holder  of  the  papyrus  scrolls,  the  taker  of  the  stylus  of  the  tablets 

of  destiny, 

The  lengthener  of  the  day,  the  restorer  of  the  dead  to  life, 
The  establisher  of  life  for  men  in  trouble,  the  great  lord  of  births." 

To  Merodach  appealing  to  Ea  his  father  for  a  case  of  demoniac  mad- 
ness,— 

"  Ea  answered  his  son  Merodach  : 

'  My  son,  what  knowest  thou  not,  what  can  I  teach  thee  ? 
Merodach,  what  knowest  thou  not,  what  can  I  teach  thee  't 
What  I  know  thou  too  knowest. 
Go  my  son  Merodach.' " 

Then  follow  directions  for  use  of  holy  water,  and  other  treatment, 
that  the  malady  of  the  head  which  has  descended  like  the  ram  of  the 
night  may  be  driven  away,  the  word  of  Ea  issue  forth  like  the  dawn, 
and  Merodach,  the  eldest  son  of  the  deep,  be  light  and  happiness  unto 
him. 


THE  BABYLONIAN  SCRIPTURES.  79 

Again  we  read  : 

"  Who  can  escape  from  thy  message  ? 
Thy  word  is  the  supreme  snare  which  is  stretched  towards  heaven  and 

earth. 

It  turns  to  the  sea  and  the  sea  dreads  it ; 
It  turns  to  the  marsh  and  the  marsh  mourns; 

It  turns  to  the  Euphrates,  and  the  word  of  Merodach  disturbs  its  bed. 
O  lord,  thou  art  supreme,  who  is  there  that  rivals  thee  ? 
O  Merodach,  among  the  gods  as  many  as  have  a  name  thou  coverest 
them." 

"  First-born  of  Ea,  mighty  lord  of  mankind,  king  of  the  world,  of 

heaven  and  earth,  who  has  no  rival  ! 
The  companion  of  Anu  and  Mul-lil ; 
The  merciful  one  amcng  the  gods ; 
The  merciful  one  who  loveth  to  give  life  to  the  dead; 
Merodach,  king  of  heaven  and  earth ; 
King  of  Babylon,  lord  of  E-Saggil ; 
Heaven  and  earth  are  thine; 
All  round  heaven  and  earth  is  thine; 
The  spell  that  giveth  life  is  thine ; 
The  breath  that  giveth  life  is  thine ; 
The  holy  writing  of  the  mouth  of  the  deep  is  thine. 
Mankind,  even  the  black-headed  race  (of  Akkad), 
The  living  creatures  as  many  as  pronounce  a  name  and  exist  in  the  earth, 
The  four  zones,  all  that  there  are, 
The  angels  of  the  hosts  of  heaven  and  earth,  whatever  be  their 

number, 
Worship  thee  and  lend  to  thee  their  ears." 

The  Sun-god  has  many  hymns.    One  of  them  reads: 
"  O  Sun-god,  the  judge  of  the  world  art  thou, 

O  lord  of  the  living  creation,  the  pitiful  one  who  directest  the  world ; 
Direct  the  law  of  the  multitudes  of  mankind ; 
Thou  art  eternal  righteousness  in  the  heaven ; 
Thou  art  justice  in  heaven,  a  bond  on  earth  art  thou; 
Thou  knowest  right,  thou  knowest  wickedness. 
O  Sun- god,  righteousness  has  lifted  up  its  neck; 
O  Sun-god,  wickedness  has  been  cut  as  with  a  knife: 
O  Sun-god,  the  minister  of  Anu  and  Mul-lil  art  thou; 
O  Sun-god,  the  judge  supreme  of  heaven  and  earth  art  thou." 

The  extent  to  which  we  have  yet  to  recover  these  hymns, 
having  for  the  most  part  only  fragments  as  yet,  and  to  cor- 
rectly render  the  terms  used  in  them,  and  comprehend  the 


80  THE  BABYLONIAN  SCRIPTURES. 

figures  of  speech,  the  ideas,  and  the  characters  of  spirits  or 
of  gods,  disables  us  from  doing  justice  to  the  intellectual 
power,  the  moral  ideals,  and  the  religious  conceptions,  which 
they  represent ;  but  we  know  enough  to  see  that  the  body  of 
utterances  which  had  taken  shape  perhaps  5,000  years,  or 
along  in  the  centuries  previous  to  4,000  years  before  Christ, 
made  a  most  remarkable  chapter  of  culture,  as  unique  in 
interest  as  it  is  in  antiquity. 

The  third  part  of  Babylonian  scripture  is  in  the  Akkadian 
dialect  of  the  north  of  Babylonia,  where  Semitic  influences 
were  both  earlier  and  stronger  than  in  the  south.  It  is  a 
development  of  the  hymns  to  the  gods  into  psalms  of  a 
special  type,  which  are  characterized  as  THE  PENITENTIAL 
PSALMS.  They  show  the  priest  conducting  confession  of  sin 
for  the  worshipper,  and  prayer  for  forgiveness.  Their  date 
appears  to  be  later  than  that  of  the  oldest  hymns,  but  earlier 
than  the  later  hymns  ;  as  early  as  4000  B.C.  Mr.  Sayce  says 
of  these  psalms  that  "they  are  all  distinguished  by  the 
same  characteristics,  which  lend  to  them  a  striking  resem- 
blance to  the  Psalms  of  the  Old  Testament. "  It  would  be 
more  exact  to  say  that  the  writers  of  Hebrew  psalms  bor- 
rowed freely  from  the  Babylonian,  while  each  had  character- 
istics which  give  a  strong  contrast,  the  notes  of  human  ten- 
derness and  of  trust  in  natural  divine  mercy  prevailing  in 
the  Babylonian,  while  in  the  Hebrew  Jahveh's  favor  is 
bought  with  costly  sacrifice  or  covenant  appeal,  and  his 
favor  will  mean  selfish  advantage  to  those  seeking  his  good- 
will. The  special  note  which  passed  from  Babylonian  into 
Hebrew  was  the  sense  of  sin  strongly  conceived  and  ex- 
pressed, but  the  Hebrew  made  it  more  abject  and  more  self- 
ish than  the  Babylonian,  and  gave  it  a  setting  in  a  theology 
of  blood  and  terror  impossible  to  Babylonian  culture.  The 
Babylonian  penitent  says : 

"  To  the  heart  of  him  who  has  sinned  thou  utterest  words  of  blessing; 
Thou  lookest  on  the  man,  and  the  man  lives, 
O  potentate  of  the  world,  mistress  of  mankind, 

Compassionate  one,    whose  forgiveness  is  ready,  who  accepts  the 
prayer." 


THE  BABYLONIAN  SCRIPTURES.  81 

The  priest  interposes  with : 

"  O  god  and  mother  goddess  that  are  angry  with  him,  he  calls  upon 

thee; 
Turn  thy  face  towards  him  and  take  his  hand." 

The  penitent  continues : 

"  Above  thee,  O  god,  have  I  no  director; 
Ever  look  upon  me  and  accept  my  prayer. 

When,  O  my  mistress,  shall  thy  countenance  he  turned  in  pardon  ? 
Like  a  dove  I  mourn,  on  sighs  do  I  feast  myself." 

Even  the  deep  cry  of  profound  confession  has  no  note  of 
the  trading  of  sacrifice  for  salvation  : 
"  O  my  mistress,  greatly  am  I  yoked  to  evil; 

0  my  mistress,  thou  hast  surrounded  me  and  hast  appointed  me  to 

pain; 

The  strong  enemy,  like  a  solitary  has  cut  me  down ; 
No  message  have  I  received;  myself  have  I  not  understood; 
Like  a  field  day  and  night  do  I  mourn ; 

1  thy  servant  bow  myself  before  thee ; 

May  thy  heart  be  quieted ;  may  thy  liver  be  appeased." 

The  liver  and  the  heart  together  constantly  appear  as  the 
organs  of  aroused  feeling,  and  rest  for  the  heart-,  quiet  for 
the  liver,  are  supposed  to  bring  back  divine  good- will. 

"  May  his  pure  heart  rest,  may  the  prayer  address  him; 

May  his  heart  rest  in  quietude ; 

May  the  heart  of  his  lordship  rest  in  quietude; 
'  O  heart,  turn  thyself,  turn  thyself,'  let  it  be  said  to  him; 
'  O  heart,  rest,  rest,'  let  it  be  said  to  him ; 

He  grants  much  to  his  heart  who  judges  grace." 

"  Look  favorably  upon  me; 
Turn  thy  face  toward  me ; 
May  thy  heart  be  at  rest; 
May  thy  liver  be  quieted ; 
May  thy  heart,  like  the  heart  of  a  mother  who  has  borne  children? 

return  to  its  place; 

As  a  mother  who  has  borne  children,  as  a  father  who  has  begotten, 
may  it  return  to  its  place." 

Another  element  of  Babylonian  scripture  consists  of 
Litanies,  not  less  early  than  the  psalms,  and  written  in  the 
old  Akkadian  dialect.  They  were  attached  to  psalms  in 


82  THE  BABYLONIAN  SCRIPTURES. 

liturgical  use,  and  left  in  the  old  language  when  the  psalm 
was  translated  into  Semitic  (Assyrian).  They  may  date  not 
later  than  4000  B.C.  One  of  these  says  : 

"  May  thy  life  make  my  life  like  a  crystal,  may  it  grant  mercy; 
O  my  god  and  my  goddess  who  judge  me,  may  my  land 
Be  blessed  like  gold  in  the  mouth  of  men ; 
Like  a  seal  may  my  troubles  be  sent  far  away ; 
Never  may  the  evil  and  unpropitious  curse  approach  me,  never  may 

it  fetter; 

In  thy  sight  may  my  name  and  my  double  be  guided  aright ; 
May  the  medicines  and  the  rites  which  are  established  before  thee  put 

away  all  that  is  harmful  to  my  image ; 

Never  may  the  strength  and  anger  of  the  god  draw  nigh  to  me ; 
May  the  bondage  of  wickedness  and  sin  explain,  to  the  man  the  curse ; 
May  the  lifting  up  the  hand  and  the  invocation  of  the  great  gods, 
In  thy  sight,  O  strong  one,  ask  for  the  command : 
Like  the  heavens  may  I  be  pure  when  enchantments  befall, 
Like  the  earth  may  I  be  bright  in  the  time  of  evil  witchcraft; 
Like  the  midst  of  heaven  may  I  shine,  may  I  make  the  multitude  of 

my  evils  to  fear; 
May  the  green  corn  purify  me ; 
May  the  herb  of  Venus  absolve  me : 
May  the  tree-trunk  take  away  my  sin ; 
May  the  cup  of  pure  water  of  Merodach  confer  a  blessing; 
May  the  twofold  fire  of  the  Fire-god  and  the  Sun-god  enlighten  me; 
By  the  command  of  Ea,  the  king  of  the  deep,  the  god  of  wisdom, 
At  the  lifting  up  of  my  hand  may  thy  heart  have  rest,  may  Merodach, 

the  hero  of  the  gods,  give  thee  rest ; 
May  the  word  of  Ea  be  exalted." 

At  a  later  date  than  any  of  the  priestly  writings  in  use  as 
scripture,  but  still  more  than  2,000  years  before  Christ,  there 
were  produced  great  poems  rich  in  natural  scripture,  or  the 
story  of  things  divine  and  human.  Mr.  Sayce  says  of  these : 

"The  mythological  poems  grew  out  of  the  development  of  a  solar 
worship  and  the  personification  of  the  attributes  of  the  gods.  Two  of 
these  poems  we  possess  intact,  one  on  the  Deluge,  and  one  on  the  De- 
scent of  Istar  into  Hades— the  sixth  and  eleventh  book  of  a  very  remark- 
able epic  in  twelve  books;  and  part  of  a  third  which  describes  the  war 
of  the  seven  evil  spirits  against  the  Moon-god." 

The  ideas  of  these  poems  were  largely  borrowed  in  Hebrew 
scripture,  Mr.  Sayce  says  : 


THE  BABYLONIAN  SCRIPTURES.  83 

"  The  details  of  the  Chaldean  cosmogony  show  a  remarkable  resem- 
blance to  the  cosmogonies  of  Genesis  and  Phoenicia.  It  must  be  remem- 
bered that  both  Phoanicians  and  Hebrews  profess  to  have  migrated  from 
Chaldea.  The  resemblance  is  still  more  striking  when  we  examine  the 
Babylonian  mythology.  The  sacred  tree  of  Babylonia,  with  its  guardian 
'cherubs,' — a  word  which  seems  of  Akkadian  origin, — recall  Biblical 
analogies,  while  the  Noachian  deluge  differs  but  slightly  from  the  Chal- 
dean one.  Indeed,  the  Jehovistic  version  of  the  flood  story  in  Genesis 
agrees  not  only  in  details  but  even  in  phraseology  with  that  which 
forms  the  eleventh  book  of  the  great  Babylonian  epic." 

"  The  old  Shamanistic  ideas  survived  in  Assyria  and  Babylonia,  and 
so  were  handed  on  to  the  Jews.  Through  the  Jews  and  the  various 
Gnostic  systems  of  early  Christianity,  the  primitive  doctrines  of  Akkad 
found  their  way  into  the  mediaeval  church.  Even  the  phylacteries  of  the 
Jews  go  back  to  the  same  origin." 

The  deluge  story  in  Genesis  gives  occasion  to  the  author 
of  a  recent  handbook  of  the  science  of  religion  to  say  of 
"the  relations  between  the  Babylonian  and  Israelite  ac- 
counts": 

"That  in  spite  of  many  differences,  they  are  still  one  and  the  same 
story,  can  be  doubted  as  little  as  that  the  originality  belongs  to  the 
Chaldean  account." 

"The  account  in  the  eleventh  tablet  of  the  Izdubar  epic  tallies  as  a 
whole,  as  well  as  in  detail,  with  the  two  accounts  which  the  editor  of 
Genesis  has  combined,  and  more  especially  with  the  most  ancient,  com- 
monly called  the  Jahvist." 

And  of  the  creation  story  the  same  authority  says : 
''We  find  an  original  chaotic  existence  and  an  original  water  in 
Genesis  as  well  as  in  the  Babylonian  accounts.  Similarly,  we  find  an 
essential  agreement  in  the  conception  of  creation,  as  the  arranging  of 
already  existing  matter,  in  the  idea  of  a  separation  between  heaven  and 
earth,  and  in  the  thought  of  the  uniting  of  divine  life  with  earthly  dust 
at  the  creation  of  man." 

The  Babylonian  deluge  tale,  as  it  has  come  down  to  us, 
was  composed  more  than  2,000  years  before  Christ.  Among 
the  most  dreaded  disturbers  of  nature  was  the  mdtu,  or  tem- 
pest, the  wind  that  every  year,  in  the  month  of  Sebat,  or 
January,  brought  "the  curse  of  rain,"  and  in  seasons  of 
special  disturbance  of  nature  might  cover  a  great  extent  of 
the  land  with  a  flood  of  waters.  The  Persian  gulf  is  a  long 


84  THE  BABYLONIAN  SCRIPTURES. 

arm  of  the  Indian  Ocean,  lying  within  the  region  of  typhoons, 
and  if,  when  the  rivers  Euphrates  and  Tigris  were  in  flood, 
covering  the  alluvial  plain  of  Babylonia  with  a  wide  over- 
flow, there  chanced  a  hurricane  from  the  southeast,  driving 
the  waters  of  the  shallow  gulf  inland,  there  might  occur  a 
destructive  deluge  fully  up  to  the  mark  of  the  story  told  by 
Babylonian  scripture.  In  our  own  time  such  a  flood  in  the 
delta  of  the  Ganges  has  swept  over  3,000  square  miles  and 
destroyed  100,000  people. 

Among  the  Akkadian  ideas  was  that  of  beneficial  influ- 
ence from  sprinkling  with  water,  that  of  revelation  through 
dreams,  that  of  a  seventh  day  of  sacred  obligation  as  a  day 
of  rest,  that  of  evil  spirits  or  demons  causing  diseases,  and 
the  whole  system  of  astrology  and  magic  so  widely  preva- 
lent as  the  popular  fringe  to  religion.  The  Sabbath  of  the 
Hebrews  was  far  earlier  "  the  day  of  rest  of  the  heart,"  ac- 
cording to  the  Akkadian  scripture,  which  said  : 

u  On  the  seventh  day  he  appointed  a  holy  day, 
And  to  cease  from  all  business  he  commanded." 

In  Akkadian  scripture,  says  the  Rev.  H.  G.  Tomkins,  in  a 
sketch  of  the  "  Life  and  Times  of  Abraham,"  '  we  read  heart- 
felt prayers,  praises  and  adorations,  and  sacred  narratives 
carefully  recorded  and  honestly  believed ;  psalms  of  adora- 
tion, humble  and  penitent  prayers ;  and  we  only  need  to 
change  the  object  to  stand  rebuked  by  their  devotion.  Their 
attainment  of  a  high  civilization,  general  cultivation,  and  a 
remarkable  social  polity,  left  the  Semitic  people  of  Assyria 
and  Israel  to  borrow  from  them  their  words  for  rule,  author- 
ity, law,  their  system  of  writing,  their  mythology,  literature, 
laws,  and  almost  every  art  of  civilization.'  A  hand-book  of 
the  religions  of  the  world  says : 

"In  the  region  round  the  mouths  of  the  Euphrates  and  Tigris  there 
flourished  a  proto-Baby Ionian  civilization,  from  which  the  Semitic  emi- 
grants borrowed  their  civilization,  and  with  it  also  their  writing.  This 
Akkadian-Sumerian  civilization  is  certainly  one  of  the  oldest  in  the 
world.  It  was  inherited  by  the  Semites  who  settled  in  Mesopotamia, 
and  is  of  importance  in  the  history  of  the  world  as  the  principal  agent 
m  the  formation  of  the  Babylonia*!- Assyrian  civilization.  The  elements 


THE  BABYLONIAN  SCRIPTURES.  86 

of  civilization  which  the  Semites  of  Mesopotamia  owed  to  this  un- Sem- 
itic people  they  transmitted  to  their  ethnic  relatives  in  western  Asia, 
more  especially  to  the  Israelites  and  Phoenicians.  From  these  last  the 
Greeks  likewise  received  it.  In  the  view  of  some  scholars  not  only  are 
there  proofs  that  civilization  was  older  on  the  Euphrates  than  on  the 
Nile,  but  in  writing,  in  art,  such  as  the  building  of  pyramids,  and  in 
mythology  also,  Egypt  shows  that  it  is  dependent  on  ancient  Babylonian 
culture." 

Of  dates  and  details  in  the  story  of  Akkadian  culture,  and 
of  the  significance  of  many  facts  as  they  have  been  deci- 
phered, we  have  yet  much  to  learn.  The  researches  of  George 
Smith,  uncovering  great  numbers  of  the  books  made  by  writ- 
ing on  tablets  of  clay,  found  a  record  in  a  work  entitled 
"The  Chaldean  Genesis,  containing  the  description  of  the 
creation,  the  fall  of  man,  the  deluge,  the  tower  of  Babel,  the 
times  of  the  patriarchs,  and  Nimrod";  and  under  each  head 
he  showed  that  the  stories  in  which  the  Hebrews  dressed 
their  early  history  were  very  old  Akkadian  stories  as  far 
back  as  perhaps  2000  B.C.,  the  written  form  of  which  was 
much  older  than  the  age  of  Moses.  The  seven  days  of  crea- 
tion and  the  seventh  day  of  rest  were  Akkadian  before  they 
were  Hebrew.  Of  the  earlier  inscriptions  copied  on  later 
tablets  which  have  been  preserved,  Mr.  Smith  declared  that 
they  "  have  preserved  to  us  texts  which  show  the  wonderful 
advance  made  by  the  people  of  Chaldea  before  the  time  of 
Moses."  Of  the  "  Babylonian  legend  of  the  creation "  Mr. 
Smith  said : 

"  The  story,  so  far  as  I  can  judge  from  the  fragment,  agrees  generally 
with  the  account  of  the  creation  in  the  book  of  Genesis,  but  shows  traces 

of  having  originally  included  very  much  more  matter The  race 

of  human  beings  are  called  Admi  or  Adami,  which  is  exactly  the  name 
given  to  the  first  man  in  Genesis.  The  word  Adam  used  in  these  legends 
for  the  first  human  being  is  evidently  not  a  proper  name,  but  is  only 
used  as  a  term  for  mankind.  Adam  appears  as  a  proper  name  ha  Gene- 
sis, but  certainly  in  some  passages  is  only  used  in  the  same  sense  as  the 
Assyrian  word  (as  in  Gen  v.  1, — '  male  and  female  created  he  them,  and 
called  them  Adam ').  It  has  been  pointed  out  by  Sir  Henry  Rawlinson 
that  the  Babylonians  recognized  two  principal  races  :  the  Adamu  or 
dark  race,  and  the  Sarku,  or  light  race,  probably  in  the  same  manner 
that  two  races  are  mentioned  in  Genesis,  the  sons  of  Adam  and  the  sons 


86  THE  BABYLONIAN  SCRIPTURES. 

of  God.  It  appears  incidentally  from  the  fragments  of  inscriptions, 
that  it  was  the  race  of  Adam,  or  the  dark  race,  which  was  believed  to 
have  fallen." 

After  reviewing  details,  of  which  a  part  only  are  preserved, 
Mr.  Smith  said : 

"  Thus  it  is  evident  that  a  form  of  the  story  of  the  fall,  similar  to  that 
of  Genesis,  was  known  in  early  times  in  Babylonia.  The  dragon  which 
leads  man  to  sin  is  an  embodiment  of  the  spirit  of  chaos  or  disorder 
which  was  opposed  to  the  deities  at  the  creation  of  the  world.  It  is 
clear  that  the  dragon  is  included  in  the  curse  for  the  fall,  and  that  the 
gods  invoke  on  the  head  of  the  human  race  all  the  evils  which  afflict 
humanity.  Wisdom  and  knowledge  shall  injure  him,  he  shall  have 
family  quarrels,  shall  submit  to  tyranny,  he  will  anger  the  gods,  he 
shall  not  eat  the  fruit  of  his  labor,  he  shall  be  disappointed  in  his  desires, 
he  shall  pour  out  useless  prayer,  he  shall  have  trouble  of  mind  and  body, 
he  shall  commit  future  sin." 

After  an  account  of  further  details,  Mr.  Smith  went  on 
to  say : 

"These  fragments  of  the  cuneiform  account  of  the  creation  and  fall 
agree  so  far  as  they  are  preserved  with  the  Biblical  account,  and  show 
that  in  the  period  from  B.C.  2000  to  1500  the  Babylonians  believed  in  a 
similar  story  to  that  in  Genesis.  It  appears  from  the  tablets  that  all 
these  legends  were  '  traditions '  or  '  stories '  repeated  by  word  of  mouth, 
and  afterwards  committed  to  writing.  When  such  traditions  are  not 
reduced  to  writing,  they  are  liable  to  vary,  sometimes  very  widely. 
Thus  many  different  versions  of  a  story  arise,  and  there  can  be  no  doubt 
that  this  was  actually  the  case  with  the  creation  legends." 

After  reciting  fragments  which  seem  to  refer  to  a  god  of 
pestilence  Mr.  Smith  said,  in  terms  recalling  a  notable  pas- 
sage of  Hebrew  scripture : 

"  Here  we  see  a  picture  of  oriental  feeling  with  reference  to  natural 
phenomena  or  disasters  to  mankind.  It  is  supposed  that  some  deity  or 
angel  stands  with  a  sword  over  the  devoted  people  and  sweeps  them  into 
eternity.  .  .  .  On  the  spread  of  a  plague  it  is  evident  that  the  Babylo- 
nians had  no  better  means  of  arresting  it  than  to  pray,  and  to  praise  the 
supposed  terrible  deity  of  the  scourge,  that  he  might  sheathe  his  sword 
of  anger." 

One  of  the  most  complete  myths  of  the  ancient  Akkadian 
scripture  is  the  story  of  Istar's  journey  into  Hades  or  de- 
scent into  hell.  Some  lines  of  this,  as  Mr.  Smith  deciphered 
them,  were  these : 


THE  BABYLONIAN  SCRIPTURES.  87 

"  I  descend  to  the  house  of  darkness, 
To  the  house  entering  which  there  is  no  exit, 
To  the  road  the  course  of  which  never  returns, 
To  the  house  in  which  the  dwellers  long  for  light, 
The  place  where  dust  is  their  nourishment, 
And  light  is  never  seen ;  in  darkness  they  dwell, 
Dwell  the  chiefs  and  unconquered  ones, 
Dwell  the  bards  and  great  men, 
Dwell  the  monsters  of  the  deep  of  the  great  gods, 
The  Queen  of  the  lower  regions,  Ninkigal, 
And  there  is  not  any  that  stands  against  her  in  her  presence." 

At  the  passing  of  the  several  gates  the  keeper  of  Hades  took  away 
something  from  Istar, — 

"  The  first  gate  he  passed  her  through, 

And  he  took  away  the  great  crown  of  her  head; 

The  second,  he  took  away  the  earrings  of  her  ears ; 

The  third,  he  took  away  the  necklace  of  her  neck ; 

The  fourth,  he  took  away  the  ornaments  of  her  breast; 

The  fifth,  he  took  away  the  binding  girdle  of  her  waist ; 

The  sixth,  he  took  away  the  bracelets  of  her  hands  and  her  feet; 

And  the  seventh,  he  took  away  the  covering  cloak  of  her  body;" 
and  each  time,  as  Istar  asked  why,  the  answer  was, 
"  On  entering,  Lady,  the  goddess  of  the  lower  regions 

Does  thus  with  her  visitors." 
When  the  two  divine  ladies  met, 

"  Ninkigal  saw  her  and  at  her  presence  was  angry, 

Istar  did  not  consider  and  at  her  swore." 

It  was  a  sad  day  for  gods  and  men  when  Istar  came  not  back  from 
Hades,  until  the  Queen  thereof  gave  order  to  her  attendant, 
"  Over  Istar  pour  the  water  of  life, 

And  bring  her  to  me," 
and 

"  He  brought  out  the  spirit  and  seated  it  on  the  golden  throne, 

On  Istar  he  poured  the  water  of  life  and  brought  her," 
and  passing  her  back  through  the  seven  gates,  at  each  returned  to  her 
what  had  been  taken  there  from  her,  until  she  was  again  restored  to  the 
place  of  the  living. 

It  was  from  this  early  Babylonian  example  of  sacred 
scripture  that  Hebrew  ideas  of  a  scripture  of  divine  author- 
ity started,  and  those  who  executed  these  ideas  borrowed 
largely  the  identical  materials  of  the  Babylonian  Bible,  in- 


88  THE  BABYLONIAN  SCRIPTURES. 

eluding  essential  points  of  the  system  of  belief  found  by 
theologians  in  the  passages  which  were  of  remote  Akkadian 
origin.  The  same  shadow  of  Akkadian  tradition  fell  on  the 
opening  page  of  the  New  Testament,  in  the  reference  to 
"  magi  from  the  east,"  who  came  to  Jerusalem  saying,  "  we 
saw  his  star  in  the  East."  It  already  begins  to  appear  as  if 
the  Bibles  of  Egypt,  of  Judea,  of  Mohammed,  and  in  a  very 
limited  sense  of  Christianity,  might  be  found  pendent  to  the 
old  Babylonian  Bible,  in  an  outward  unity  calculated  to  sug- 
gest how  natural  to  man  the  making  of  Bibles  has  been; 
and  when  we  see  the  even  more  remarkable  illustration  of  it 
in  the  Bibles  of  Persia,  of  Brahmanical  Hinduism,  of  Budd- 
hism, and  of  China,  all  creating  scriptures  of  absolute 
authority,  with  results  very  mixed  of  benefit  and  bane,  the 
thoughtful  student,  inclined  to  the  service  of  divine  truth, 
may  perhaps  raise  in  regard  to  all  Bibles,  in  respect  of  text 
and  letter,  the  previous  question  of  the  spirit,  as  alone  con- 
cerned in  divine  revelation. 

NOTE. — A  discovery  made  in  Egypt  in  1887,  Mr.  Sayce  tells  us  in  his 
recentvolume  on ' '  The  Higher  Criticism  and  the  Monuments,"  has  com- 
pelled an  entirely  new  view  of  the  lands  lying  between  Babylonia  and 
Egypt,  in  a  part  of  which  the  Israelites  settled  as  conquerors  of  an  earlier 
people.  At  Tel  El-Amarna  in  Egypt,  on  the  eastern  bank  of  the  Nile,  have 
been  found  a  mass  of  documents,  letters  of  importance,  written  in  the 
cuneiform  characters  of  Babylonia  on  tablets  of  clay.  They  are  the 
official  correspondence  received  by  two  kings  of  Egypt,  father  and  son, 
of  whom  the  father  had  married  a  daughter  of  a  monarch  on  the  Eu- 
phrates, and  the  son  had  been  half  of  his  mother's  religion  as  well  as 
blood,  and  had  made  a  capital  at  Tel  El-Amarna,  when  the  priests 
proved  too  strong  for  him  at  Thebes.  The  Semitic  worship  of  a  form 
of  the  Sun-god  had  been  brought  to  the  Nile  by  this  half  foreign  king, 
and  it  ended  in  disaster — probably  his  murder.  The  memory  of  it  all 
is  found  on  the  tablets  dug  up  at  Tel  El-Amarna,  on  which  appear 
letters  from  the  kings  of  Babylonia  and  Assyria,  of  Mesopotamia,  Cap- 
padocia,  and  Northern  Syria,  as  also  from  Egyptian  governors  and 
protected  princes  in  Palestine  and  the  lands  adjoining.  The  tongue 
in  which  they  are  written  is  almost  invariably  Babylonian,  and  they 
show  that  in  all  Western  Asia  the  populations  were,  to  use  the  words 
of  Mr.  Sayce,  "  as  highly  cultured  and  literary  as  the  populations  of 
Western  Europe  in  the  age  of  the  Renaissance. "  The  facts  clearly  made 
out  prove  that  in  the  century  before  the  Exodus,  the  Babylonian  language 


THE  BABYLONIAN  SCRIPTURES.  89 

was  the  common  medium  of  literary  intercourse  throughout  a  thoroughly 
civilized  East,  from  the  banks  of  the  Euphrates  to  those  of  the  Nile, 
and  that  the  culture  of  Babylonia  had  penetrated  across  the  whole 
region  towards  Egypt,  carrying  schools,  teachers,  libraries,  and  archives 
attesting  universal  use  of  books  and  letters.  The  complicated  syllabary 
of  Babylonia,  along  with  the  Babylonian  language,  had  been  so  long 
taught  and  learned  as  to  permit  varieties  to  spring  up,  showing  the 
same  characters  in  different  forms,  in  various  parts  of  the  Palestinian 
region.  A  difficult  language,  and  a  very  difficult  system  of  writing, 
had  been  mastered,  with  developments  which  go  back  many  centuries 
from  the  time  of  the  Tel  El-Amarna  letters,  and  show  that  for  ages 
learning  and  enlightenment  had  overspread  the  whole  West  from 
Babylonia  to  the  shores  of  the  Mediterranean,  and  the  borders  of 
Egypt.  It  is  a  relic  of  this  state  of  things  to  which  reference  is  made 
in  the  mention  of  Kir jath-sepher,  ' '  the  city  of  books, "  which  is  also 
called  Kirjath-sannah,  "city  of  instruction."  Many  such  cities,  which 
were  the  seats  of  libraries  and  centres  of  instruction,  went  down  under 
the  Israelitish  conquest.  It  is  now  absolutely  proven  that  the  Hebrews, 
as  also  the  Moabites,  Ammonites,  and  Edomites,  adopted  the  language 
of  the  Canaanites,  the  more  civilized  and  cultivated  people  whose  seats 
they  seized,  and  sank  into  all  their  superstitions  and  abominations, 
while  blighting  their  culture.  The  Istar  of  Babylonia,  made  by  Sem- 
itic influences  the  goddess  of  fertility  and  the  queen  of  heaven  or 
moon-god,  Ashtoreth,  became  a  specially  Canaanite  goddess,  and 
was  most  particularly  adopted  by  the  Hebrews  down  to  the  time  of 
Jeremiah.  Semitic  polytheism,  as  it  spread  across  the  West  to  the 
borders  of  Egypt,  found  no  worse  polytheists  than  the  Hebrews  from 
their  coming  into  Canaan  to  Solomon,  who  was  a  devotee  of  plural 
marriage  and  polytheism  to  the  last  age  of  the  monarchy  called  after 
David.  To  all  appearance  Babylonia  and  Egypt  would  have  made  the 
whole  region,  from  the  Euphrates  to  the  Nile,  a  land  of  culture  if  there 
had  never  taken  place  the  surging  up  from  the  desert  towards  Sinai  of 
rude  and  ruthless  nomad  tribes  whose  religion  was  one  of  conquest  and 
slaughter,  and  of  promiscuous  acceptance  of  the  worse  things  of  the 
conquered. 


Tfte 

and  Faltft  o 


THAT  "Egypt  is  believed  to  have  been  peopled  from 
Asia,  and  to  have  derived  her  knowledge  thence,  not 
from  the  African  continent";  and  that  "it  is  now  acknowl- 
edged that  the  Egyptians,  although  much  changed  by  an 
intermixture  of  Arab  blood,  were  more  related  to  the 
Caucasian  than  to  the  negro  type,"  are  opinions  worthy 
of  respect,  although  no  evidence  of  migration  from  the  Eu- 
phrates, or  by  way  of  the  Euphrates  from  the  farther  east, 
into  the  land  of  the  Nile,  can  be  alleged.  In  a  general  way 
it  seems  as  though  the  humanity  bred  at  Eridu  in  the  name 
of  Ea  the  Beneficent  and  Merodach  the  Merciful  had  found 
on  the  Nile  conditions  of  climate,  of  favoring  air  and  unsur- 
passable glories  of  light,  the  light  especially  of  the  western 
sky  at  sunset,  which  tended  to  elevation,  to  refinement,  and 
to  very  bright  faith  in  what  was  beyond  the  gates  ajar  of 
the  under- world  of  the  setting  sun.  Birch  says,  in  speaking 
of  Egypt  from  the  earliest  times : 

"The  Egyptian  enjoyed  all  the  pleasures  of  existence,  and  delighted 
more  in  the  arts  of  peace  than  of  war.  In  his  religious  belief  the  idea 
of  a  future  state  was  ever  present  to  his  mind,  while — and  his  long  life 
was  one  preparation  for  death — to  be  devoted  or  pious  to  the  gods,  obe- 
dient to  the  wishes  of  his  sovereign,  affectionate  towards  his  wife  and 
children,  were  the  maxims  inculcated  for  his  domestic  or  inner  life. 
Beyond  that  circle  his  duties  to  mankind  were  comprised  in  giving 
bread  to  the  hungry,  drink  to  the  thirsty,  clothes  to  the  naked,  oil  to  the 
wounded,  and  burial  to  the  dead.  On  the  exercise  of  good  works  he 
rested  his  hopes  of  passing  the  ordeal  of  the  future  and  great  judgment, 
and  reaching  the  Aahlu  or  Elysian  fields  and  Pools  of  Peace  of  the 
Egyptian  Paradise." 
(90) 


DIANA  OF  EPHESUS.— The  Greek  Artemis,  sister  of  Apollo,  and  a  huntress  with 
bow  and  quiver,  was  merged  at  Ephesus  in  a  goddess  of  fertility,  a  mother-deity,  making 
the  Diana  of  the  Ephesians,  for  whom  a  temple  of  great  wealth  and  splendor  was 
maintained. 

- 


THE  BOOK  AND  FAITH  OF  EGYPT.  91 

The  earlier  stages  of  Egyptian  development  already  reveal 
this  high  ideal  of  life  and  of  human  destiny,  but  even  the 
outlines  and  the  general  dates  of  progress  are  not  made  out 
with  any  certainty.  In  the  St.  Giles  lectures  on  the  Faiths 
of  the  World,  Dr.  James  Dodds,  speaking  of  Egypt,  said : 

' '  The  religion  of  ancient  Egypt  can  be  traced  back,  through  vari- 
ous authentic  sources,  for  more  than  three  thousand  years,  the  last 
centuries  of  which  coincide  with  the  first  centuries  of  the  Christian 
religion,  before  whose  progress  it  gradually  disappeared.  Not  that 
even  these  long  cycles  bring  us  face  to  face  with  the  first  beginnings  of 
religious  faith  in  Egypt ;  old  as  are  the  memorials  in  which  its  character 
and  features  are  enshrined,  these  testify  to  us  of  a  religion  already 
established  and  developed.  Religion  in  Egypt  is  older  far  than  the 
monuments.  Egyptian  religion  cannot  be  traced  to  its  fountain-head. 
Far  back  as  we  can  penetrate  wre  find  a  full-flowing  stream.  Seno- 
pheru,  a  monarch  of  the  third  dynasty,  who  carved  his  name,  not  only 
in  his  own  land,  but  on  the  rocks  and  in  the  caverns  of  Sinai,  subju- 
gated the  Arabs  of  the  Sinai  peninsula,  and  worked  its  mines,  not  less 
than  two  thousand  six  hundred  years  before  Rome  was  founded,  and 
eleven  hundred  years  before  Abraham  was  born. 

"From  whatever  source  we  gather  our  information  regarding  ancient 
Egypt,  there  is  perfect  agreement  as  to  the  prominent  place  which  relig- 
ion occupied  in  the  life  and  manners  of  the  people.  In  the  middle  of 
the  fifth  century  before  our  era,  Herodotus  visited  Egypt,  and  that 
which  impressed  him  most  throughout  his  travels  in  the  country  was 
the  intense  devotion  of  the  people.  He  devotes  no  fewer  than  forty-one 
consecutive  chapters  to  a  description  of  the  priests,  the  temples,  and  the 
religious  ceremonies  of  Egypt.  The  first  Egyptian  edifice  of  any  pre- 
tension, he  tells  us,  was  a  temple.  In  all  the  cities  of  Egypt,  and 
wherever  men  were  gathered,  capacious  edifices  lifted  up  their  heads 
and  invited  the  people  to  worship.  The  services  held  within  them  were 
maintained  with  all  the  aids  that  art  could  furnish  to  make  them 
attractive  and  inviting  to  the  multitude.  A  numerous  priesthood  main- 
tained a  costly  and  perpetual  ceremonial.  Clothed  in  robes  of  the 
richest  materials  and  rarest  workmanship — robes  of  which  the  modern 
ecclesiastical  vestments  of  the  Greek  and  Roman  churches  are  the  imita- 
tion and  the  relics — the  priests  passed  in  procession  through  crowds  of 
worshippers,  now  chanting  in  full  chorus  the  praises  of  the  gods,  now 
n  humility  oif  adoration  bending  before  their  altars  and  invoking  their 
favor  and  protection.  The  great  temple  of  each  city  was  the  centre  of 
its  life,  the  bond  of  civic  fellowship,  and  the  pride  and  joy  of  the  inhab- 
itants. Religion  permeated  the  whole  being  of  the  people.  The  priests 
were  the  practical  rulers  of  the  nation,  and  the  representatives  of  its 


92  THE  BOOK  AND  FAITH  OF  EGYPT. 

intellectual  activity.     Literature,  art,  science,  had  hardly  any  other 
home  than  the  temple. 

' '  But  numerous  as  are  the  manuscripts  that  have  come  down  to  us, 
no  writing  has  been  discovered  in  which  an  Egyptian  priest  or  theolo- 
gian has  set  forth  the  religious  system  of  his  countrymen.  Eminent 
scholars  maintain  that  the  Egyptian  religion  was  to  the  learned  a  sys- 
tem that  combined  belief  in  one  self-existent  God  with  a  speculative 
philosophy  that  concerned  itself  with  the  nature  of  God  and  the  destiny 
of  man.  '  The  first  characteristic  of  this  religion,'  says  M.  de  Rouge,  '  is 
the  unity  of  God,  most  energetically  expressed.'  In  proof  of  this  state- 
ment he  quotes  such  sentences  as  these:  '  God — one,  sole,  and  only;  no 
others  with  him.'  '  He  is  the  only  being  living  in  truth.'  '  Thou  art 
one,  and  millions  of  beings  proceed  from  thee.'  'He  has  made  every 
thing,  and  he  alone  has  not  been  made.'  On  a  staircase  of  the  British 
Museum  may  be  seen  a  papyrus,  which  speaks  of  '  The  great  God,  Lord 
of  heaven  and  earth,  who  made  all  things  which  are ' ;  and  Renouf  asks, 
'  Where  shall  we  find  such  a  prayer  in  heathen  Greek,  or  Roman  times, 
as  this:  O  my  God  and  Lord,  who  hast  made  me  and  formed  me,  give 
me  an  eye  to  see  and  an  ear  to  hear  thy  glories.'  '  The  Almighty  God, 
the  self -existent,  who  made  heaven  and  earth,'  is  made  to  say:  'I  am 
the  maker  of  the  heaven  and  the  earth,  and  of  the  mysteries  of  the 
twofold  horizon.  When  I  open  my  eyes  there  is  light;  when  I  close 
them  there  is  darkness.'  Another  text  says:  'O  God,  architect  of  the 
world ;  thou  sustainest  the  substances  which  thou  hast  made.  It  is  by 
thine  own  strength  that  thou  movest.  The  roaring  of  thy  voice  is  in 
the  cloud,  thy  breath  is  in  the  mountain  tops.  Heaven  and  earth  obey 
the  commands  which  thou  hast  given.' " 

In  the  same  course  of  notable  lectures  by  representative 
Christian  divines,  Rev.  Dr.  Robert  Flint  said  of  the  charac- 
teristic feature  of  Egyptian  faith  : 

"The  ancient  Egyptian  turned  with  all  his  love  and  interest  to  the 
future.  The  present  life  he  comparatively  little  esteemed,  because  he 
contrasted  it  with  a  higher,  and  better,  and  fuller  life,  only  to  be  real- 
ized in  the  next  world.  The  Egyptians  had  a  strong  and  steady  sense 
of  a  divine  and  righteous  government  of  the  world,  and  a  wonderfully 
firm  and  operative  conviction  of  a  future  life  dependent  in  character  on 
personal  conduct  in  the  present.  To  have  expressed  this  sense,  to  have 
maintained  this  faith,  was  the  glory  of  the  old  Egyptian  religion." 

The  testimony  of  another  of  our  best  authorities  is  as  fol- 
lows: 

"  It  is  sufficiently  clear  that  the  Egyptians  attributed  to  the  human 
soul  a  divine  origin,  that  they  held  that  it  was  throughout  life  engaged 


THE  BOOK  AND  FAITH  OF  EGYPT.  93 

in  the  warfare  of  good  and  evil,  and  that  after  life  its  final  state  was  de- 
termined by  judgment  according  to  its  doings  on  earth.  Those  who 
were  justified  before  Osiris  passed  into  perpetual  happiness,  those  who 
were  condemned  into  perpetual  misery.  The  justified  took  the  name  of 
Osiris,  the  judge,  under  which  they  indeed  had  appeared  for  judgment." 

In  this  scheme  of  judgment  by  Osiris,  and  redemption  by 
having  come  under  his  name  and  being  found  in  him,  the 
Judging  Osiris  corresponds  very  closely  to  the  Judging  Christ 
of  Christian  conception.  But  with  this  elevated  view  went 
an  extensive  popular  usage  of  superstitious  ceremonies  and 
forms,  on  the  same  plane  as  the  old  Akkadian  Shamanism, 
or  spiritism,  a  religion  of  incantations,  charms,  sacramental 
embalming,  and  burial  fancies,  under  a  priesthood,  which 
not  a  little  degraded  genuine  culture,  pure  worship,  and 
care  for  an  honest  life.  The  Greek  idea  of  the  Egyptians 
as  the  oldest,  wisest,  and  most  religious  people  in  the  world, 
was  not  only  got  by  an  exaggeration  of  Egyptian  facts,  but 
it  was  got  in  complete  ignorance  of  such  remote  origins  as 
the  Akkadian  or  Babylonian,  the  Vedic  or  Hindu,  and  the 
Chinese.  Akkadian  origins  stand  before  Egyptian  and 
Hindu  stand  far  above  them.  The  religion  of  Egypt  shows 
animism  or  spiritism  crowding  its  lower  level  with  every 
possible  deification  of  natural  objects,  while  above  emerge 
some  lofty  ideas  of  divinity,  both  natural  and  spiritual. 

The  most  common  deity  is  Ra  the  sun-god.  He  is  praised 
as  the  creator  and  ruler  of  the  world.  Horus  was  a  sun-god 
or  the  heaven  almost  as  much  worshipped  as  Ra.  Osiris 
again  was  the  sun-god  in  another  aspect,  above  all  things  a 
god  of  the  dead,  more  especially  in  a  beneficial  way.  Thot 
is  the  moon-god,  the  god  of  civilization  and  of  knowledge 
and  writing.  At  Memphis  Ptah  was  one  of  the  oldest  and 
most  important  gods,  and  at  Thebes  not  only  was  Ammon, 
or  Ammon-Ra,  one  of  the  greatest  gods,  but  he  finally  swal- 
lowed up  all  others,  and  was  worshipped  as  the  creator  and 
the  ruler  of  both  gods  and  men,  the  creator  of  the  whole 
earth,  calling  forth  light,  giving  growth  to  plants  and  sus- 
tenance to  animals,  supporting  all  things,  and  over  all  the 
One  Supreme. 


94  THE  BOOK  AND  FAITH  OF  EGYPT. 

There  everywhere  appears  a  tendency  to  identify  all  the 
gods  one  with  another.  At  a  very  early  date  almost  all  were 
represented  as  gods  of  light.  Any  one  god,  without  exclud- 
ing the  others,  may  be  worshipped  as  the  highest,  in  whom 
all  the  others  meet.  The  thought  of  piety  reaches  to  a 
supreme  permeating  the  whole  world,  creating  the  order  of 
nature,  and  especially  manifested  in  light.  Ra,  or  Ammon- 
Ra,  is  presented  as  the  creator,  the  absolute  whose  manifes- 
tation other  great  gods  are,  the  only  existing,  the  one  be- 
ing, the  father  of  the  gods,  the  one  who  shines  in  the  heavens 
but  rules  also  in  Ament  below,  the  hidden  and  the  revealed 
being.  Similarly  Osiris,  god  of  the  dead,  is  represented  as 
the  only  one,  who  is  worshipped  in  all  places  and  under 
many  forms,  the  master  of  life,  a  universal  god.  Thot  again, 
originally  the  moon -god,  was  a  god  of  measuring,  of  intelli- 
gence, of  writing,  who  at  the  judgment  in  the  lower  world 
sets  down  the  guilt  or  innocence  of  the  dead.  Theological 
speculation  made  him  the  divine  Word,  the  giver  of  victory 
to  light  over  darkness,  restorer  of  the  eye  of  the  sun,  creator 
of  cosmic  order,  god  of  truth,  the  unborn  only  god,  ruler  of 
heaven  and  earth,  originator  of  the  types  of  what  is  and 
what  shall  be.  The  goddess  Neith,  at  Sais,  whose  temple 
inscription  read,  "  I  am  what  is,  what  shall  be,  and  what  has 
been;  no  one  has  lifted  my  chiton;  the  sun  was  the  fruit  I 
bore,"  is  many  times  recognized  as  the  mother  of  Ra,  who 
created  everything.  So  Hathor  at  Dendera  is  described  as 
the  mother  of  God,  the  mistress  of  heaven,  and  the  creative 
goddess  of  light. 

The  vast  temples  of  Egypt  were  not  designed  as  a  place  of 
meeting  for  a  large  congregation  nor  as  a  dwelling  place  for 
the  priests,  but  only  as  a  place  for  keeping  the  images  of 
the  gods  and  the  sacred  vessels  and  the  treasures.  The 
priests  and  king  were  alone  admitted  into  the  actual  build- 
ing. A  certain  number  of  the  initiated  might  enter  the 
space  between  the  gate  and  the  temple.  In  the  temple  gifts 
were  oifered  to  the  gods  and  services  of  worship  conducted; 
and  there  were  arranged  the  processions  which  carried  about 
the  images  of  the  god. 


THE  BOOK  AND  tfAITH  OF  EGYPT.  95 

The  priests  were  an  aristocracy  rather  than  a  caste,  filled 
up  largely  by  members  of  noble  families,  chosen  by  the 
Pharaoh,  who  was  the  religious  as  well  as  political  head. 
Priests  often  filled  high  public  offices.  They  exercised  at  all 
times  the  influence  due  to  their  education.  They  were  the 
scribes  and  teachers  ;  literature  was  in  their  hands  ;  the  edu- 
cation of  statesmen  was  entirely  in  their  hands.  Their  dress 
was  of  linen,  and  in  their  ablutions  and  their  food  they  were 
subjected  to  strict  rules  of  purity.  There  were  priestesses 
for  goddesses,  and  even  for  Amon  at  Thebes  ;  ladies  of  noble 
family. 

Egyptian  life  was  strongly  influenced  by  thoughts  of 
death.  The  Egyptians  considered,  says  Diodorus,  the  houses 
of  the  living  as  inns,  and  the  tombs  of  the  dead  as  eternal 
habitations.  The  sarcophagus  was  called  "  the  lord  of  life," 
and  the  dead  were  called  "  the  living  ones."  If  the  expenses 
could  be  borne  an  "  everlasting  house  "  was  erected,  like  the 
pyramids,  or  brick  buildings  of  the  ancient  kingdom,  or  the 
rock  tombs  of  Upper  Egypt.  The  idea  of  preserving  the 
body  is  always  kept  in  mind.  Eighty  days  had  to  pass 
before  the  burial  of  the  embalmed  body  in  its  elaborately 
prepared  tomb,  fully  furnished  and  supplied  for  all  possi- 
ble wants  of  the  deceased.  Over  the  Nile  into  the  west  they 
always  went  for  burial,  and  the  last  farewells  were  taken, 
before  the  mummy,  made  to  stand  upright.  Of  the  dead 
three  parts  were  distinguished,  the  bodily  likeness  (Ka) 
which  rests  in  the  tomb;  the  soul  (Ba),  and  its  spiritual  sub- 
stance, the  luminous  being  (Khu),  both  of  which  depart,  to 
undergo  many  fates,  changes,  and  wanderings  in  other 
spheres.  That  there  may  take  place  a  resurrection  to  future 
life  the  dead  likeness  must  be  preserved,  or  a  statue  imitat- 
ing it,  the  object  being,  not  a  rising  out  of  corruption  of  the 
old  body,  but  identification  of  the  new  body  which  would 
be  given  to  the  surviving  soul  in  the  realm  of  incorruption. 

The  fate  of  the  soul  in  the  other  world,  and  the  nature  of 
that  world,  were  a  large  part  of  Egyptian  religion.  No  more 
remarkable  monument  of  belief  in  attainment  of  eternal  life, 
by  the  way  of  a  judgment  unto  justification  and  union  with 


96  THE  BOOK  AND  FAITH  OF  EGYPT. 

Deity,  has  ever  taken  shape  than  those  writings,  the  col- 
lected form  of  which  makes  what  scholars  call  the  Egyptian 
Book  of  the  Dead — a  Bible  of  judgment  and  immortality, 
designed  to  be  supplied  to  the  dead  as  a  handbook  of  pas- 
sage to  and  entrance  into  future  life,  by  the  way  of  judg- 
ment and  redemption.  In  the  larger  form  to  which  it  grew 
it  contains  165  chapters,  much  of  it  meaningless  ritual, 
reflection,  or  fable,  but  some  parts  a  vivid  picture  of  what 
life  on  earth  had  been,  how  the  scenes  of  judgment  would 
pass,  and  to  what  the  soul  would  come,  whether  of  immedi- 
ate felicity  or  of  purgatorial  experience  before  final  attain- 
ment of  eternal  life.  A  reviewer  of  the  literature  of  the  sub- 
ject, speaking  of  what  certain  chapters  of  the  Book  of  the 
Dead  reveal  to  us  of  faith  and  hope  "  from  the  foundation 
of  Egypt  in  the  depth  of  its  pre-historic  antiquity  down  to 
the  days  of  Porphyry  when  the  world  was  beginning  to  turn 
away  from  heathenism  to  Christianity," — has  said : 

"  There  is  a  constant  assertion  of  the  immortality  of  man,  his  mani- 
festation to  light  or  his  doom  to  interminable  transmigrations  for  pur- 
gation from  sin,  and  the  eventual  reunion  of  the  purified  soul  with 
the  deserted  human  body — a  characteristic  delusion  of  heathenism  bor- 
rowed by  the  Jews  after  the  captivity,  and  revived  in  a  corrupted 
Christianity.  There  was  always  the  same  aspiration  after  a  state  of 
more  perfect  happiness,  and  an  ambition  of  the  Egyptians  to  be  clothed 
with  divinity,  to  assume  the  very  nature  of  the  gods,  and  even  to  be 
identified,  one  by  one,  with  the  gods  of  their  peculiar  choice.  From 
age  to  age  it  was  persistently  believed  that  the  eminently  pure  and 
upright  man  would  become  at  once  a  renovated  human  person  after 
death,  and  an  incarnate  god.  '  The  day '  so  called  in  the  oldest  for- 
mulas of  the  Book  of  the  Dead,  stands  for  the  day  of  uprising,  of  judg- 
ment, of  justification ;  that  one  long  anticipated  day  of  trial  in  the 
Hall  of  Truth,  the  dies  ilia,  the  day  before  all  other  days,  which  ought 
to  be  in  every  one's  thought.  '  The  justified '  in  that  day  enters  into 
life  again.  He  then  takes  possession  of  his  proper  home.  The  life  of 
a  good  man  is  an  avatar  of  the  one  God  under  many  varieties  of 
name.  But  before  he  could  be  admitted  to  the  happy  life  of  eternity 
he  would  have  to  be  justified  by  the  merit  of  the  life  he  was  leaving. 
Then  he  would  ascend  into  heaven.  The  use  of  his  members  must  be 
restored  to  him.  Speech  to  the  mouth,  pulsation  to  the  heart,  motion 
and  firmness  to  the  feet,  and  skill  to  the  hands.  Then  the  sense  of 
hearing,  lost  to  him  when  he  left  this  world,  shall  be  so  restored  and 


THE  BOOK  AND  FAITH  OF  EGYPT.  97 

heightened  that  he  shall  enjoy  the  songs  of  the  hlessed,  and  sing  as 
well  as  they.  This  was  his  resurrection.  Instead  of  his  members  in 
the  mummy-cloths  the  gods  would  give  the  good  man  another  body  in 
its  stead.  The  constant  language  of  the  book  implies  as  much,  and 
such  conceptions  lingered  in  Egypt  in  the  days  of  the  Apostles,  and 
yet  later." 

The  authorship  of  the  Book  of  the  Dead  is  attributed  to 
Thoth.  In  all  that  relates  to  the  state  of  the  departed,  as 
written  by  a  god,  the  chapters  were  held  to  be  inspired; 
they  were  the  rule  of  faith,  and  with  the  rubrics  prefixed  to 
them  they  became  the  directory  for  practice.  The  book 
opens  with  an  address  by  Thoth  himself,  followed  by  ad- 
dresses of  the  soul  to  the  infernal  gods.  The  defunct  enu- 
merates his  titles  to  the  favor  of  Osiris,  and  demands  ad- 
mission into  his  kingdom.  The  choir  of  glorified  souls 
intervenes,  supporting  the  prayer.  The  priest  on  earth 
speaks  and  implores  the  divine  clemency.  Then  Osiris 
encourages  the  defunct  to  speak  to  his  father  and  enter 
freely  into  Amenti,  the  Hades  of  Egypt.  Many  chapters  of 
less  importance  follow,  relating  to  funeral  ceremonies.  At 
last  the  deceased  is  admitted  into  Amenti,  and  is  amazed  at 
the  glory  of  the  Sun-god.  He  chants  a  hymn  of  praise  with 
many  invocations.  A  chapter,  entitled  Of  Escaping  out  of 
the  Folds  of  the  Great  Serpent,  tells  how  he  has  defied  the 
evil  one  and  escapes  from  him.  Thus  far  the  first  and  sec. 
ond  sections. 

The  third  section  contains  fanciful  speculations  on  The 
Reconstruction  of  the  Deceased.  In  chapter  26  the  person 
so  reconstructed  will  rejoice  in  the  amplitude  of  his  powers  : 
'  My  heart  is  given  to  me  in  the  place  of  hearts.  My  mouth 
has  been  given  to  me  to  speak,  my  legs  to  walk,  my  arms  to 
overthrow  my  adversaries.  I  open  the  doors  of  heaven.  I 
do  what  my  soul  wishes.  My  soul  is  not  separated  by  my 
body  from  the  gates  of  the  west.' 

The  64th  chapter  is  very  long  and  great  was  its  virtue. 
The  rubric  says  :  '  If  this  chapter  is  known,  he  has  been  jus- 
tified upon  earth.  In  Amenti  he  does  all  that  the  living  do.' 
Sixteen  chapters  relate  to  the  preservation  of  the  body  in 


98  THE  BOOK  AND  FAITH  OF  EGYPT. 

the  sepulchre — in  Karneker  (the  grave).  Nine  chapters  are 
provided  for  recitation  by  the  living,  to  save  the  departed 
from  a  second  death,  from  the  defilement  of  evil,  destruction 
in  hell,  and  an  eternal  overthrow.  Twelve  chapters  concern 
the  celestial  diet.  Other  twelve  chapters  are  supposed  to 
describe  *  the  manifestation  to  light '  of  the  reconstructed 
human  body,  invested  with  undying  powers,  and  surrounded 
with  manifold  defences  against  mortality.  The  departed 
shall  come  forth  as  the  day,  break  through  the  barriers  of 
sepulchral  night,  and,  body  and  soul  united,  quit  the  earth, 
and  ascend  towards  Aahenru,  or  Heaven.  Chapter  89  is  of 
the  visit  of  the  soul  to  the  body  in  Karneker  (the  grave). 
*  He  sees  his  body,  he  is  at  peace  with  his  mummy,  he  is  not 
troubled.'  Fifteen  chapters  are  employed  in  describing  the 
metamorphoses,  or  transmigrations.  Twenty-six  chapters 
relate  to  The  Protection  of  the  Soul.  The  first  (91)  is  Of 
not  allowing  the  Soul  to  be  Sniffed  out  in  Karneker  (cor- 
ruption). Chapter  100  is  For  Giving  Peace  to  the  Soul.  '  I 
have  stopped  the  Evil  Serpent,'  the  soul  says,  '  I  have  turned 
back  his  feet.'  A  serpent  with  many  feet  is  a  prominent 
figure  on  some  of  the  old  mummy-chests.  Eight  chapters 
describe  the  freedom  attained  by  the  justified,  soul  and  body 
reunited. 

*  But  the  section  of  the  Hall  of  the  Two  Truths,  or  Scales 
of  Justice,  is  of  the  highest  interest.  Here  is  mention  of  a 
judgment  after  death.  The  125th  chapter  is  of  Going  to  the 
Hall  of  the  Two  Truths,  and  separating  a  Person  from  7ds 
sins  when  he  has  been  made  to  see  the  Faces  of  the  Gods. 
The  person  appeals  to  the  supreme  judge  and  his  assessors : 
'Rub  ye  away  my  faults.  I  have  not  privily  done  evil 
against  mankind.  I  have  not  afflicted  persons  or  men.  I 
have  had  no  acquaintance  with  evil.  I  have  not  done  any 
wicked  thing.  I  have  not  made  the  laboring  man  do  more 
than  his  task  daily.  I  have  not  done  what  is  hateful  to  the 
gods.  I  have  not  calumniated  the  slave  to  his  master.  I 
have  not  made  to  weep.  I  have  not  falsified  measures.  I 
have  not  cheated  in  the  weight  of  the  balance.  I  have  not 
withheld  milk  from  the  mouths  of  sucklings.  I  have  not 


THE  BOOK  AND  FAITH  OF  EGYPT.  99 

hunted  wild  animals  in  their  pasturages.  I  have  not,  etc., 

etc I  am  pure  !  I  am  pure  !  I  have  no  sins  and  no 

perversions Let  me  pass  the  roads  of  darkness.  Let 

me  follow  thy  servants  in  the  gate.  Let  me  pass  the  lintel 
of  the  gate.' 

'The  chapter  (155)  Of  not  letting  the  Body  corrupt  de- 
scribes exemption  from  corruption,  the  incorruption  of  the 
human  changed  to  the  divine  :  '  I  am  !  I  am  !  I  live  !  I 
live  !  I  grow  !  I  grow  !  I  wake  in  peace.  I  am  not  cor- 
rupted. I  am  not  suffocated  there.  My  substance  is  not 
sent  away.  My  ear  does  not  grow  deaf.  My  tongue  has  not 
been  taken  away.  No  injury  is  done  to  my  body.' 

This  elaborate  scripture  of  life  and  incorruption, — of  im- 
mortality, with  the  sting  of  death  removed,  the  victory  of 
the  grave  annulled,  a  new  body  divine  in  incorruption  and 
perfect  powers,  with  abundant  entrance  into  eternal  blessed- 
ness, was  Egypt's  Bible  of  Eternal  Hope  and  of  the  deeds  to 
be  done  to  inherit  eternal  life.  Some  two  thousand  five 
hundred  years  before  Christ  a  grave  in  which  the  dead, 
buried  under  this  faith,  lay,  had  for  inscription  the  follow- 
ing, after  some  opening  words  in  which  the  departed  enu- 
merated the  services  which  he  had  done  to  his  neighbors : 

"  I  have  not  troubled  the  son  of  the  poor  man,  I  have  not 
oppressed  any  widow,  I  have  not  disturbed  any  fisherman,  1 
have  not  driven  away  any  shepherd ;  there  was  no  house- 
holder whose  servant  I  took  for  labor,  no  prisoner  languished 
in  my  days,  no  one  died  of  hunger  in  my  time.  When  there 
were  years  of  hunger,  I  had  all  the  fields  of  my  nomos 
ploughed.  There  was  no  hungry  person  in  it.  I  gave  the 
widow  equal  measure  with  the  married  woman.  I  did  not 
prefer  the  rich  to  the  poor." 

That  Thot,  in  whose  name  Egypt's  Bible  of  triumph  over 
death  is  given,  was  the  moon-god,  may  perhaps  connect 
back  to  the  Moon-god  worship  of  Ur  of  Babylonia.  How 
much  in  it  anticipated  ideas  presented  in  New  Testament 
writings  hardly  needs  to  be  pointed  out.  That  Hebrew  re- 
ligion borrowed  so  little,  was  due  to  the  facts,  as  learning 
now  makes  them  out,  that  the  Hebrews  in  Egypt  were  but 


100  THE  BOOK  AND  FAITH  OF  EGYPT. 

an  early  fragment  of  tribes  more  on  the  border  than  in 
Egypt,  shepherds  on  outlying  lands  who  were  seized  and  put 
to  work,  but  who  came  in  no  contact  with  the  real  facts  of 
Egypt,  and  whose  Bedouin  backwardness  in  culture  would 
prevent  anything  like  attention  to  the  wisdom  or  the  wor- 
ship of  Egypt,  although  the  picture  made  hundreds  of 
years  later  ventured  upon  the  exaggerations  which  implied 
that  Israel  in  Egypt  must  have  meant  a  large  Hebrew  op- 
portunity to  borrow  knowledge,  and  customs,  and  beliefs. 
The  early  Hebrews,  moreover,  whose  borrowings  were  exten- 
sive, showed  a  tendency  so  deplorably  low  and  downward 
that  it  may  be  doubted  whether  they  could,  with  the  fullest 
opportunity,  have  appropriated  anything  of  high  value  from 
the  learning  or  the  life  of  Egypt. 

Dr.  Dodds  says,  in  the  St.  Giles  lecture  already  quoted 
from: 

"The  'wisdom  of  the  Egyptians'  was  summarized  in  various  com- 
pends  of  proverbial  philosophy.  One  of  these — written  centuries  be- 
fore the  time  of  Moses— is  termed  by  M.  Chabas,  '  the  most  ancient 
book  of  the  world.'  In  common  with  other  papyri  of  a  similar  char- 
acter, it  inculcates  the  study  of  wisdom,  the  duty  of  honoring  parents 
and  superiors,  of  respecting  property,  of  being  charitable,  peaceable, 
contented,  humble,  chaste,  sober,  truthful,  and  just.  It  shows,  on  the 
other  hand,  that  disobedience,  strife,  arrogance  and  pride,  slothfulness, 
intemperance,  impurity,  and  other  vices,  are  wicked  and  foolish.  Un- 
happily, while  the  future  life  was  the  foundation  upon  which  all  moral 
and  religious  duties  were  avowedly  based,  its  influence  was  counter- 
acted by  the  prevalent  belief  in  the  power  of  magical  rites  and  formal 
routine  worship  to  secure  all  that  could  be  obtained  by  adherence  to 
the  laws  of  morality.  The  priests  claimed  the  power  of  propitiating  the 
gods ;  so  that  superstition  neutralized  the  effect  which  doctrine,  rightly 
apprehended,  might  have  produced." 

This  baneful  effect  of  religion  based  on  priestly  adminis- 
tration of  propitiation  is  one  of  the  chief  notes  of  essential 
heathenism  in  all  the  religions  which  include  any  scheme 
of  salvation,  or  make  any  other  terms  than  those  of  Christ's 
insistence,  in  the  closing  passage  of  the  Sermon  on  the 
Mount,  on  the  doing  of  the  things  which  he  had  said  in 
order  to  standing  secure  whatever  may  befall. 


THE  BOOK  AND  FAITH  OF  EGYPT.  101 

Another  extremely  important  aspect  of  Egyptian  eleva- 
tion Dr.  Dodds  refers  to  in  the  following  : 

"  On  the  monuments  are  found  not  a  few  records  of  men  who  rose 
from  indigence  to  nobility  and  high  offices  at  court,  which  close  with 
the  statement,  'his  ancestors  were  unknown  people.'  Education  was 
open  to  all  ranks.  In  the  schools  the  poor  man's  son  sat  on  the  same 
bench  as  the  heir  of  the  wealthy ;  and  there  the  master  sought  to  fire 
the  lagging  scholar's  ambition  by  telling  him  of  the  rich  rewards 
which  awaited  all  who  gained  a  name  for  erudition.  No  barrier  of 
birth  or  poverty  could  successfully  oppose  a  man's  progress  to  distinc- 
tion and  wealth  if  he  proved  himself  an  eminent  student  of  science  or 
philosophy. 

"A  remarkable  feature  of  Egyptian  social  life  was  the  honorable 
position  accorded  to  woman.  This  was  higher  than  in  Palestine  or  in 
any  heathen  nation.  She  was  regarded  as  man's  friend  and  companion, 
and  had  equal  rights  of  property  with  him.  The  tombs  represent  hus- 
band and  wife  seated  on  the  same  chair,  or  mingling  on  equal  terms  in 
the  same  society.  Women  sat  upon  the  Egyptian  throne.  They 
officiated  in  temples  and  offered  sacrifices  to  the  gods.  Nowhere  ex- 
cept in  Christian  lands  has  woman  ever  possessed  so  much  freedom  or 
exercised  so  strong  an  influence  in  domestic  and  national  life  as  in 
ancient  Egypt." 

The  most  recent  knowledge  derived  from  the  discoveries 
of  Dr.  Petrie  in  the  Fayum  and  at  Tel  El-Amarna,  makes 
it  probable  that  Greek  colonists  were  settled  in  Egypt  as  early 
as  the  era  of  the  Twelfth  Dynasty  ;  that  as  early  as  the  fifth 
and  sixth  dynasties  the  Greeks  were  known  in  Egypt  as  the 
"lonians";  that  the  Mediterranean  was  known  as  the  sea 
within  the  circle  of  which  the  lonians  dwelt ;  and  that 
earlier  than  the  supposed  time  of  Moses,  Greeks  were  em- 
ployed on  the  business  of  the  Pharaoh  in  Palestine. 

Coming  down  to  the  time  of  Alexander  the  Great,  who 
founded  Alexandria  in  Egypt,  we  reach  an  historical  posi- 
tion from  which  influences  of  profound  significance  have 
descended  through  more  than  two  thousand  years  to  our 
own  time.  In  the  third  century  before  Christ,  Alexandria 
was  like  a  huge  modern  city,  an  immense  aggregate  of  ele- 
ments of  every  sort.  It  had  a  population  of  800,000,  and 
one  of  the  chief  elements  of  this  vast  mass  were  Jews,  who 
had  "gone  West,"  from  their  narrow,  darkened,  stifling 


102  THE  BOOK  AND  FAITH  OF  EGYPT. 

Palestine,  the  land  of  rigor,  of  separatism,  of  religion  and 
life  made  a  sepulchre  full  of  moral  decay  ;  and  in  the  pres- 
ence of  Greek  influences  had  suffered  themselves  to  learn 
something  and  to  be  humanized.  They  were  destined  to 
create  in  the  Greek  translation  of  the  Old  Testament,  and 
in  their  influence  upon  the  writers  of  the  New  Testament,  a 
principal  part  of  that  scaffolding  about  the  Christianity  of 
Christ  which  the  centuries  of  dominant  theology  down  to 
our  own  time  would  construe  as  the  building  of  God  not 
made  with  hands. 

The  Septuagint  version  of  Hebrew  scripture  was  the 
Bible  of  the  age  of  Christ,  and  of  the  several  generations 
after  it  before  a  new  collection  of  writings  had  become  the 
New  Testament.  That  Bible  represented  Alexandria,  and 
not  Jerusalem,  Egypt  and  not  Palestine.  For  the  Jewish 
tradition  of  Palestine  in  the  time  of  Christ,  and  from  that 
onward,  we  must  look  to  the  Talmud.  The  Talmud  became 
the  Bible  of  orthodox  Palestinian  Judaism,  the  direct  tra- 
dition of  Mosaism.  But  in  no  way  whatever  did  Christians, 
however  Jewish,  follow  this  tradition  and  accept  the  Tal- 
mud. They  attached  themselves  exclusively  to  the  Greek 
Old  Testament,  which  the  Hellenist  Judaism  of  Alexandria 
had  made  familiar  before  Christ  was  born.  Egypt  dictated 
to  Palestine  that  the  new  departure  there  from  Judaism, 
which  started  from  Christ,  should  both  read  its  old  scrip- 
tures in  Greek  and  write  its  new  scriptures  in  Greek. 


EGYPTIAN  PORTRAIT  STATUES.— These  statues,  each  carved  from  a  single 
block  of  limestone  about  4  feet  high,  represent  Ra-hotep  and  his  sister  or  wife  Nefert.  They 
date  from  the  reign  of  Snefrou,  before  Cheops,  of  the  4th  dynasty,  and  are  manifestly 
likenesses  as  wonderful  for  truth  as  for  unexampled  antiquity  and  extreme  beauty.  They 
are  in  the  Boulak  Museum  at  Cairo. 


£^3> 

Scriptures. 

<$s^ 


TTEBREW  TORAH,  or  LAW,  in  usage  earlier  than  the 
JT1  destruction  of  Jerusalem  by  Nebuchadnezzar  (B.C. 
586),  or  in  fact  the  return  from  the  captivity  of  half  a  cen- 
tury in  Babylon  (B.C.  538),  meant  the  oral  traditions  held 
and  acted  on  by  the  priests.  Such  writings  as  may  have 
been  in  existence,  whether  embodying  history  or  law,  or 
preserving  the  first  beginnings  of  literature,  in  psalms  or 
proverbs,  were  held  back  in  their  own  hands  by  the  priests. 
We  read  somewhat  earlier  (B.C.  621)  of  a  first  fragment  of 
Hebrew  Bible  having  been  discovered  and  brought  out  to 
notice.  "Hilkiah  the  high  priest  said  unto  Shaphan  the 
scribe,  I  have  found  the  book  of  the  law  in  the  house  of 
Jahveh."  The  scribe  read  it  himself,  and  then  read  it  to  the 
king.  And  the  king,  finding  that  it  laid  down  as  divine 
laws  which  had  not  been  known,  and  which  there  had  been 
no  pretence  even  of  keeping,  sent  five  of  his  priestly  and 
other  courtiers  to  "  inquire  of  Jahveh "  for  him  in  regard 
to  the  book.  The  king  was  in  deep  concern  because  of  the 
probable  wrath  of  Jahveh  against  them  for  not  having  known 
and  kept  the  laws  set  down  in  the  book  found  and  brought 
out  by  the  priests.  So  he  most  urgently  said,  "Go  ye  and 
inquire  of  Jahveh  for  me."  The  record  says  that  to  thus 
"  inquire  of  Jahveh,"  they  "  went  unto  Huldah  the  prophet- 
ess," wife  of  the  grandson  of  a  keeper  of  the  wardrobe. 
And  it  says  that  she  told  them  to  tell  the  king  that  Jahveh 
would  bring  evil  upon  Jerusalem  and  upon  all  the  people, 

(103) 


104  THE  HEBREW  SCRIPTURES. 

to  make  "  a  desolation  and  a  curse,"  because  they  had  not 
been  true  to  him,  but  had  "  burned  incense  to  other  gods." 
The  facts  thus  stated  would  be  alone  conclusive  of  the  pre- 
vious heathenism  of  the  Hebrews.  But  much  more  appears 
in  the  record.  Josiah  was  but  eight  years  old  when  he  be- 
gan his  reign  of  thirty-one  years.  As  a  mere  boy  he  seems 
to  have  come  under  the  influence  of  the  Jahveh  priests  at 
Jerusalem,  who  wished  to  suppress  other  worships  and  to 
concentrate  interest  not  only  on  Jahveh,  but  on  Jerusalem 
as  his  seat.  The  record  tells  us  how,  for  six  years,  Josiah 
had  lent  himself  to  the  wishes  of  the  Jahveh  priests : 

"  In  the  twelfth  year  of  his  reign  he  began  to  purge  Judah  and  Jeru- 
salem from  the  high  places,  and  the  Asherim,  and  the  graven  images, 
and  the  molten  images.  And  they  brake  down  the  altars  of  the  Baalim 
in  his  presence ;  and  the  sun  images  that  were  on  high  above  them, 
he  hewed  down ;  and  he  burnt  the  bones  of  their  priests  upon  their 
altars,  and  purged  Judah  and  Jerusalem.  And  in  the  cities  of  Manasseh 
and  Ephraim  and  Simeon,  even  unto  Naphtali ;  and  he  brake  down  the 
altars,  and  beat  the  Asherim  and  the  graven  images  into  powder,  and 
hewed  down  all  the  sun-images  throughout  all  the  land  of  Israel,  and 
returned  to  Jerusalem." 

After  this  demonstration  in  the  interest  of  Jahveh  wor- 
ship at  Jerusalem,  King  Josiah  set  his  officers  at  the  repair 
of  the  temple,  and  it  was  "when  they  brought  out  the 
money  that  was  brought  into  the  house  of  Jahveh,"  that 
"  Hilkiah  the  priest  found  the  book  of  the  law  of  Jahveh  by 
the  hand  of  Moses."  And  upon  the  perusal  of  the  book 
thus  found,  there  took  place  a  further  demonstration  by 
King  Josiah,  in  the  interest  of  Jahveh  worship,  the  record 
of  which  makes  perfectly  clear  that  the  heathenism  of  both 
Israel  and  Judah  had  been  exceedingly  gross  from  the  sup- 
posed time  of  Moses;  that  no  one  had  either  known  or 
heeded  "  Mosaic "  requirements ;  and  that  at  no  previous 
time  had  an  exclusive  Jahveh  worship  existed. 

Thus  the  record  tells  how  the  king  caused  to  be  brought  out  of  the 
temple  itself  "all  the  vessels  that  were  made  for  Baal,  and  for  the  Ash- 
erah,  and  for  all  the  host  of  heaven,"  and  had  them  burned  in  the  fields 
outside  the  city;  how  he  also  "  put  down  the  idolatrous  priests,  whom 
the  kings  of  Judah  had  ordained  to  burn  incense  in  the  high  places  in 


THE  HEBREW  SCSIPTURES.  105 

the  cities  of  Judah  and  in  the  places  about  Jerusalem  " — the  old-time 
form  of  heathen  worship—"  them  also  that  burned  incense  unto  Baal, 
to  the  sun,  and  to  the  moon,  and  to  the  planets,  and  to  all  the  host  of 
heaven.  And  he  brought  out  the  Asherah  from  the  house  of  Jahveh  [a 
peculiarly  heathen  object  which  had  had  a  place  in  the  temple  itself]. 
And  he  brake  down  the  houses  of  the  Sodomites,  that  were  in  the  house 
of  Jahveh  [the  temple],  where  the  women  wove  hangings  for  the  Ash- 
erah. And  he  defied  Topheth,  that  no  man  might  make  his  son  or  his 
daughter  to  pass  through  the  fire  to  Molech  [a  form  of  human  sacrifice 
in  use  up  to  this  time].  And  he  took  away  the  horses  that  the  kings  of 
Judah  had  given  to  the  sun,  at  the  entering  in  of  the  house  of  Jahveh ; 
and  he  burned  the  chariots  of  the  sun  with  fire.  And  the  altars  that 
were  on  the  roof  of  the  chamber  of  Ahaz,  which  the  kings  of  Judah 
had  made,  did  the  king  break  down.  And  the  high  places  that  were 
before  Jerusalem,  which  Solomon  the  king  of  Israel  had  builded  for 
Ashtoreth  the  abomination  of  the  Zidonians,  and  for  Chemosh  the 
abomination  of  Moab,  and  for  Milcom  the  abomination  of  the  children 
of  Arnmon,  did  the  king  defile.  And  he  brake  in  pieces  the  obelisks 
and  cut  down  the  Asherim.  Moreover  the  altar  that  was  at  Bethel,  and 
the  high  place  which  Jereboam  had  made,  he  brake  down;  and  all  the 
houses  also  of  the  high  places  that  were  in  the  city  of  Samaria,  which 
the  kings  of  Israel  had  made  to  provoke  Jahveh  to  anger,  Josiah  took 
away.  And  he  sacrificed  all  the  priests  of  the  high  places  that  were 
there  upon  the  altars.  Moreover  them  that  had  familiar  spirits,  and 
the  wizards,  and  the  teraphim,  and  the  idols,  and  all  the  abominations 
that  were  spied  in  the  land  of  Judah  and  in  Jerusalem,  did  Josiah  put 
away,  that  he  might  perform  the  words  of  the  law  which  were  written 
in  the  book  that  Hilkiah  the  priest  found  in  the  house  of  Jahveh.  And 
like  unto  him  was  there  no  king  before  him,  that  turned  to  Jahveh 
with  all  his  heart,  according  to  all  the  law  of  Moses." 

The  very  last  word  of  this  story  brings  in  the  name  of 
Moses.  The  story  as  given  is  in  the  book  of  Kings.  The 
later  book  of  Chronicles  uses  the  name  of  Moses  more 
boldly.  It  says  to  begin  with  that  "  Hilkiah  the  priest  found 
the  book  of  the  law  of  Jahveh  by  the  hand  of  Moses,"  and 
later  it  calls  it  "the  book  of  Moses."  This  second  later  ac- 
count does  not  give  the  particulars  of  the  immense  clearance 
of  universal  heathenism  made  by  Josiah,  winding  up  with  a 
wholesale  slaughter  of  priests  of  other  gods  and  other  wor- 
ships than  Jahveh's  on  the  altars  at  which  they  had  served, 
and  the  wrong  of  which  no  one  before  had  acted  on  or  even 
considered ;  not  one  of  the  long  line  of  kings  or  early  lead- 


106  THE  HEBREW  SCRIPTURES. 

ers ;  neither  David  nor  Solomon :  the  latter  in  fact  having 
begun  a  course  of  kingly  devotion  to  "  abominations  "  which 
his  successors  had  continued  down  to  Josiah's  day. 

The  book  thus  brought  out  in  the  name  of  Moses  is  con- 
sidered to  have  been  the  main  part  of  our  Deuteronomy,  the 
fifth  book  of  the  Pentateuch,  for  the  quite  conclusive  reason 
that  the  law  acted  on  by  Josiah  is  found  in  this  book  only, 
the  other  and  older  forms  of  law  in  the  name  of  Moses,  which 
were  not  published  until  later,  having  stopped  far  short  of 
the  Jahveh  and  Jerusalem  requirements  which  Josiah  un- 
dertook to  execute. 

The  effort  thus  made  by  the  priests  to  have  a  book  of 
sacred  law  known  and  enforced,  was  a  beginning  only 
towards  the  Hebrew  Bible.  It  was  in  fact  only  a  beginning 
towards  the  Pentateuch,  or  the  Law,  which  the  Jews  ever 
considered  the  most  sacred  part  of  that  Bible.  Practically 
nothing  came  of  the  book  put  forth  by  the  priests  until 
nearly  two  hundred  years  later.  King  Josiah  did  not  live 
to  carry  on  the  work  he  had  begun.  He  fell  in  battle  against 
an  Egyptian  army.  Then  the  exile  in  Babylonia  came,  B.C. 
586,  and  lasted  48  years.  In  538  B.C.  permission  was  given 
the  Judean  exiles  to  return,  but  only  about  forty  thousand 
availed  themselves  of  it,  and  not  until  B.C.  520  was  the  re- 
building of  the  temple  begun.  If  there  was  any  bible  in  use 
it  was  only  the  book  of  Deuteronomy,  "found"  by  the 
priests  one  hundred  years  before.  The  Persian  government 
put  a  governor  over  the  city  and  district  of  Jerusalem,  and 
henceforth  the  high  priest  only  remained  as  the  national 
chief. 

The  affairs  of  Judaism  thus  started  made  slow  progress, 
until  the  famous  Ezra  came  from  Babylonia  bringing  large 
reinforcements  both  of  population  and  of  writings  which 
Levites,  or  under-priests,  had  got  into  shape  in  Babylonia, 
the  land  of  books,  of  sabbaths,  and  of  sacred  scriptures. 
Ezra  came  in  458  B.C.,  full  80  years  later  than  the  first  return 
of  exiles,  but  he  did  nothing  for  thirteen  years  towards 
more  Mosaic  scripture,  or  nothing  publicly.  In  445  B.C. 
another  leader  appeared  on  the  scene,  in  the  person  of  Nehe- 


THE  HEBREW  SCRIPTURES.  10? 

miah,  who,  though  a  Jew,  was  sent  as  Persian  governor. 
The  next  year,  B.C.  444,  Ezra  the  Scribe  and  Nehemiah  the 
Persian  governor  united  in  bringing  to  public  knowledge  an 
enlarged  book  purporting  to  be  Mosaic  history  and  law.  It 
was  practically  what  we  call  the  Pentateuch,  and  measures 
were  taken  to  have  the  people  feel  solemnly  bound  by  it  as 
a  divine  book.  The  synagogue  meetings  and  the  sabbath, 
both  of  them  developed,  as  well  as  the  new  enlargement  of 
scripture,  in  Babylonia,  were  now  used  for  impressing  on 
the  people  the  demands  of  the  priestly  book,  and  the  scribes 
became  a  class  specially  devoted  to  the  book,  in  co-operation 
with  the  priests. 

Both  Ezra  and  Nehemiah  were  animated  by  a  spirit  of 
rigid  exclusion  and  narrowness,  under  the  dictates  of 
which  zeal  went  to  an  extreme  in  basing  Judaism  upon 
separatism  of  the  strictest  sort.  It  dictated  the  recog- 
nition as  Jews  of  no  Israelite  whatever,  and  no  Judean 
except  those  special  Jahveh  worshippers  whose  ancestors 
had  shared  the  exile  in  Babylonia  and  the  return  thence 
to  Jerusalem.  Beyond  Jerusalem  and  outside  the  nar- 
row limits  of  priestly  administration  there  by  book  and 
by  sacrifice,  were  only  aliens  and  heretics.  So  rigor- 
ously was  the  idea  of  separatism  insisted  on,  that  if  any 
of  the  Jews  of  the  accepted  type  had  wives  not  of  the 
type,  they  were  required  to  cast  them  off,  or  to  go  with 
them  into  exile.  E^ra  relates  how,  as  Dr.  Farrar  puts 
it,  "one  hundred  and  thirteen  marriages  were  ruthlessly 
annulled  ;  four  of  the  highest  priests,  thirteen  other  priests, 
ten  Levites,  and  eighty-six  laymen  ";  all  of  the  wives  driven 
out ;  "and  some  of  the  wives  had  borne  children."  Nehe- 
miah  proceeded  in  the  same  way,  whenever  he  found  that 
"  the  holy  seed  had  mingled  themselves  with  the  peoples  of 
the  lands."  The  founder  of  Samaritan  worship  was  a  Jew 
of  accepted  standing  and  character,  and  a  priest  of  rank, 
but  his  wife,  the  daughter  of  the  prince  of  Samaria,  was  not 
of  the  strict  Jew  fold,  and  because  her  husband  would  not 
heed  the  edict  to  cast  her  off,  he  was  driven  out.  He  was 
the  son  of  the  high-priest,  and  Nehemiah  relates  the  energy 


108  THE  HEBREW  SCRIPTURES. 

with  which  he  "chased  him  out."  Of  his  driving  off 
of  other  Jews  who  had  married  other  women,  he  says  :  "  I 
contended  with  them,  and  cursed  them,  and  smote  certain  of 
them,  and  tore  out  their  hair."  Nehemiah  relates  how, 
from  a  public  reading  of  the  book  of  the  law,  they  found,  "  in 
the  book  of  Moses,"  a  commandment  to  the  effect  that  "  an 
Ammonite  and  a  Moabite  should  not  enter  into  the  assembly 
of  God  forever";  and  he  says  that  "when  they  had  heard 
the  law  they  separated  from  Israel  all  the  mixed  multitude." 
The  special  object  of  Nehemiah's  holy  indignation  went  to 
Samaria  to  his  father-in-law,  and  became  the  founder  of 
Samaritan  worship.  The  earliest  rigid  keeping  of  the  sab- 
bath Nehemiah  relates  that  he  initiated,  and  that  he  en- 
forced the  claims  of  the  priests  to  the  dues  demanded  by  the 
book,  when  the  people  and  the  rulers  had  not  yet  learned 
sabbath  strictness  and  zeal  for  the  temple  service. 

From  the  foundation  of  this  priestly  Law-book,  which 
Ezra  brought  from  Babylonia,  and  made  public  as  "  the  book 
of  the  law  of  Moses,"  there  grew,  by  addition  of  other  writ- 
ings, the  present  Hebrew  Bible.  Tradition  tells  us  that  Ne- 
hemiah  collected,  along  with  other  documents,  "  the  books 
about  the  kings  and  prophets,  and  the  writings  of  David." 
It  is  so  expressed  in  the  apocryphal  work  called  the  second 
book  of  Maccabees.  In  another  apocryphal  book  of  the  date 
B.C.  130— Ecclesiasticus — the  Jewish  sacred  books  are  refer- 
red to  under  the  threefold  designation  of  "The  Law,  the 
Prophets,  and  the  other  Books."  The  second  and  third 
divisions  had  been  added  to  the  Law  at  some  time  later  than 
B.C.  444,  the  date  of  Ezra's  making  public  the  Pentateuch. 
It  is  thought  that  Nehemiah  may  have  begun  the  collection 
of  the  second  part.  Although  called  "  The  Prophets,"  and 
including  Isaiah,  Jeremiah,  Ezekiel,  and  twelve  lesser  proph- 
ets, this  part  also  included  historical  books,  such  as  Joshua, 
Judges,  two  of  Samuel,  and  two  of  Kings.  If,  also,  Nehemiah 
made  any  collection  of  psalms,  he  will  thus  have  initiated 
the  formation  of  the  third  part,  which  embraced  the  Psalms, 
Proverbs,  Job,  Song  of  Songs,  Ecclesiastes,  Lamentations, 
Ruth,  Esther,  Daniel,  two  books  of  Chronicles,  and  the 


THE  HEBREW  SCRIPTURES.  109 

books  of  Ezra  and  Nehemiah.  We  thus  see  pretty  plainly 
that  the  making  up  of  a  collection,  in  which  as  we  name 
them  there  are  thirty- nine  separate  books,  grew  directly  out 
of  the  work  of  Ezra  and  Nehemiah.  There  arose  still  a 
fourth  body  of  writings,  in  sequel  to  the  three  named,  but 
so  uncertain  in  their  claims  that  they  were  not  counted  into 
the  Hebrew  Bible.  They  constitute  the  Old  Testament 
Apocrypha.  To  no  small  extent  some  of  these  fourth-class 
Jewish  writings  were  considered  a  part  of  scripture  by  the 
early  Christians,  but  not  so  much  so  as  to  secure  them  final 
recognition  in  the  Hebrew  Bible. 

The  question  of  the  origin  of  the  writings  which  were 
brought  together  in  the  Hebrew  Bible  has  received  the  atten- 
tion of  many  eminent  scholars  during  a  now  long  period, 
with  the  general  result  that  a  great  majority  of  voices  agree 
that  there  was  no  directly  Mosaic  authorship,  and  that 
names  put  to  writings  do  not  necessarily  imply  authorship 
at  all,  or  may  at  least  cover  matter  added  to  that  of  the 
author.  To  get  an  idea  of  how  scholars  are  very  commonly 
looking  at  the  matter,  the  following  summary  of  Dr.  Wilde- 
boer's  views,  given  in  his  recent  "  History  of  the  Literature 
of  the  Old  Testament,  according  to  its  Chronological  Ar- 
rangement," may  be  considered: 

Hebrew  literature  shows  a  few  fragments  older  than  the  9th  century 
B.C.,  such  as  a  concise  form  of  "the  Ten  Words,"  the  verses  of  Num- 
bers x.  35,  36;  and  xxi.  14,  15,  17,  18,  27-30;  and  parts  of  Exodus, 
xv.  1-18.  In  the  two  hundred  years  nearly  covered  by  the  period  of 
the  Judges,  we  get  the  Song  of  Deborah;  Judges  v.  1-31;  Jotham's 
fable;  Judges  ix.  7-21;  and  part  of  the  piece  known  as  the  blessing 
of  Jacob.  The  time  of  David  gives  us  2  Samuel  i.  19-27;  and  iii.  33b- 
34a,  but  not  any  psalms ;  Solomon's  time  the  passages  in  1  Kings  viii. 
12,  13. 

In  the  9th  and  8th  centuries  B.C.  were  produced,  each  of  a  composite 
character,  giving  myth  and  legend  as  well  as  history,  the  Jehovistic 
and  Elohistic  portions  of  the  Hexateuch  [the  first  six  books  of  the  Old 
Testament,  into  which  are  apparently  woven  two  writings,  one  of  which 
is  marked  by  the  use  of  the  word  Jahveh,  or  Jehovah,  and  the  other  by 
the  use  of  the  word  Elohim,  as  the  name  of  deity].  The  legal  sections 
were  in  part  the  record  of  laws  that  were  in  use,  and  in  part  new 
priestly  precepts  then  first  laid  down. 


110  THE  HEBREW  SCRIPTURES. 

The  oldest  recorded  prophecies  (about  780  B.C.)  are  those  in  Isaiah  xv. 
and  xvi.  Then  come  Amos  and  Hosea.  Micah  follows,  with  possibly 
all  or  part  of  chapters  iv.-vii.  of  later  origin.  Isaiah  is  genuine  in 
chapters  i.-xxxix.  excepting  quite  a  number  of  interpolations;  while 
the  chapters  xl.-lxvi.  belong  as  late  as  the  close  of  the  exile  in  Baby- 
lonia. 

Deuteronomy,  for  the  main  part,  dates  from  B.C.  621,  when  King 
Josiah  had  in  his  hands  the  chapters  xii,-xxvi.  The  two  sections  chap- 
ters i.-iv.  and  v.-xi.  are  by  different  authors,  as  are  considerable  sections 
also  of  the  Hexateuch.  In  the  period  from  621  to  444,  the  school  of 
priestly  writers  which  brought  out  Deuteronomy,  the  earliest  book  of 
Hebrew  scripture,  diligently  worked  over  the  materials  which  appear 
in  the  Hexateuch,  and  those  of  Judges,  Samuel,  and  Kings,  which  were 
produced  between  B.C.  621  and  B.C.  444. 

It  was  during  the  Exile  in  Babylonia  that  the  composition  of  the 
priestly  code  was  begun.  The  "  holiness  law  "  of  Leviticus  xvii.-xxvi., 
and  some  other  sections,  were  produced  by  the  circle  to  which  Ezekiel 
belonged.  The  so-called  historical  portion  was  composed  in  Babylon, 
between  B.C.  500  and  B.C.  475.  Ezra  brought  the  composite  work  to 
Judea  in  B.C.  458,  and  made  some  changes  there,  after  which  another 
writer  or  writers  worked  in  with  the  priestly  code  the  other  documents 
now  forming  so  large  a  part  of  the  Pentateuch,  the  bringing  out  of 
which  and  imposition  of  which  as  of  divine  Mosaic  authority  was 
effected  by  Ezra. 

Malachi,  Jonah,  and  Ruth  were  produced  soon  after  Ezra's  death ; 
Joel  about  B.C.  400;  Isaiah  xxiv.-xxvii.,  about  B.C.  350;  and  Zechariah 
ix.-xiv.,  after  B.C.  321.  The  book  of  Proverbs  was  completed  during 
the  second  half  of  the  Persian  period,  436-336  B.C.  ;  Job  somewhat  later 
in  the  early  part  of  the  Greek  period ;  the  Song  of  Songs  and  Ecclesi- 
astes  about  B.C.  200 ;  the  Psalter  before  B.C.  150 ;  Daniel  in  B.C.  165 ;  and 
Esther  about  B.C.  130. 


PHOENICIA 


rpYRE  and  Sidon,  and  their  great  colony,  Carthage,  fill  a 
I  large  place  in  ancient  history  They  represent  Phoe- 
nicia, a  land  much  smaller  than  Palestine  even ;  a  strip  of 
low  coastland,  widening  into  plains  in  two  or  three  places, 
and  backed  by  terraced  mountain  sides,  which  present  some 
of  the  richest  and  most  beautiful  landscapes  in  the  world. 
Mount  Carmel,  as  far  north  as  upper  Galilee,  was  the  south- 
ern limit,  and  the  extent  north  was  but  a  little  more  than 
two  degrees  of  latitude.  As  early  as  the  fifteenth  century 
B.C.,  fully  a  thousand  years  before  Judaism  under  Ezra  was 
taking  shape  to  become  a  great  factor,  for  evil  as  well  as  for 
good,  in  the  affairs  of  mankind,  the  region  to  which  Phoe- 
nicia is  the  seaward  front,  was  a  meeting  place  of  Egyptian 
and  Babylonian  elements,  which  made  a  peculiar  type  of 
culture,  the  far  westward  extension  of  which  was  effected  by 
Phoenician  commerce.  The  Phoenician  harbors,  which  are 
now  mostly  destroyed  by  the  silting  up  of  their  approaches, 
were  the  western  gate  for  the  great  route  from  Babylonia, 
and  the  northern  terminus  of  the  great  coastwise  highway 
from  Egypt.  It  was  the  disaster  of  Judea  that  it  lay  back 
among  the  hills,  away  from  the  great  roads  of  the  world, 
and  open  more  to  Bedouinism  in  the  direction  of  Arabia, 
and  to  the  wilderness  of  Semitic  barbarism,  than  to  connec- 
tions which  would  have  brought  it  into  touch  with  the  life 
of  humanity.  From  this  fact  it  resulted  that  it  was  left  to 
Phoenicia  to  hand  on  the  torch  of  knowledge  from  Babylon 
to  Athens.  Mr.  Sayce  remarks  in  regard  to  philosophy : 

"The  philosophical  systems  of   the  early  Greek  thinkers  of  Asia 
came  to  them  from  Babylonia,  through  the  hands  of  the  Phce- 

(111) 


112  PHOENICIA. 

nicians,  and  it  is  consequently  no  more  astonishing  to  find  Anaximan- 
der  declaring  that  men  had  developed  out  of  the  fish  of  the  sea,  than 
to  find  his  predecessor  Thales  agreeing  with  the  priests  of  Babylonia  in 
holding  that  all  things  have  originated  from  a  watery  abyss." 

The  Phoenicians  in  historical  times  called  themselves 
Canaanites  and  their  land  Canaan,  Canaan  applying  equally 
to  the  coast  which  they  themselves  held  and  the  inland 
highlands  which  the  Israelites  occupied.  They  were,  in 
language  at  least,  of  the  same  north  Semitic  stock  as  the 
Hebrew,  and  as  those  Canaanites  whose  highland  homes 
the  Hebrews  plundered  and  possessed,  under  the  impulses 
of  rapine  and  slaughter  which  they  ascribed  to  the  spirit  of 
Jahveh.  They  were  an  older  stock  than  Israel,  less  recently 
emerged  from  the  barbarism  and  brutalism  of  the  desert, 
and  considerably  educated  to  travel,  trade,  and  colonization, 
by  their  situation  on  the  narrow  strip  of  coastwise  country 
at  the  east  end  of  the  Mediterranean.  Manufactures,  as 
embroidery  and  purple-dyeing,  of  Babylonian  origin,  and 
glass-making,  brought  from  Egypt,  they  brought  to  perfec- 
tion and  spread  the  knowledge  of.  As  a  great  trading 
people,  they  borrowed  from  Babylonia  arithmetic,  measures, 
and  weights.  They  became  seamen  of  the  most  admirable 
skill,  order  on  shipboard,  vigilance  in  steering,  and  knowl- 
edge in  making  a  course  by  observing  the  pole-star.  From 
the  earliest  time  they  distributed  to  the  rest  of  the  world 
the  wares  of  Egypt  and  Babylon ;  of  eastern  Africa  and 
India,  coming  by  the  Arabian  caravan  route.  The  adapta- 
tion of  the  Egyptian  hieroglyphic  alphabet  to  Semitic  use, 
the  communication  of  the  art  to  all  the  nations  bordering 
on  the  Mediterranean,  supplying  to  the  Greeks  this  instru- 
ment of  culture,  and  their  reaching  out  by  colonization  ' 
along  the  distant  north  and  west  coasts  of  Africa  and  the 
west  coast  of  Spain,  and  by  a  rich  commerce  as  far  as  Corn- 
wall in  Britain,  were  Phoenician  achievements  broadly  con- 
tributory to  human  progress. 

Whatever  sacred  writings  were  produced  among  the  Phoe- 
nicians, there  never  resulted  the  making  of  a  book  known 
to  the  world,  and  standing  among  the  Bibles  of  mankind. 


PHCENICIA.  113 

Our  knowledge  of  writings  which  were  in  existence  at  an 
early  date,  in  the  hands  of  the  priests,  comes  largely  from  a 
work  by  Philo  of  Byblus,  who  pretended  to  reproduce  a 
Pho3nician  writing  as  old  as  B.C.  1221.  Philo,  however, 
made  up  this  writing  himself,  using  for  the  forgery  some 
genuine  materials,  and  inventing  others.  There  seems  to  be 
no  doubt  that  the  central  point  in  religion,  and  the  starting- 
point  in  mythology,  among  the  Phoenicians,  was  the  worship 
of  the  Sun.  In  Hannibal  the  Carthaginian  general's  oath  to 
Philip  of  Macedon,  the  two  triads  of  divinities  appealed  to 
are  Sun,  Moon,  and  Earth,  and  Rivers,  Meadows,  and  Waters. 
Philo  of  Byblus  made  El  the  highest  god,  with  other  gods, 
Elohim,  subordinate  to  him.  El  is  represented  as  having 
originated  the  sacrifice  of  an  only  son  or  a  virgin  daughter, 
and  as  the  originator  of  circumcision.  The  Sun  was  viewed 
as  the  daily  worker  and  revealer,  under  whose  protection 
the  order  of  nature  and  of  the  world  goes  on,  and  also  as 
the  engenderer  of  fruitfulness  in  the  earth.  The  term  Baal, 
meaning  "  Lord,"  was  the  more  common  name  for  the  Su- 
preme. Baal  and  Ashtoreth  were  respectively  the  great 
male  and  the  great  female  principles,  representing  also  the 
Sun,  in  a  beneficent  aspect,  and  the  Moon,  as  the  Queen  of 
heaven. 

The  El-worship  and  the  Baal- worship  tended  to  fear  and 
terror  whenever  the  thoughts  of  men  were  fixed  upon  the 
wrathful  Sun  by  the  occurrence  of  drought,  violent  unseason- 
able rains,  famine  of  food  for  man  and  beast,  or  any  deadly 
plague  or  public  calamity.  It  was  a  not  infrequent  custom 
to  meet  any  special  manifestation  of  divine  wrath  by  human 
sacrifices,  for  which  children,  because  of  their  innocence, 
were  preferred,  and  a  first-born  or  only  son  most  of  all. 
The  idea  of  godhead  as  the  engendering  power  or  generative 
principle,  from  which  came  offspring  and  all  fruitfulness  in 
nature,  entered  very  much  into  the  common  thought,  leading 
the  popular  mind  to  believe  in  human  sacrifices  as  a  means 
to  secure  divine  favor  for  the  fields,  for  families,  and  for 
communities.  The  same  idea  of  sacrifice  of  something  holi- 
est and  most  costly  brought  in  the  custom  of  sacrificial 


114  PHCENICIA. 

prostitution  of  virgins,  and  the  offering  of  their  chastity  in 
the  temples  by  maidens  or  matrons.  Circumcision  was  a 
device  to  confess  the  principle  of  human  sacrifice,  a  substi- 
tute for  slaughter  on  the  altar,  and  a  note  of  the  worst  bar- 
barism known  to  the  history  of  religion. 

The  Phoenician  Ashtoreth,  who  was  worshipped  as  the 
queen  of  heaven,  and  the  mother  of  fertility,  represented'  in 
part  the  Istar  of  Babylonia,  but  to  Phoenicians  and  Hebrews 
the  moon-deity,  whose  worship  was  especially  popular.  The 
rites  of  Ashtoreth  worship  often  became  licentious  to  an 
extent  widely  debasing,  and  these  rites  the  Hebrews  espe- 
cially adopted,  along  with  the  cruelties  of  human  sacrifice, 
of  which  circumcision  was  a  survival. 

The  Phoenician  temples,  in  the  erection  of  which  great 
magnificence  was  displayed,  gave  the  suggestion  for  that  of 
Solomon,  who  secured  from  Hiram  king  of  Tyre  (B.C.  980- 
946)  plans  and  material  and  help.  One  of  our  authorities 
says: 

"Hiram  built  David's  palace,  and  also  gave  Solomon  cedar  and  fir 
trees,  as  well  as  workmen  for  his  palace  and  temple,  receiving  in 
exchange  large  annual  payments  of  oil  and  wine,  and  finally  the  ces- 
sion of  a  Galilean  district,  in  return  for  the  gold  he  had  supplied  to 
decorate  the  interior  of  the  temple.  The  temple  was  quite  in  Phoenician 
style,  as  appears  particularly  in  the  two  pillars  Jachiu  and  Boaz.  We 
may  also  judge  that  it  was  Hiram's  temples  that  led  Solomon  to  propose 
to  himself  a  similar  work." 

And  it  was  not  in  the  making  of  a  temple  alone  that  there 
were  the  closest  relations  of  the  Hebrews  with  the  land  of 
Tyre  and  Sidon. 

There  was  nothing  in  Solomon's  religion,  nor  in  Hebrew 
religion  down  to  the  destruction  of  Judea  four  hundred 
years  later,  to  distinguish  it  from  Phoenician,  except  a  back- 
woods highland  rudeness  tending  to  preference  of  the  low- 
est developments  of  superstitution  and  sensualism,  such  as 
the  varieties  of  "abominations"  grouped  by  Solomon 
around  Jahveh,  and  the  harem  of  a  thousand  women 
which  was  a  principal  note  of  his  magnificence. 

Jahveh  had  not  figured  as  other  than  Chemosh  or  Moloch 


PHCENICIA.  115 

during  many  ages  of  Hebrew  history,  and  Jahveh  priests 
and  scribes  had  had  no  other  than  the  common  heathen 
credentials.  Jahveh,  no  less  than  Moloch,  was  propitiated 
by  human  sacrifices.  Ahaz,  king  of  Judah,  butchered  and 
burned  a  son  as  a  sacrifice.  Manasseh,  another  king  of 
Judah,  did  the  same.  It  is  related  that  a  Moabite  king,  at 
war  with  his  cousins,  the  Israelites,  got  out  of  desperate 
straits  by  offering  up  his  son  as  a  sacrifice,  to  Jahveh  evi- 
dently. The  story  says : 

' '  And  when  the  king  of  Moab  saw  that  the  battle  was  too  sore  for 
him,  he  took  with  him  seven  hundred  men  that  drew  sword,  to  break 
through  unto  the  king  of  Edom,  but  they  could  not.  Then  he  took  his 
eldest  son  that  should  have  reigned  in  his  stead,  and  offered  him 
for  a  burnt  offering  upon  the  wall.  And  there  came  great  wrath  upon 
Israel ;  and  they  departed  from  him  and  returned  to  their  own  land." 

This  is  the  Hebrew  story,  and  it  implies  as  plainly  as 
possible  that  Israel's  own  god,  Jahveh,  was  moved  against 
them  by  the  bloody  burnt  offering  of  the  Moabite  king's 
eldest  son. 

Prof.  Kobertson  Smith  says  of  Hebrew  Moloch  worship 
that  it  was  "a  development  of  Jahveh  worship";  and  that 
"  the  people  thought  themselves  to  be  worshipping  Jahveh 
under  the  title  of  Moloch,  or  the  Moloch,  'the  King';  as 
the  Baal  meant  'the  Lord'";  while  "it  was  the  idea  of 
sacrificing  the  first  born  to  Jahveh  that  is  discussed  and  re- 
jected in  Micah  vi.";  and  "the  horrid  ritual  was  so  closely 
associated  with  Jahveh  worship  that  Jeremiah  more  than 
once  finds  it  necessary  to  protest  that  it  is  not  of  Jahveh's 
institution." 

Jerusalem  in  fact  had  been,  even  less  than  Tyre,  a  scene 
of  human  progress  and  seat  of  human  promise.  Recent 
discoveries  have  shown  that  the  Canaan  into  which  the 
Israelites  came  as  slaughtering  invaders  was  a  land  where 
education  had  been  carried  to  a  surprisingly  high  point,  with 
schools  and  books ;  and  in  whose  principal  cities  literary 
correspondence  was  carried  on  by  means  of  a  complicated 
script  and  an  alphabetic  system  older  than  the  Phoenician  ; 
so  that  the  Jerusulem  of  that  early  date  was  a  seat  of  cul- 


116  PHfENICIA. 

ture  such  as  it  never  was  under  Israelite  or  Hebrew  or  Jew. 
The  Assyrians,  who  were  just  like  the  early  Hebrews  in 
total  lack  of  creative  power,  and  in  having  a  tribal  god 
whose  spirit  inspired  exterminating  savagery,  had  turned 
their  talent  for  destruction  upon  Tyre  just  before  Judea 
was  destroyed  ;  so  that  Jerusalem,  upon  the  new  founda 
tions  laid  by  Ezra  and  Nehemiah,  only  saw  Phoenicia  in  de- 
cline. If  it  had  been  possible  for  Jerusalem  at  an  early 
date,  to  have  come  into  relations  of  commerce  and  culture 
with  the  cities  of  Phoenicia,  and  to  have  made  connections 
thence  with  Asia  Minor,  with  Greece,  with  distant  Spain, 
and  more  distant  Britain,  the  benefit  to  the  Jew  would  have 
been  immense,  in  preserving  him  from  the  superstitution 
that  the  little  hill  town  of  Jersusalem  was  the  only  seat  on 
earth  of  that  building  of  human  affairs  on  law  and  knowl- 
edge which  betokens  the  blessings  of  light  from  on  high. 
The  worst  that  Phoenicia  could  give  or  could  suggest, 
passed  to  the  Jewish  mind,  and  by  way  of  that  mind  to  the 
theologies  which  took  the  name  of  Christ,  giving  to  every 
generation  down  to  our  own  time  a  dominence  more  or  less 
extended  of  the  terrible  dark  idea  of  God  propitiated  by 
bloody  sacrifices.  But  the  opportunity  of  humanity,  of  en- 
tering into  the  life  of  the  world,  of  having  a  share  in  the 
life  of  Greece,  and  of  being  a  part  of  the  planting  of  Britain, 
and  of  culture  over  all  Europe  between  Greece  and  Britain, 
which  was  opened  to  Jew  by  Phoenica,  he  let  go  completely 
and  forever,  to  find  himself  ultimately  thrown  as  by  dyna- 
mite all  over  the  world  with  the  indelible  brand  upon  him 
of  senseless  separatism  from  humanity. 


A  VESTAL  VIRGIN.— SIB  FRED.  LEIGHTON. — A  modern  ideal  suggested  by  the 
Roman  custom  of  Vestal  Virgins,  who  tended  the  altar  fire  of  the  goddess  of  chastity  and 
domestic  union. 


Greek  Bible. 


1VTATURAL  conditions,  of  sea  and  sky  and  land,  of  at- 
1  \  mosphere  and  landscape  and  climate,  such  as  vary- 
ingly  wrought  on  the  Euphrates,  on  the  Nile,  and  in  the 
Semitic  desert,  effected  in  Greece  a  development  of  human- 
ity, and  that  reflection  of  humanity  which  religion  funda- 
mentally is,  the  charm,  the  power,  and  the  revealing  light 
of  which  have  co-operated  with  the  ideals  of  Christ  more 
than  any  other  of  the  great  endeavors  of  the  human  spirit. 

Of  the  sea  Babylonia  had  but  her  southeastern  gate  at 
the  head  of  the  Persian  gulf/  Greece  had  a  thousand  water 
gates  opening  upon  the  mystical  beneficence  figured  in  Ea 
at  Eridu.  The  air  and  light  through  which  Egypt  gained 
impressions  of  elevation  and  bright  expectation,  which  hung 
as  a  curtain  of  beneficent  enlightenment  and  glorious  prom- 
ise before  the  vast  realm  of  the  unrevealed,  belonged  mainly 
to  the  sky  of  sunset.  Greece  had  a  thousand  aspects  of 
varying  charm,  in  scenery  of  the  richest  variety,  a  sky  of 
changing  lights  and  unchanging  beauty,  and  hill  and  vale 
and  water  unrolling  to  every  eye  a  grace  and  truth  of  art 
seen  in  no  other  land. 

The  St.  Giles  lecturer  on  Greece,  in  the  series  on  "  the 
Faiths  of  the  World,"  Rev.  Dr.  Wm.  Milligan,  marks  the 
contrast  between  the  religions  of  the  East  and  that  prospect 
of  humanity  which  presents  itself  as  we  turn  to  Greece,  by 
saying — to  an  audience  in  Scotland,  a  cathedral  and  univer- 
sity audience : 

(117) 


118          GREEK  FAITH  AND  THE  GREEK  BIBLE. 

"  We  have  to  turn  to  a  country  in  many  respects  similar  to  our  own, 
and  to  a  people  of  a  life,  and  energy,  and  a  movement  which  have 
enabled  them  to  exercise  an  almost  unparalleled  influence  upon  the  high- 
est races  of  mankind.  We  have  to  pass  from  darkness  into  light. 
Instead  of  stagnation,  we  come  in  contact  with  freedom,  inquiry,  sci- 
ence, philosophy,  and  progress.  Across  the  long  lapse  of  ages,  we 
clasp  a  people  by  the  hand  whose  literature  and  art  have  supplied  the 
finest  models  for  the  historians,  poets,  and  artists  of  all  succeeding 
times ;  whose  political  spirit  has  in  no  small  degree  nourished  our  own 
imperishable  love  of  liberty ;  and  whose,  philosophic  thought  has  even 
penetrated  Christianity  itself,  and  helped  to  mould  it  into  the  forms 
that  have  secured  its  victories.  We  are  in  many  respects  strangers  to 
the  nations  of  the  East  :  with  the  Greeks  we  feel  that  we  are  one.  In 
the  most  refined  and  spiritual  elements  which  classical  antiquity  has 
transmitted  to  modern  times,  we  are  the  heirs  of  Greek,  not  Roman, 
thought.  The  literature,  the  art,  the  rhetoric,  the  politics  which  we 
cultivate,  are  Greek,  not  Roman,  in  their  origin.  Few  things  are 
more  certain  than  that  the  religious  development  of  Greece  was  all 
along  powerfully  affected  by  its  contact  with  the  East.  But  it  is  not 
less  certain  that,  by  the  richness  of  their  imagination  and  the  plastic 
power  of  their  genius,  the  Greeks  so  transformed  every  foreign  element 
of  religion  which  they  received  as  to  make  it  their  own  independent 
possession.  Greece  developed  her  own  religion ;  and  if  we  transport 
ourselves  as  far  as  possible  into  the  earliest  period  of  her  history,  we 
shall  find  the  kernel  of  that  development  in  the  relation  in  which  the 
Greek  stood  to  nature.  This  was  in  many  respects  different  from  what 
it  was  elsewhere.  He  moved  freely  and  joyously  in  the  midst  of  na- 
ture. Little  of  his  worship  sprang  from  dread  of  the  more  terrible 
forces,  suggested  by  the  whirlwind,  the  earthquake,  the  wilderness. 
He  communed  with  nature  as  one  who  was  at  ease,  and  who  heard  her 
voices  with  pleasure  rather  than  alarm.  There  was  about  the  religion 
of  Greece  a  lightness  and  a  sunniness  of  spirit,  as  well  as  a  freedom 
from  harsh  and  gloomy  thoughts,  that  are  pleasing  to  the  mind." 

The  lower  ranges  of  the  religious  landscape  of  Greece  are 
filled  with  personages  and  personifications  of  the  most 
varied  character,  the  study  of  which  would  require  a  vol- 
ume. The  forms  thus  put  into  the  picture  of  Greek  relig- 
ion are  symbols,  many  of  them  of  the  powers  behind  nature, 
and  many  of  them  of  some  aspect  of  the  power  which  is  far 
above  nature  and  above  man.  It  would  conduce  very  much 
to  knowledge  if  readers  of  stories  in  which  the  figures  of 
gods,  goddesses,  demigods,  etc.,  appear,  would  remember 


GREEK  FAITH  AND  THE  GREEK  BIBLE.          119 

that  in  every  case  the  story  is  a  fiction  more  or  less  true  to 
an  idea,  or  an  ideal,  and  that  no  manner  of  unworthy  story, 
as  of  the  conduct  of  Zeus  or  the  manners  of  Juno,  belongs 
in  the  truth  of  Greek  religion.  Mythology  is  mostly  a  vast 
chatter  of  fools,  far  behind  which  and  far  above  which  we 
must  look  for  the  realities  or  even  the  imaginations  of 
Greek  religion.  It  was  a  perfectly  just  Greek  principle  that 
figures  of  human  frame  and  face  could  serve  as  symbols  of 
various  aspects  of  divinity.  But  no  warrant  went  with  this 
for  accepting  whatever  stories  might  be  told ;  and  in  fact 
foolish  credence  given  to  stories,  and  foolish  preference  of 
stories,  of  scandal  even,  to  thought  and  high  devotion, 
wrought  untold  disaster  to  faith  and  worship. 

The  high  lines  of  Greek  faith  begin  with  Zeus  and  Apollo 
and  Athene.  Zeus  bore  clear  and  full,  to  whatever  creature 
had  a  prayer  to  make,  the  great  name  God-Father.  In  the 
passage  of  a  Greek  poet  from  which  Paul  is  said  to  have 
quoted  on  Mars'  hill  at  Athens,  we  read : 

"  With  Zeus  begin  we — let  no  mortal  voice 
Leave  Zeus  unpraised.    Zeus  fills  the  haunts  of  men, 
The  streets,  the  marts — Zeus  fills  the  sea,  the  shores, 
The  harbors — everywhere  we  live  in  Zeus. 
We  are  his  offspring  too ;  friendly  to  man, 
He  gives  prognostics;  sets  men  to  their  toil 
By  need  of  daily  bread ;  tells  when  the  land 
Must  be  upturned  by  ploughshare  or  by  spade — 
What  time  to  plant  the  olive  or  the  vine — 
What  time  to  fling  on  earth  the  golden  grain. 
For  He  it  was  who  scattered  o'er  the  sky 
The  shining  stars,  and  fixed  them  where  they  are; 
Provided  constellations  through  the  year, 
To  mark  the  seasons  in  their  changeless  course. 
Wherefore  men  worship  Him — the  First — the  Last — 
Their  Father— Wonderful— their  Help  and  Shield." 

The  more  rough  and  rude  type  of  mind  among  the  Greeks, 
taking  its  suggestions  from  dangerous  coasts,  the  rough 
sea,  and  perhaps  the  quaking  earth  or  the  shaken  mountain 
introduced  Poseidon  as  a  sea-god  brother  of  Zeus,  with  de- 
mons and  Titans  for  his  servitors ;  offspring  of  huge  size 


120  GREEK  FAITH  AND  THE  GREEK  BIBLE. 

and  giant  strength  ;  and  worship  by  human  sacrifices  or  by 
burial  of  horses  alive  ;  the  reflection  in  myth  of  the  might 
and  terror  of  the  sea  by  rocky  headlands  and  bold  cliffs ; 
the  god  of  the  mariner,  and  never  reaching  comparison  in 
character  with  Zeus,  because  the  shores  from  which  sugges- 
tion was  taken  had  no  such  notes  of  rich  beneficence  and 
grandeur  as  those  of  the  sky  above  the  mountain  tops  ;  nor 
even  such  as  sounded  at  Eridu  to  Babylonian  ears  the  praise 
of  Ea,  where  the  waters  of  the  Persian  gulf  rolled  gently  in 
upon  the  low  beach,  and  far  down  the  glistening  shallows 
spread  under  the  light  of  mighty  moons  the  pathway  of  a 
god  of  kindness  and  wisdom. 

It  was  in  Apollo  that  a  Greek  Merodach,  a  son  for  mercy 
and  truth  to  man  of  Beneficent  Godhead,  called  the  Greek 
mind  to  happy  devotion.  The  son  and  interpreter  of  Zeus, 
a  god  of  light,  of  spiritual  enlightenment,  of  revelation, 
prescience,  prophecy,  of  the  art  to  heal  and  the  power  to  re- 
store life,  and  of  musical  and  poetic  production,  Apollo  was 
the  highest  Greek  ideal,  the  loftiest  and  purest  Greek  con- 
ception, enthroned  in  the  height  of  heaven,  as  in  the  flaming 
sun,  yet  dwelling  below  accessible  to  mortal  men. 

Perhaps  even  a  finer  type  appeared  in  Athene,  sister  of 
Apollo,  daughter  of  Zeus  sprung  in  full  form  from  his  brain, 
grandest  impersonation  of  divine  wisdom,  of  unerring  judg- 
ment and  unswerving  righteousness,  a  supreme  presence  of 
purity,  and  strength,  and  counsel,  adviser  by  calm  judgment 
of  statesmen  and  warriors,  expert  inspirer  of  handicraft  and 
industry,  the  housewife's  goddess,  strong  in  sympathy  and 
in  skill ;  and  for  the  higher  law  of  ideal  justice,  for  the 
mercy  that  overtops  justice,  the  antagonist  and  controller  of 
Zeus  himself— woman  in  finer  strain  of  divinity  laying  upon 
the  highest  form  of  mere  power,  of  male  deity,  a  hand  of 
mighty  grace  and  truth. 

Hera,  the  spouse  of  Zeus,  was  figured  at  the  common  hu- 
man level,  with  little  but  the  name  of  divinity.  Artemis, 
sister  to  Apollo,  goddess  of  the  night  as  he  of  the  day,  the 
forest  and  mountain  deity  of  the  hunter,  was  hardly  more 
to  life  and  religion  than  a  shadow.  At  Ephesus  she  became 


GREEK  FAITH  AND  THE  GREEK  BIBLE.          121 

Asiatic,  a  great  nature-goddess,  an  impersonation  of  fruit- 
fulness  in  nature,  and  of  far  from  Hellenic  character.  Aph- 
rodite was  a  fallen  Athene,  the  side  of  woman  to  which 
belong  weakness  together  with  every  sensual  charm  ;  a  type, 
like  Hera,  not  of  what  is  above,  but  of  what  is  below.  In 
assuming  that  divine  impulse  gave  origin  to  every  form  of 
intense  human  experience,  room  was  made  for  deification  of 
sexual  attraction,  and  this  deification  was  Aphrodite ;  but 
not  purely  an  ideal ;  a  reflection  rather  of  the  most  beauti- 
ful form  of  sensual  charm  in  earthly  woman. 

In  the  same  line  of  impersonation  of  strong  passion,  Ares 
was  the  god  of  fighters,  of  a  rude  Thracian  type,  son  to 
Zeus  and  Hera,  handsome  and  dashing,  but  coarse,  cruel, 
lawless.  Hermes  was  the  trader's  god,  god  of  inventions,  of 
worldly  wisdom  and  practical  knowledge,  of  embassies  and 
commissions,  of  tricks  and  fraud,  a  clever  youngster  among 
the  gods,  a  fleet  messenger,  quick  in  device,  of  bold  tongue, 
keen  at  a  bargain,  and  not  afraid  to  steal  at  need. 

As  in  all  religions,  fire  had  its  god  in  Hephoestus,  who 
dwelt  on  the  island  of  Lemnos,  working  in  metals  with  mar- 
vellous art,  the  armorer  of  the  gods,  forger  of  the  thunder- 
bolts of  Zeus,  maker  of  automatic  tripods  for  Olympus  and 
of  maidens  in  bronze  who  attended  him  on  account  of  a 
lameness  peculiar  to  him.  To  a  goddess  of  fire,  Hestia,  a 
very  different  character  was  given.  Her  divinity  was  that 
of  the  temple  altar,  of  the  city  shrine,  of  the  hearth  and  the 
home,  a  divinity  of  purity  and  perfection,  and  of  the  domes- 
tic virtues, — the  Greek  standard  of  which  was  high  and 
pure. 

Demeter — '  Earth-Mother  '—was  the  kindly  and  bountiful 
goddess  of  fruitfulness  in  nature,  and  of  the  order  of  human 
society  built  on  settled  tillage  of  the  soil.  Her  primitive 
seat  was  among  the  farms  of  Thessalian  Pyrasus,  Wheat- 
land;  she  was  the  great  Corn-Mother,  Harvest-Queen,  god- 
dess of  peace  and  plenty,  the  revealer  of  farmwork  skill,  of 
the  growth  of  grain,  and  of  the  making  of  bread.  As  Earth 
she  was  the  form  of  the  wife  of  Zeus,  and  the  life  to  which 
she  was  mother  was  figured  as  a  marvellously  beloved 


122  GREEK  FAITH  AND  THE  GREEK  BIBLE. 

daughter,  Persephone,  whom  Hades,  scouring  in  his  chariot 
the  flowery  plain  of  autumn,  snatched  away,  and  bore  down 
the  west  to  the  under- world,  to  be  the  queen  there,  but  per- 
mitted to  revisit  her  mother  for  spring  and  summer  every 
year. 

As  the  story  of  Demeter  ran,  the  mother,  sorrowing  for 
the  rape  of  her  daughter,  sat  weary  on  the  Laughless  Stone, 
by  the  well  of  the  acropolis  of  Eleusis,  and  was  there  minis- 
tered to  by  the  four  daughters  of  the  king  of  Eleusis,  and 
taken  by  their  mother  to  have  the  care  of  her  latest  born. 
Thence  grew  the  planting  there  of  her  worship,  when  she 
had  given  the  prince  Triptolemus  all  her  counsels  of  knowl- 
edge and  wisdom  ;  not  the  common  lessons  only  of  the  realm 
of  nature,  but  the  deeper  lessons  of  life  as  a  scene  of  bounty, 
of  loss  and  sorrow  and  redemption ;  and  of  future  life,  not 
in  gloom,  but  ruled  by  the  beloved  child  of  the  sunshine  of 
Zeus. 

During  eight  hundred  years  the  Eleusinian  Mysteries  cele- 
brated the  story  of  Demeter  and  Persephone  with  rites  pro- 
foundly sacramental.  The  temple  was  one  of  the  most 
beautiful  productions  of  Greek  genius  ;  and  as  rebuilt  after 
the  battle  of  Platea,  when  the  Persians  destroyed  it  by  fire, 
it  was  a  creation  of  Ictinus,  the  architect  of  the  Parthenon, 
and  of  Pericles  and  Phidias,  by  whom  it  was  finished  with 
the  utmost  magnificence  Distant  twelve  miles  from  Ath- 
ens, it  was  visited  every  year  by  a  vast  concourse  of  the 
initiated,  and  whoever  wished  to  be  initiated,  going  in  sol- 
emn procession.  The  traditional  rites  were  of  a  varied 
character,  to  a  large  extent  impressive  from  custom  and  an- 
tiquity, but  in  some  features  marvellously  effective  to  inspire, 
to  convert  and  elevate,  to  create  faith  and  bestow  comfort. 
It  was  by  successive  steps  only  that  initiation  took  place ; 
and  the  whole  emphasis  of  entering  upon  it  was  put  upon 
purity,  cleansing,  high  ideals  of  life,  and  hope  of  blessedness 
in  a  life  to  come  ;  but  to  every  one  the  way  was  open.  An 
old  scholiast  wrote :  "  The  opinion  prevailed  at  Athens  that 
whoever  had  been  taught  the  mysteries  would,  when  he  came 
to  die,  be  deemed  worthy  of  divine  glory ;  hence  all  were 


HOMER.— GERARD.— A  Greek  hymn  to  Apollo  speaks  of  Homer  as  "  the  blind  man  that 
dwells  in  rocky  Chios,"  an  island  home  of  song  and  art  in  the  early  days  of  Greece,  where 
the  artist  imagines  the  bard  with  his  harp,  turned  back  by  a  youth  from  a  dangerous 
precipice. 


THE  SACRIFICE.— LE  Roux.— Roman  mother  and  child,  offering  worship  before 
the  Penates,  a  pair  of  figures  representing  the  gods  of  the  hearth  and  the  house,  by  whose 
bounty  the  store-room  and  kitchen  were  supplied,  and  through  whose  presence  the  home 
was  sacred :  gods  whom  only  the  pure  and  chaste  might  approach. 


GREEK  FAITH  AND  THE  GREEK  BIBLE.          123 

eager  for  initiation."  The  great  Hall  of  Initiation,  a  vast 
cathedral,  perhaps  never  equalled  in  the  welcome  of  brilliant 
light  and  impressive  ceremonial  which  it  presented,  was  the 
only  example  in  antiquity  of  a  meeting  house  for  worship- 
pers, a  church  for-  a  congregation  ;  and  beyond  a  doubt  no 
church  ever  left  on  those  attending  its  service  a  more  elevat- 
ing and  lasting  impression. 

A  mingling  of  Dionysus  rites  with  Demeter  rites,  in  the 
Eleusinian  mysteries,  presents  one  of  the  singular  problems 
of  Greek  religion,  until  we  clear  away  everything  but  the 
fundamental  essentials.  The  oldest  and  most  universal 
sacrament  is  that  of  bread  and  wine,  as  the  symbol  of  divine 
bounty  in  nature ;  of  consecration,  by  pure  life  and  doing 
good,  to  the  divinity  that  is  behind  nature  ;  and  of  hope  for 
other  life  to  which  in  so  many  ways  human  thought  and 
feeling  are  turned.  Demeter  represented  the  first  half  of 
this  sacrament.  Dionysus,  with  very  much  else,  represented 
the  other  half.  It  was  after  the  very  much  else  was  left 
behind  that,  as  Mr.  Louis  Dyer  says  in  his  "  Gods  of  Greece," 
"  Dionysus  at  Athens  became  the  godhead  and  the  centre  of 
the  widest  and  the  best  worship  known  to  the  best  spirits  in 
the  best  days  of  the  best  community  of  Hellas  " — "  the  tute- 
lary god  and  great  inspirer  of  ^Bschylus,  Sophocles,  Euripides, 
and  Aristophanes." 

The  lowest  beginnings  of  Dionysus  ideas  were  the  belief 
that  wine  intoxication  was  a  high  form  of  supernatural  ex- 
perience, and  the  further  belief  that  future  existence  was 
better  than  present.  The  latter  comes  very  easily  at  a  very 
low  stage  of  hardy  savage  culture,  with  its  rude  experience 
of  excitement,  inspiration,  intoxications,  dreams  and  visions, 
and  its  rough  handling  of  life,  fearlessness  of  death,  and 
credulous  hope  of  the  beyond.  In  his  Phrygian  and  Thra- 
cian  origin  Dionysus  was  especially  the  wine-god  of  revels 
and  orgies  on  the  border  of  the  unseen  life;  and  so  the 
god  of  that  unseen  life,  into  which  the  rude  brave  and  the 
rough  fighter  reeled  in  the  reckless  ecstasy  of  getting  glori- 
ously drunk,  and  of  slashing  his  way  into  the  elysium  of 
the  warrior. 


124          GREEK  FAITH  AND  THE  GREEK  BIBLE. 

This  early  view  of  ecstasy  and  of  other  world  life  was 
capable  of  indefinite  purification,  and  Dionysus  came  to 
Athens,  and  was  joined  with  Demeter  at  Eleusis,  after  such 
purification  ;  with  the  very  fit  result  of  completing  a  sacra- 
ment of  bread  and  wine  the  ministry  of  which  contem- 
plated a  pure  life  here  and  a  blessed  life  hereafter.  Both 
Demeter  and  Dionysus  were  divinities  of  the  common  peo- 
ple, and  their  festivals  were  primarily  popular,  not  to  say 
peasant,  festivals.  As  such  they  were  adopted  at  Athens 
for  public  support,  and  they  always  continued  to  have  a 
popular  hold,  through  features  tending  to  obscure  the  ideals 
finally  reached,  but  tending  also  to  draw  up  the  people  to 
those  ideals.  It  was  at  a  Dionysus  festival  that  a  comedy 
acted  as  part  of  the  entertainment  gave  the  Greek  drama  a 
start,  not  long  after  600  B.C.  Thespis  took  a  hint  from 
this  to  make  tragedy  a  feature  of  Dionysus  celebration. 
This  was  at  Icaria  in  the  highlands  of  Attica,  but  in  535  B.C. 
Thespis  brought  out  a  play  at  Athens,  and  forward  from 
that  advanced  the  development  of  Greek  tragedy,  one  of  the 
highest  masterpieces  of  the  human  mind,  in  ^Eschylus, 
Sophocles,  Euripides,  and  Aristophanes,  as  the  grand  fea- 
ture of  a  celebration  anxiously  designed  in  the  popular  mind 
for  securing  divine  favor  through  the  corn  and  wine  of  the 
fields  and  the  vineyards. 

As  the  prophets  of  an  earlier  dispensation  the  Greek 
dramatists  taught  the  chief  lessons  of  humanity  and  of 
divinity  with  an  insight  and  a  power  never  surpassed  by  any 
ethnic  religion.  And  the  Greek  philosophers  followed  the 
dramatists  upon  lines  leading  into  the  light  far  beyond  the 
utmost  ancient  attainment  outside  of  Greek  lines.  Had 
there  been  no  elements  of  hindrance  to  progress,  of  repres- 
sion of  thought,  of  resistance  to  revelation  developed  natu- 
rally, and  nobly  expressed  in  the  higher  forms  of  literature, 
Greek  advance  would  have  been  abreast  of  the  life  and 
teaching  of  Christ. 

But  Greece  had  a  Bible,  deplorably  effective  for  throwing 
popular  opinion  and  public  action,  precisely  as  the  Jews' 
Bible  did  for  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees,  against  every  ad- 


GREEK  FAITH  AND  THE  GREEK  BIBLE.  125 

vance  out  of  darkness  into  light.  It  is  not  commonly  recog- 
nized, but  of  the  fact  there  can  be  no  doubt,  that  Homer 
wrought  for  centuries  the  mischief  always  possible  to  be 
wrought  by  a  Bible,  that  of  putting  up  a  barrier  against 
natural  healthy  progress  in  religious  matters.  The  lecture 
of  Dr.  Milligan,  to  which  reference  has  been  already  made, 
has  this  statement  of  the  change  from  freedom  of  develop- 
ment undergone  by  Greek  popular  faith  through  the  hold 
that  Homer  had  upon  the  popular  mind  and  heart : 

"  At  a  time  anterior  to  the  historic  period  the  religion  of  Greece, 
assimilating1  elements  of  Assyrian,  Phoenician,  Egyptian,  and  Phrygian 
faith,  may  be  said  to  have  been  in  a  fluid  state.  A  great  change  took 
place  in  the  ninth  and  eighth  centuries  before  the  Christian  era  (B.C. 
900-700),  under  the  influence  of  the  poets,  more  especially  under  that 
of  Homer  and  Hesiod.  These  two  poets,  indeed,  did  not  so  much  create 
as  reflect  the  religious  consciousness  of  Greece;  but,  in  reflecting  it, 
they  gave  it  such  a  cohesion  and  fixity  that,  from  that  time  onward, 
until  it  was  swept  away  by  the  advancing  power  of  Christianity,  it  re- 
mained essentially  unchanged.  To  Homer  in  particular,  and  to  the 
Iliad  and  the  Odyssey,  this  result  is  to  be  ascribed.  By  the  marvellous 
power  of  these  productions  Homer  became,  so  far  as  religion  was  con- 
cerned, the  prophet  of  the  whole  Hellenic  race,  wherever  it  had  found 
a  settlement.  His  poems  were  the  source  of  universal  delight  and  ad- 
miration. They  were  read  in  private.  They  were  recited  in  public  by 
minstrels  who  devoted  themselves  to  the  task.  They  were  taught  to 
the  young  as  religious  catechisms  are  taught.  They  were  in  the  mouth 
of  every  Greek  during  the  whole  period  of  Hellenic  history.  The  con- 
sequence was,  that  the  Homeric  poems  fixed  the  religion  of  Greece  for 
1,200  or  1,400  years.  That  religion  saw  all  the  changes  going  on  around 
it  which  took  place  in  one  of  the  most  eventful  periods  of  the  history 
of  man—a  period  including  the  dawning  of  the  Christian  age ;  but  it 
was  itself  changed  in  no  essential  respect.  It  had  laid  such  hold  of  the 
mind  of  Greece,  that  the  later  developments  of  Greek  thought  and 
speculation  never  took  religion  along  with  them." 

''As  society  advanced,  it  was  inevitable  that  thought  should  be 
directed  both  to  the  deepest  questions  of  the  soul,  and  to  the  ability  of 
the  popular  religion  to  accept  the  answers  of  reverent  inquiry.  But 
that  religion  had  in  it  no  element  of  growth.  It  had  become  fixed  by 
poetry  and  art.  Its  priests  and  teachers  had  no  share  in  the  best  cul- 
ture of  the  day,  no  interest  in  the  progress  of  investigation,  no  spirit  of 
allegiance  to  that  great  principle  of  truth  which,  even  under  Chris- 
tianity itself,  is  always  in  advance  of  the  forms  which  express  it  and 
the  applications  which  we  make  of  it. 


126          GREEK  FAITH  AND  THE  GREEK  BIBLE. 

"  From  the  very  first,  accordingly,  philosophy  took  up  an  attitude 
antagonistic  to  religion.  It  did  so  even  when  the  philosopher  pursued 
his  own  investigations  without  directly  attacking  the  popular  faith,  as 
when,  for  example,  Thales,  founder  of  the  Jonic  school,  stripped  the 
Homeric  Oceanus  of  his  personality,  or  when  Heraclitus  represented 
Zeus  as  the  all-pervading  reason  of  the  world.  But  it  was  still  more 
the  case  when,  with  the  advance  of  knowledge,  the  deities  of  Greece 
became  themselves  the  subject  of  philosophical  analysis,  and  when  the 
myths  were  criticised  in  the  light  of  purer  and  more  elevated  ideas. 
Philosophy  could  then  do  nothing  else  but  treat  with  scorn  and  indig- 
nation the  mythology  which  it  summoned  to  the  bar  of  reason.  The 
people,  on  their  part,  met  the  attitude  of  philosophy  with  hatred  and 
persecution.  Anaxagoras  and  Diogenes  had  to  flee  for  their  lives. 
Protagoras  was  banished,  and  his  books  were  burned.  Prodicus  was 
put  to  death.  Aristotle  had  to  become  a  fugitive  from  Athens,  and  the 
fate  of  Socrates  remains  an  eternal  stain  upon  the  memory  alike  of  the 
populace  and  of  the  judges  of  that  city." 

The  only  claim  to  origin  more  than  human  which  could  be 
made  for  the  Homeric  poems  was  the  claim  generally  made 
for  rare  utterance,  and  especially  rare  poetic  utterance  ;  and 
the  effect  of  the  poems  to  fix  belief  in  stories  of  gods  and 
goddesses,  and  in  conceptions  of  religious  requirement  in 
harmony  with  the  stories,  was  entirely  due  to  popular  igno- 
rance and  credulity  appealed  to  by  an  elaborate  poetical  cre- 
ation, a  school  of  marvellously  interesting  compositions,  by 
various  authors,  but  wrought  into  a  unity,  and  enthroned 
above  the  people,  by  authorized  systematic  recitation  at  both 
state  and  local  festivals.  Dr.  Edwin  Hatch,  in  his  Hibbert 
Lectures  on  Greek  Ideas  and  Usages,  says  that  the  mystery 
of  writing  and  reverence  for  antiquity  conspired  with  belief 
in  inspiration  to  give  poets  divine  authority. 

4 '  The  verses  of  Homer  were  the  Bible  of  the  Greek  races.  It  was  a 
god  who  gave  the  words  :  the  poet  was  but  the  interpreter.  The  belief 
was  not  merely  popular,  but  was  found  in  the  best  minds  of  the  imperial 
age.  '  Whatever  wise  and  true  words  were  spoken  about  God  and  the 
universe,  came  into  the  souls  of  men  not  without  the  divine  will  and 
intervention  through  the  agency  of  divine  and  prophetic  men.' — '  To  the 
poets  sometimes,  I  mean  the  very  ancient  poets,  there  came  a  brief  utter- 
ance from  the  Muses,  a  kind  of  inspiration  of  the  divine  nature  and 
truth,  like  a  flash  of  light  from  an  unseen  fire'  (Dio  Chrysostom). 
Literature  consisted  of  the  ancient  poets.  It  was  inevitable  that  they 


IS 

§1 

SI 


GREEK  FAITH  AND  THE  GREEK  BIBLE.          127 

should  be  the  basis  of  education.  'I  consider,'  says  Protagoras,  in  the 
Platonic  dialogue  which  bears  his  name,  '  that  the  chief  part  of  a  man's 
education  is  to  be  skilled  in  epic  poetry ;  able  to  understand  what  the 
poets  have  said,  and  whether  they  have  said  it  rightly  or  not.  It  was 
from  Homer  that  moralists  drew  their  ideals;  it  was  his  verses  that 
were  quoted,  like  verses  of  the  Bible  with  us,  to  enforce  moral  truths- 
All  the  varying  theories  of  physics  and  metaphysics  were  made  to  find 
a  support  in  Homer." 

The  simple  truth  is  that  Homeric  utterance,  by  several 
voices  if  not  by  many,  was  of  a  refined  sweetness  and  charm 
needing  no  special  priestly  or  other  pains  to  be  taken  to  give 
it,  to  all  Greeks,  popular  power  and  to  clothe  it  with  author- 
ity. The  real  authority,  moreover,  was  in  the  stories  and 
conceptions,  already  familiar  in  popular  tradition,  and  pre- 
sumed to  represent  the  facts  of  nature  and  of  the  powers 
behind  and  above  nature. 

In  Hesiod,  who  was  an  individual  poet,  somewhat  later 
than  "  Homer,"  a  natural  basis  of  authority  appears,  first  in 
the  use  of  materials  already  accepted,  notions  of  cosmogony, 
of  what  was  lucky  and  unlucky  for  tillers  of  the  soil,  of  the 
daimones  or  spirits  believed  in  by  the  people  and  specially 
present  at  seats  like  Delphi ;  and  second,  in  an  idea  of  the 
poet  as  an  authorized  prophet  of  wise  teaching  and  righteous 
commandment — of  doctrine  and  duty.  Hesiod  stood  as  a 
prophet,  as  a  mouthpiece  of  the  Delphian  Apollo.  But  he 
was  far  less  the  real  prophet  than  "  Homer," — a  mere  name 
for  a  family  or  school  of  masterly  singers,  but  a  name  an- 
swering a  great  purpose,  and  incidentally  having  the  de- 
plorable effect  of  tethering  the  Greek  popular  mind  to  tra- 
ditions which  were  largely  those  of  ignorance  and  super- 
stition. 

After  Hesiod  and  before  the  Dramatic  Poets,  the  elegiac, 
iambic,  and  lyric  poets  of  various  parts  of  Greece,  wrought 
a  good  deal  for  literature,  and  reached  a  grand  climax  in 
Pindar,  whose  boldness,  fervor,  and  sublimity  were  largely 
employed  upon  popular  heroic  legends,  together  with  grand 
moral  lessons.  The  dramatists  filled  a  half  century  with  one 
of  the  richest  and  strongest  outpourings  of  inspiration  and 


128          GREEK  FAITH  AND  THE  GREEK  BIBLE. 

art  in  all  human  literature,  using  the  popular  faith  in  old 
stories  and  ancient  conceptions,  but  steadily  developing  a 
splendid  revelation  of  the  ideal  requirements  of  humanity, 
from  which  a  reasonable  advance  would  have  left  the  old 
stories  and  the  ancient  conceptions  behind. 

Dr.  Edwin  Hatch  relates  how  profound  was  the  move- 
ment developed  among  the  Greeks,  from  about  the  5th 
century  before  Christ,  through  the  tendency  of  thoughtful 
minds  to  read  into  the  Homeric  stories  great  lessons  of 
ethics,  theories  of  physical  science,  metaphysical  concep- 
tions, and  whatever  in  fact  the  interpreter  wanted  to  teach. 
Socrates  thought  not  well  of  such  symbolism,  because  it  was 
used  not  only  for  a  point  of  departure  for  good  teaching,  but 
as  an  apology  for  bad  stories,  which  he  thought  objection- 
able, "whether  with  allegories  or  without  them."  The 
Stoics,  however,  read  into  the  poets  a  rich  body  of  ethical 
teaching,  and  sometimes  Homer  was  treated  as  a  kind  of 
primitive  encyclopaedia,  a  fountain-head  of  all  the  sciences, 
history,  philosophy,  politics,  war,  art,  medicine,  surgery, 
astronomy.  The  school  of  Anaxagoras,  ethical  probably  in 
the  master  himself,  became  physical,  and  made  symbolism 
serve  to  read  in  Homer  a  representation  of  physical  phe- 
nomena, with  the  gods  as  personifications  of  the  powers  of 
nature.  This  method,  says  Dr.  Hatch,  "  had  for  many  cen- 
turies an  enormous  hold  upon  the  Greek  mind;  it  lay  beneath 
the  whole  theology  of  the  Stoical  schools ;  it  was  largely 
current  among  the  scholars  and  critics  of  the  early  em- 
pire." Two  Stoic  writers  of  the  early  part  of  the  first  cen- 
tury of  our  era.  the  time  of  Christ,  that  is,  Heraclitus  and 
Cornutus,  pushed  with  great  energy  apologetic  allegorizing 
of  Homer,  the  first  aiming  to  clear  the  Greek  Poetic  Scrip- 
ture, the  Hellenic  Bible,  of  all  appearances  derogatory  to 
religion  and  piety,  and  the  second  to  prove  that  a  rich  and 
deep  knowledge  lay  concealed  under  the  stories  and  even 
the  phrases  and  names  of  the  poetic  scriptures. 


"  ESTHER." — BAERMAIM. — The  figure  pictured  here  is  the  heroine  of  a  Hebrew 
Scriptural  book  representing  a  Jewess  as  becoming  the  wife  of  the  famous  Persian  king 
Xerxes.  The  book  is  regarded  as  the  most  doubtful  of  all  the  Hebrew  sacred  books, 
because  of  features  of  the  story  which  seem  improbable.  The  name  of  God  does  not 
occur  in  it. 


AEDIPU8  AND  ANTIGONE.— TESCHENDORFF.—  This  pertains  to  the  heroic  age 
of  Greece.  Antigone  is  the  ideal  of  feminine  devotion  and  duty.  Her  father's  eyes  being 
put  out  upon  the  discovery  that  his  children  were  by  a  marriage  with  his  own  mother,  she 
alone  remained  faithful  to  him,  accompanying  him  in  his  exile  to  the  hour  of  his  death. 
She  finally  perished  in  a  tomb  for  daring  to  bury  her  brother  in  defiance  of  the  royal  edict. 


THE  APOCRYPHA 

OR  DOUBTFUL  BOOKS. 


rMHE  books  known  distinctively  as  the  Old  Testament 
_L    Apocrypha ;   recognized  in  the  English  Bible ;  and 
regarded  as  Canonical  by  Roman  Catholics  are  these : 

1.  FIRST  ESDKAS  :  A  compilation  embracing  the  last  two 
chapters  of  2d  Chronicles,  nearly  all  of  the  canonical  Ezra, 
a  little  from  Nehemiah,  and  two  sections  of  additional  mat- 
ter, one  of    which  gives    a    story  of    young    Zerubbabel 
inducing  Darius  to  promote  the  rebuilding  of  Jerusalem 
and  its  temple.   Of  its  date  nothing  certain  is  known  except 
that  Josephus  used  it  as  of  repute  enough  to  be  followed 
as  an  authority, — a  work,  therefore,  of  perhaps  a  century 
before  Christ. 

2.  SECOND    ESDKAS:    Probably   entitled    originally  the 
Apocalypse  of  Ezra.    Its  seven  visions  all  refer  to  the  future 
of  Jerusalem;  when  it  shall  be  restored  and  its  enemies 
punished.    It  is  probably  of  about  the  date  81  to  97  A.D. 
Its  author  was  a  Pharisee,  like  Paul,  and  the  book  is  strongly 
Jewish  in  its  sympathies.    Yet  it  became  popular,  not  with 
Jews,  but  with  Christians,  and  got  a  high  place,  entirely 
without  warrant,  in  the  list  of  Old  Testament  apocrypha. 
It  was  of    considerable    influence   upon  Christian  belief, 
taking  eschatological  ground  like  that  which  Paul  had 
taken  earlier.     Several  of  the  Fathers  used  it  as  prophetic 

scripture. 

(129) 


130          THE  APOCRYPHA  OR  DOUBTFUL  BOOKS. 

3.  TOBIT  :  A  Jewish-Greek  composition,  of  about  B.C.  180, 
telling  the  story  of  a  pious  Israelite  back  in  the  time  of  the 
captivity  of  Israelites  (of  the  ten  tribes)  at  Nineveh.    It  was 
perhaps  written  in  Egypt.     It  shows  extreme  ignorance  of 
the  region  of  Nineveh,  but  is  an  effective  tale,  showing  sym- 
pathy for  the  victims  of  tyranny,  and  containing,  in  the 
demon  Asmodeus  and  the  dog  of  Tobias,  adaptations  of 
Zoroastrian  ideas. 

4.  JUDITH  :  A  romance  of  Hebrew  patriotism  and  religion, 
written  by  a  Jew  of  the  Maccabsean  period,  to  stir  up  fighting 
zeal  by  telling  how  a  beautiful  and  pious  widow,  when  a  city 
was  about  to  be  taken  by  Holofernes,  a  general  of  Nebu- 
chadrezzar, visited  the  enemy's  camp,  secured  his  confidence 
with  invented  tales,  and  after  accepting  a  banquet,  and  re- 
maining for  the  night  with  Holofernes,  used  his  own  sword 
to  strike  off  his  head :  whereupon  her  compatriots  made  a 
sudden  onslaught,  and  secured  immense  spoils.    The  extant 
Greek  text  shows  traces  of  a  Hebrew  original.     Several 
Fathers,  down  to  Augustine,  cited  it  as  scripture. 

5.  ESTHEK:  A  body  of  passages  appearing  to  be  a  con- 
tinuation of  the  canonical  book,  but  in  fact  variously  inter- 
polated in  it,  in  the  Greek  Septuagint  translation,  by  Alex- 
andrian Jews,  the  object  being  to  supplement  the  narrative 
and  to  suitably  mention  God,  to  whom  the  original  book 
made  no  reference.    The  date  may  have  been  in  the  first  or 
second  century  B.C. 

6.  THE  WISDOM   OF  SOLOMON:    A  Jewish-Greek  work, 
dating  at  Alexandria  in  the  first  or  second  century  B.C.:  a 
work  of  high  literary  excellence,  fine  thoughts  and  rhetor- 
ical power,  profoundly  theistic  and  spiritual,  but  not  teach- 
ing resurrection  of  the  body  and  not  Messianic.    Passages 
in  the  epistle  to  the  Hebrews  seem  to  draw  from  it,  as  also 
some  words  of  Paul.    The  writer  uses  Wisdom  much  as 
Philo  later  used  Logos,  and  thus  helped  to  lay  the  founda- 
tion of  Trinitarian  doctrine.     In  the  first  half  of  the  second 
century  A.D.  the  book  was  treated  as  inspired  scripture. 

7.  ECCLESIASTICUS,  or  the  Wisdom  of  Jesus,  the  Son  of 
Sirach :  a  half  ethical,  half  philosophical  composition,  trans- 


THE  APOCRYPHA  OR  DOUBTFUL  BOOKS.          131 

lated  into  Greek,  about  130  B.C.,  from  a  Hebrew  original,  by, 
probably,  a  grandson  of  the  author.  The  James,  brother  of 
Jesus,  whose  epistle  we  have,  has  fifteen  references  to  this 
book,  with  fourteen  to  the  sermon  on  the  Mount,  and  five 
to  the  Wisdom  of  Solomon.  Many  Christian  writers  after 
the  second  century  quote  Ecclesiasticus  as  scripture. 

8.  BARUCH  :  A  work  professing  to  have  been  written  by 
the  friend  and  amanuensis  of  the  prophet  Jeremiah,  in  the 
fifth  year  after  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  and  at  Baby- 
lon.    It  is  in  fact  by  a  writer  as  late  as  300  to  290  B.C.,  for 
the  Palestinian  Hebrew  original,  and  probably  two  hundred 
years  later  for  the  Alexandrian  Greek  translation  now  extant. 
The  book  of  Daniel,  which  has  a  similar  fiction  for  its  form, 
borrows  closely  in  some  passages  from  Baruch.     The  early 
Christians  often  quoted  it  as  scripture,  and  even  as  by  Jere- 
miah.   A  note  of  the  religious  conditions  of  the  time  is 
given  in  the  following    statement  of   the    Encyclopaedia 
Brittanica  article : 

"The  Palestinian  abode  of  the  writer  is  pretty  clear, 
especially  from  the  melancholy  view  of  death  presented, 
resembling  that  in  Psalms  vi.  6:  Ixxviii.  18:  ciii.  29.  In 
Alexandria  the  Jews  had  attained  to  a  clear  idea  of  immor- 
tality, in  Palestine  not." 

The  same  contrast  is  seen  in  the  Alexandrian  Book  of 
Wisdom,  which  depicts  immortality  very  strongly  as  the 
reward  of  wisdom  and  character  and  a  good  life,  and  the 
Palestinian  Ecclesiasticus,  which  has  but  a  dim  and  uncertain 
hope  of  future  life. 

9.  THE  SONG  OF  THE  THEEE  CHILDREN  :  A  supplement  to 
the  narrative  in  Daniel  3,  which  appears  in  the  Septuagint 
version.     It  gives  a  prayer,  a  story  of  deliverance,  and  a 
hymn  of  thanksgiving. 

10.  THE  HISTORY  OF  SUSANNA  :  Another  Septuagint  addi- 
tion to  Daniel,  giving  a  story  similar  to  one  found  in  early 
Jewish  literature. 

11.  BEL  AND  THE  DRAGON  :  A  third  Septuagint  addition 
to  Daniel,  the  story  of  some  destruction  of  objects  of  Baby- 
lonian worship,  in  the  time  of  Cyrus. 


132         THE  APOCRYPHA  OR  DOUBTFUL  BOOKS. 

12.  THE  PRAYER  OF  MAISTASSEBS  :    A   poetical  version, 
found  in  the  Septuagint,  of  the  original  prayer  of  Manas- 
seh,  King  of  Judah,  which  the  Chronicles  account  says  that 
he  made,  when  overtaken  by  calamity — temporary  captivity 
in  Babylon.    Date  and  authorship  are  both  uncertain. 

13.  THE  FIRST  BOOK  OF  MACCABEES  :  The  Greek  transla- 
tion of  a  Hebrew  original :  the  original  written  in  Palestine, 
probably  about  B.C.  100 ;  but  the  Greek  version  made  in 
Alexandria,  as  part  of  the  Greek  Old  Testament.     It  is  a 
plain,  honest,  and  trustworthy  history  of  the  Jewish  national 
struggle  conducted  by  the  famous  Maccabee  or  Hasmonean 
family  from  the  accession  of  Antiochus  Epiphanes  (B.C.  175) 
to  the  death  of  Simon  (B.C.  135).     Besides  a  short  sketch  of 
the  conquests  of  Alexander  the  Great,  which  brought  the 
long  Persian  domination  (B.C.  536-333)  to  a  close,  and  estab- 
lished Greek  sway  over  Palestine  (B.C. -333-1 67),  it  relates 
the  story  of  three  successive  Maccabean  leaders,   Judas, 
Jonathan,  and  Simon.    Antiquity  of  authorship  is  shown 
by  the  praises  bestowed  on  the  Roman  senate  and  people. 

14.  THE  SECOND  BOOK  OF  MACCABEES  :  A  much  inferior 
work,  attempting  a  part  of  the  same  history,  and  some- 
times supplementing  1st  Mac.,  but  not  nearly  so  trustworthy. 
It  begins  with  two  epistles  which  are  forgeries ;  and  it  is 
colored  and  distorted  with  sympathy  with  the  Pharisees, 
who  developed   bitter    hostility  to  the   later    Maccabean 
prince-high-priests.     Its  date  is  uncertain. 

Such  was  the  literature  coming  before  the  age  of  Christ 
among  the  Jews,  so  far  as  it  obtained  recognition  in  a  sort 
of  appendix  to  the  Old  Testament. 


THE    TALMUD. 


u  THE  SACRED  BOOK  OF  THE  ORTHODOX  JEWS  :  ONE  OF 
THE  STRANGEST  OF  THE  BIBLES  OF  HUMANITY."* 

FROM  Ezra  dated  the  earliest  of  the  schools  of  which 
the  Talmud  was  the  final  fruit  and  Rabbinism  the 
method :  both  method  and  fruit  the  worst  known  to  the 
higher  history  of  religion.  There  are  a  very  few  strikingly 
fine  touches  of  thought  and  expression  in  the  Talmud, 
enough  to  furnish  a  Deutsch  with  the  materials  of  an  essay, 
but  the  huge  bulk — nearly  3,000  folio  pages  of  the  Babylo- 
nian Talmud— has  the  highest  average  of  chaff  to  be  found 
in  any  literature, — decisions  of  ceremonial  trifles,  discus- 
sions of  idiocies  of  speculation,  endless  words  that  mean 
nothing  to  any  good  purpose,  thoughts  which  are  empty, 
foolish,  and  stupid,  and  imaginations  insanely  extravagant 
or  wild,ly  blasphemous. 

The  original  "  Mosaic "  claim  was  extended  to  cover  the 
vast  mass  of  Halakha  or  "  Decision,"  of  which  the  Mishna 
is  mainly  composed.  "  Delivered  to  Moses  on  Sinai  "  was 
claimed  for  the  whole  of  it.  The  genesis  of  Hebrew 
theism  is  illustrated  by  the  base  use  to  which  the  Rabbis 
put  their  God.  He  is  represented  as  spending  three 
hours  daily  in  the  study  of  the  Mosaic  Law  as  set  forth  in 
Ezra's  Pentateuch ;  and  as  repeating  upon  their  authority 
the  oral  law  decisions  made  by  the  Rabbis.  It  is  even  said, 
that  on  one  occasion  God  sent  for  the  soul  of  a  Rabbi  to 
decide  a  question  of  leprosy  disputed  between  him  and  his 
angels. 

The  second  part  of  the  Talmud  was  another  huge  collec- 
tion called  Gemara,  "  Completion."  It  was  largely  made  up 

*  Canon  Farrar. 

(133) 


134  THE  TALMUD. 

of  a  second  variety  of  Rabbinic  utterance,  called  ffaggada, 
'  Story '  or  Legend  ;  embodying  to  a  certain  extent  moral 
instruction,  but  mostly  legend,  allegory,  apologue,  the  float- 
ing material  of  a  low  state  of  culture,  which  the  Rabbis 
fell  back  upon  when  the  stream  of  decision,  details  of  law, 
began  to  run  dry.  Dr.  Farrar*  justly  says  of  the  com- 
pleted Babylonian  Talmud ;  "  the  sacred  book  of  the  or- 
thodox Jews—one  of  the  strangest  of  the  Bibles  of 
Humanity  ": 

lilt  is  full  of  uncouth  grammar,  barbarous  solecisms,  and  exotic 
words.  It  teems  with  errors,  exaggerations,  and  even  obscenities ; 
with  strange  superstitions  of  Eastern  demon ology;  with  wild  Arabian 
tales  about  the  freaks  of  Ashmodai ;  with  childish  extravagancies  of 
fancy  about  Behemoth  and  the  bird  Bar  Juchne  and  the  Shorabor; 
with  perverted  logic;  with  confusions  of  genealogy,  chronology,  and 
history ;  with  exorcisms,  incantations,  and  magic  formula? ;  with  pro- 
fane and  old  wives  fables,  understood  by  the  multitude  in  their  literal 
absurdity.  Things  grave  and  fantastic,  valuable  and  worthless,  Jewish 
and  Pagan,  piled  together  in  wild  disorder — labyrinths  of  rubbish — the 
froth  and  scum,  the  flotsam  and  jetsam  of  a  thousand  years — one  of 
the  dreariest  of  books  after  every  allowance  is  made." 

In  the  celebrated  Hillel  of  about  the  time  of  Christ, — 
living  at  a  great  age,  when  Christ  was  born  ;  his  son  the 
head  of  Rabbinism  through  a  large  part  of  the  life  of 
Christ ;  and  his  grandson  the  Gamaliel  of  whom  Paul 
learned  Jewish  divinity, — Rabbinism  came  nearer  to  the 
spirit  and  truth  of  Christ  than  in  any  other  of  its  masters. 
He  was  personally  of  noble  character  and  a  life  worthy  of 
all  praise ;  and  as  the  earliest  founder  of  the  Talmud,  the 
first  to  have  an  orderly  collection  of  traditional  materials 
attempted,  he  stands  a  most  notable  figure,  over  against  the 
figure  of  Christ ;  and  for  450  years  the  patriarch  of  Rab- 
binical Judaism  was  his  descendent.  As  a  humanist,  who 
made  a  rule  like  Christ's  the  essence  of  the  law,  Hillel 

*  The  Bampton  Lectures  (for  1885)  on  "The  History  of  Interpreta- 
tion," by  F.  W.  Farrar,  D.D.,  tell  the  story  of  the  Bible  as  a  book  made 
divine,  in  its  older  Hebrew  part,  by  the  Jews;  then  deified  almost  in  a 
Greek  Translation  (the  Septuagint  so-called) ;  and  finally  supplemented, 
for  Christians,  by  the  books,  written  in  Greek,  which  form  our  New 
Testament 


THE  TALMUD.  135 

seemed  to  Renan  "  the  true  master  of  Jesus  ; "  and  some 
liberal  Jews  have  claimed  that  Christ  was  "  of  the  school  of 
Hillel."  In  fact  Hillel  was  a  Rabbi  with  some  touches  of 
the  spiritual  genius  of  Christ,  as  Paul  was  a  Rabbinical 
disciple,  who  went  part  way  out  of  Rabbinism  to  construct 
a  system  supposed  to  be  Christian  ;  while  Christ  was  wholly 
spiritual  genius  without  any  Rabbinism,  either  of  system, 
as  in  Hillel,  or  of  theological  notions,  as .  in  Paul.  Dr. 
Farrar  says  of  Hillel  in  contrast  with  Christ : 

"Hillel  taught  as  one  of  the  Scribes.  Christ  appealed  to  the  reason 
and  to  the  conscience,  Hillel  to  precedent  and  tradition.  It  was  the 
object  of  Hillel  to  strengthen  the  hedge  about  the  law,  and  of  Christ 
to  break  it  completely  down.  Hillel  paid  infinite  regard  to  the  oral 
law ;  Christ  repudiated  its  validity  with  complete  disparagement  and 
even  with  burning  indignation.  Hillel  developed  the  Halakha  and  the 
Haggada ;  Christ  never  alluded  to  the  one,  nor  uttered  a  single  speci- 
men of  the  other." 

The  other  great  Rabbis  were  (1)  Shammai,  in  Hillel's 
time,  a  man  of  sour  manners,  violent  temper,  and  bru- 
tally rigid  formalism,  who  so  set  himself  against  what 
touches  of  liberalism  there  were  in  Hillel,  that  the  scholars 
of  the  two  even  came  to  blows  and  to  blood  in  the  heat  of 
their  disputes  ;  (2)  Johanan  Ben  Zakkai,  a  pupil  of  Hillel's 
school,  who  set  himself  against  the  zealots,  condemned  the 
madness  of  rebellion  against  Roman  rule,  and  upon  the 
destruction  of  Jerusalem  by  Titus  (A.D.  70),  set  up  Rab- 
binism at  Jabne,  six  miles  distant,  and  made  an  effort  to 
proclaim,  as  the  essence  of  the  law,  "  I  will  have  mercy  and 
not  sacrifice  ;  "  (3)  Rabbi  Aquiba,  a  most  flagrant  system a- 
tiser,  who  fastened  upon  scripture  gigantic  excrescences,  an 
amazing  system  of  subtle  extravagances,  under  which  the 
Jews  sunk  into  hopeless  servility  to  a  worse  than  dead 
letter  ;  and  (4)  Rabbi  Juda,  whose  father,  Simon,  transferred 
the  schools  from  Jabne  to  Tiberias  (A.  D.  166),  who  himself 
undertook,  what  had  been  forbidden  hitherto,  to  commit  to 
writing  the  whole  mass  of  the  oral  law,  in  the  Mishna, 
*  Learning  '  or  '  Repetition ' ;  under  the  six  orders  of  HilJePs 
classification  ;  and  thus  left,  at  his  death  (A.D.  200),  the  first 
part  of  the  Talmud. 


136  THE  TALMUD. 

A  second  Talmud,  called  the  Jerusalem  Talmud,  was 
shaped  by  Rabbis  whose  work  fell  in  the  period  A.D.  200- 
500  ;  but  it  covered  only  four  of  the  six  classes  of  laws,  and 
was  less  valued  as  less  a  development  and  more  a  tradition- 
alism. Rabbi  Ashi,  who  died  A.D.  427,  completed  and  sys- 
tematised  the  Gemara,  the  addition  of  which  to  the  Mishna 
gave  final  form  to  the  Talmud,  save  as  some  additions  were 
made,  down  to.  A.D.  490. 

To  this  production  the  designation  "Babylonian"  was 
rightly  given.  It  was  not  until  the  Hebrew  history  had 
come  to  a  close  that  Judaism  was  born,  during  the  exile  in 
Babylonia.  It  was  from  Babylonia  that  Ezra  came  to  Jer- 
usalem with  the  scheme  of  separatism  from  all  mankind, 
based  on  the  sacred  scripture  of  Mosaism,  the  suggestions 
for  which  in  the  light  of  modern  scholarship  appear  more 
Babylonian  and  Assyrian  than  Hebrew.  After  Jabne  and 
Tiberias  schools  of  Rabbinism  were  established  under  the 
names  of  Nehardea,  a  canal  between  the  Tigris  and  Eu- 
phrates, of  Pumbeditha,  which  means  "  the  mouth  of  the 
canal,"  and  of  Sora,  a  place  on  the  Euphrates. 

Shortly  before  the  fall  of  Jerusalem,  there  were  passed, 
by  the  Rabbis  of  the  doomed  city,  a  body  of  eighteen 
ordinances,  aimed  at  making  more  effective  the  self-hedg- 
ing of  the  orthodox  Jews,  making  their  separation  from  all 
mankind  more  rigid  than  ever.  It  was  only  under  the 
touch  of  Greek  thought  and  feeling  that  Judaism  ever 
emerged  from  darkened  narrowness  and  repulsive  Semetic 
separatism,  principally  at  Alexandria  in  Egypt ;  and  it  was 
mainly  through  Greek  influences  that  early  Christian  dis- 
cipleship  was  carried  beyond  deplorable  Jewish  limita- 
tions.* 

*  The  Hibbert  Lectures  (for  1888)  of  Dr.  Edwin  Hatch,  on  "  The  In- 
fluence of  Greek  Ideas  and  Usuages  upon  the  Christian  Church,"  es- 
pecially present  the  interesting  and  significant  facts.  The  same  emin- 
ent scholar  gave  in  his  Oxford  Bampton  Lectures  (for  1880)  on  "  The 
Organization  of  the  Early  Christian  Churches,"  very  remarkable  testi- 
mony to  the  pressure  of  Greek  and  Roman  times  upon  the  early  devel- 
opments of  Historical  Christianity. 


RA-EM-KE.— A  portrait  statue  in  wood  in  the  Cairo  Museum,  illustrating  the  art  of 
Egypt  more  than  two  thousand  years  before  Christ. 


Septuacjint; 


OR,  GREEK  OLD  TESTAMENT, 

The  Bible  of  the  Time  of  Christ 


IN  remarkable  contrast,  to  a  certain  limited  extent,  with 
the  narrow  and  rigid  Jewish  development  which  gave 
the  Talmud,  there  grew  up  in  Egypt  at  Alexandria  a  school 
of  Jewish  Mosaism  greatly  influenced  by  Greek  culture,  even 
to  having  the  Hebrew  scripture  translated  into  Greek,  and 
to  the  adoption  of  a  method  for  bringing  the  Hebrew  story 
and  system  into  harmony  with  the  elevated  and  elevating 
philosophy  of  the  Greeks.  The  career  of  Alexander  the 
Great,  from  336  to  323  B.C.  carried  Greek  influences  over  a 
great  part  of  the  world  then  known, — to  Egypt  very  par- 
ticularly, and  across  from  Egypt  by  Syria  and  Babylonia  to 
India.  It  was  at  Babylon  that  Alexander  fixed  his  capital, 
for  making  the  world,  from  the  Adriatic  and  the  Nile  to 
India,  Greek.  His  work  was  hardly  more  than  well  begun 
when  his  death  at  thirty-two  years  of  age  cut  short  what 
might  have  been  an  unexampled  spread  of  light  throughout 
the  world.  But  at  Alexandria  in  Egypt,  which  the  young 
conqueror  had  founded  B.C.  332,  the  Ptolemies  admirably 
carried  out  plans  such  as  made  Egypt  the  successor  of 
Phoenicia  in  carrying  on  the  commerce  of  the  world,  and  the 
heir  of  Greece  in  matters  of  learning. 

The  celebrated  Museum  founded  B.C.  300,  was  the  greatest 
attempt  in  antiquity  to  collect  all  books,  bring  together  all 
studies,  and  unite  in  one  all  knowledge.  The  Judaic  spirit 
of  exclusiveness  had  stigmatized  as  mere  "  books  of  out- 
siders "  the  incomparable  products  of  Greek  genius ;  had 
accustomed  itself  to  talk  of  the  countries  of  mankind  at 

(137) 


138  THE  SEPTUAGINT. 

large  as  a  mere  "  without ; "  but  in  Alexandria  not  less 
than  a  million  Jews  became  so  far  Greek  as  to  absorb  many 
Greek  ideas  and  to  put  their  sacred  books  into  a  Greek  ver- 
sion, known  as  the  Septuagint.  The  sottish  Judaism  of  the 
Rabbis,  grossly  heathen  in  its  conception  of  Moses  as  their 
idol,  the  mere  touch  of  which  by  common  human  hands  was 
profanation,  caused  them  to  keep  an  annual  fast  because  of 
the  turning  of  their  Hebrew  original  into  Greek.  They 
even  went  so  far  as  to  declare  that  the  translation  of  the 
sacred  law  out  of  Hebrew  into  Greek  was  as  bad  for  Israel 
as  the  day  on  which  the  golden  calf  was  made.  Even  the 
author  of  what  is  known  as  "the  forged  Epistle  of  Ari- 
steas,"  who  claimed  that  the  Septuagint  version  had  been 
made  under  express  supernatural  guidance,  and  was  abso- 
lutely inspired,  told  how  one  writer  had  been  struck  blind 
for  expressing  Jewish  truths  in  a  Greek  drama,  and  an- 
other had  suffered  a  stroke  of  madness  for  thirty  days 
for  using  in  a  Greek  history  facts  got  from  translated  pass- 
ages of  the  Hebrew  scripture.  The  insistance  on  such 
utterly  heathenish  superstition  was  eventually  so  successful 
that  from  Justinian's  time  to  our  own  the  Hebrew  Scrip- 
tures, in  the  public  worship  of  Judaism,  have  been  exclu- 
sively read  in  Hebrew  by  orthodox  Jews,  and  no  version 
permitted  for  private  use  except  the  Chaldee  of  Onqelos : 
an  idolatry  as  senseless  as  that  which  set  up  a  bull  calf 
as  the  visible  presentment  of  the  tribal  god  of  the  wil- 
derness. 

The  exact  date  of  the  Greek  Old  Testament  is  uncertain, 
nor  is  it  known  under  what  circumstances  the  translation 
was  made.  Dr.  Wellhausen,  the  eminent  German  scholar, 
expresses  the  opinion  that  "the  Greeks  must  have  found 
it  barbarous  and  unintelligible,"  and  that  it  doubtless 
"  obtained  speedy  acceptance  with  the  Jews  "  of  Alexan- 
dria, "first  in  private  use  and  at  length  also  in  the  syna- 
gogue service,"  because  of  its  meeting  their  needs.  The 
name  Septuagint,  or  Seventy,  comes  from  a  fraud  executed 
by  some  Jew,  in  a  letter  purporting  to  be  from  one  Aristeas, 
a  heathen,  who  represented  that  he  served  on  an  embassy 


THE  SEPTUAGINT.  139 

from  Ptolemy  II.  (B.C.  285-247)  to  the  high  priest  Eleazer  at 
Jerusalem,  asking  for  seventy-two  ancient,  worthy,  and 
learned  Jews,  six  from  each  of  the  twelve  tribes,  to  trans- 
late the  Torah  or  Law — the  Pentateuch,  at  Alexandria. 
These  seventy-two  made  the  translation  in  seventy-two 
days.  As  they  came  to  an  agreement  upon  the  version  of  a 
section,  Demetrius,  the  librarian  of  Ptolemy,  had  it  written 
down.  The  letter  is  easily  seen  to  have  been  a  forgery,  but 
there  seems  no  reason  to  doubt  that  the  Torah  or  Penta- 
teuch was  translated  not  far  from  B.C.  250,  and  that  before 
B.C.  150  all  the  other  books  of  the  Hebrew  Bible  had  been 
added.  The  marked  differences  in  the  several  books,  some 
well  done  and  some  badly  done,  show  the  work  of  different 
hands,  and  for  the  whole  the  translation  was  more  a  para- 
phrase than  a  faithful  rendering.  The  use  of  Seventy  for 
seventy-two  is  a  variation  due  to  indifference  to  exact  truth 
such  as  dominated  the  whole  work.  And  the  fable  settled 
into  the  form  that  seventy  separate  translators  in  seventy 
separate  cells  made  seventy  separate  versions  of  the  whole, 
and  that  on  comparison  they  proved  to  be  word  for  word 
the  same — through  special  supernatural  guidance  of  all  the 
seventy  pens.  In  the  course  of  time,  when  Christ  and  his 
disciples  spoke  Greek,  the  Greek  Old  Testament  became  the 
Bible  of  the  early  Christians,  with  effects  far  more  signifi- 
cant than  Christian  study  is  yet  willing  to  admit.  The 
general  fact  Dr.  Farrar  remarks  on  as  follows  : 

"As  regards  Christianity,  the  Septuagint  version  exercised  a  power- 
ful influence  over  the  language,  and  therefore  also  inevitably  over  the 
thoughts,  of  the  apostles  and  evangelists.  Further  than  this  its  effects 
upon  the  exegesis  of  Christianity  can  hardly  be  exaggerated.  The 
universal  acceptance  of  the  fables  about  its  origin,  narrated  in  the 
forged  Epistle  of  Aristeas,  the  supernatural  touches  which  from  time 
to  time  were  added  to  those  fables  by  Philo  and  Joseph  us,  the  credulity 
with  which  Justin  Martyr,  followed  by  many  of  the  Fathers,  accepted 
the  inventions  of  the  Alexandrian  guides  about  the  seventy  cells,  all 
tended  to  deepen  the  disastrous  superstition  as  to  a  mechanical  and 
verbal  dictation  of  the  sacred  books  [in  the  original  Hebrew].  The 
Greek  version  is  quoted  to  a  very  large  extent  (275  passages)  by  the 
writers  of  the  New  Testament,  even  in  passages  (37  passages)  where  it 
diverges  widely  from  the  original,  and  it  furnished  them  with  not  a 


140  THE  SEPTUAGINT. 

few  of  the  technical  terms  of  Christian  theology.  It  was  partly  on 
this  account  that  the  belief  in  its  inspiration  was  eagerly  adopted  by 
Irenseus,  Clement  of  Alexandria,  Epiphanius  and  Augustine,  and  op- 
posed in  vain  by  the  better  sense  and  more  critical  knowledge  of 
Jerome." 

In  fact  says  Dr.  Farrar,  the  Greek  version  used  by  the 
Christians  as  the  only  Bible  they  knew,  was  "  full  of  inten- 
tional as  well  as  of  unintentional  departures  from  the 
meaning  of  the  original."  The  translators  did  not  hesi- 
tate to  give,  not  the  literal  and  natural  sense,  but  a  mean- 
ing currently  supposed  to  be  true.  They  deliberately 
softened  or  altered  phrases  of  the  original  in  order  to 
leave  an  impression  quite  different  from  the  true  one. 
Yet  the  most  eminent  exponents  of  historical  Christianity 
during  its  early  formative  period  adopted  the  theory  of 
the  supernatural  origin  and  divine  perfection  of  the  trans- 
lation into  Greek  of  the  Old  Testament,  and  the  greatest 
Fathers  of  a  later  time  lent  their  authority  to  the  same 
view. 

Shortly  before  the  fall  of  Jerusalem,  there  were  passed, 
by  the  Rabbis  of  the  doomed  city,  a  body  of  eighteen 
ordinances,  aimed  at  making  more  effective  the  self -hedg- 
ing of  the  orthodox  Jews,  making  their  separation  from  all 
mankind  more  rigid  than  ever. 

Dr.  Farrar  says  of  the  Greek  translators,  who  were  not 
Greek  in  fact,  but  only  Jews  speaking  Greek  : 

"  They  cannot  be  regarded  as  faithful  or  accurate,  still  less 
as  inspired  interpreters.  Their  intentional  variations  may 
be  counted  by  scores,  and  their  unintentional  errors  by  hun- 
dreds ;  and  alike  their  variations  and  their  errors  were  in  a 
multitude  of  instances  accepted  by  Christian  interpreters  as 
the  infallible  Word  of  God." 

Their  is  no  denying  the  fact  that  awe  of  the  Hebrew  orig- 
inal prevailed  to  carry  over  to  the  Greek  version  the  spirit 
which  led  Josephusand  Philo  to  accept  the  fable  of  miracle 
attending  the  work  of  translation.  And  yet  respect  for  the 
original  was  not  true  enough  to  secure  an  honest,  accurate 
rendering  out  of  the  Hebrew  into  Greek. 


^ Vesta: 

OR 

parsee  Scripture. 


THE  Persian  origins,  history,  scripture,  and  faith,  are  of 
special  importance,  because  on  Persian  ground  the 
Aryan  mind  carried  some  of  its  best  religious  tendencies  to 
peculiarly  high  development,  and  from  that  ground  Aryan 
doctrine  influenced  Jewish  when  the  latter  was  finally 
reaching  the  form  and  name  of  monotheism.  We  must 
bear  in  mind  how  the  Aryan  race  spread  in  the  various 
directions  of  India,  Persia,  and  all  Europe,  carrying  with  it 
the  early  forms  of  religion  and  civilization.  There  is  reason 
to  suppose  that  the  first  Aryan  wanderers  took  the  direc- 
tion of  Europe  ;  that  the  very  earliest  were  Celtic  or  Keltic, 
represented  now  on  the  remotest  west  of  Europe  ;  that  with 
these,  or  after  them,  came  the  progenitors  of  the  Hellenic 
and  Italic  peoples  ;  and  later  the  Teutonic  and  Slavonic,  and 
other  peoples  ;  and  that  with,  or  perhaps  after,  these  west- 
ward movements,  Aryan  emigration  turned  towards  Persia, 
and  branched  off  from  this  southward  line  into  India.  The 
human  interest  of  the  facts,  and  their  importance  for  a  cor- 
rect view  of  the  relations  of  races  and  religions  to  each  other 
will  justify  an  effort  to  make  the  picture  clear.  In  the 
sketch  given  in  Farrar's  Families  of  Speech,  we  may  find  a 
statement  sufficient  for  our  purpose.  It  is  as  follows  : 

"All  those  nations  which  have  been  most  memorable  in  the  history 
of  the  past,  and  which  must  be  all  but  universally  dominant  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  future,  sprang  from  one  common  cradle,  and  are  closely  united 

(141) 


142  THE  AVESTA:  OR  PARSEE  SCRIPTURE. 

by  identity  of  origin  and  similarity  of  gifts.  The  first  announcement 
of  the  Aryan  unity  was  received  with  a  large  amount  of  incredulity. 
But  what  was  at  first  the  bold  and  brilliant  conjecture  from  comparatively 
slight  evidence  of  Sir  William  Jones,  has  now  been  proved,  by  half  a 
century  of  magnificent  and  incessant  labours  [in  tracing  the  relation 
of  the  various  languages  to  the  newly  discovered  Sanskrit],  to  be  an 
unquestionable  fact.  Fifty  years  ago,  few  would  have  believed  that 
Dutch,  and  Eussian,  and  Icelandic,  and  Greek,  and  Latin,  and  Persian, 
and  Mahratti,  and  French,  and  English,  were  all  indubitable  develop- 
ments from  one  and  the  same  original  tongue,  and  that  the  common 
ancestors  of  the  nations  who  speak  them  were,  in  times  that  can  be 
rigidly  tested  by  comparative  Philology,  living  together  as  an  undivided 
family  in  the  same  pastoral  tents.  In  the  present  day  no  one  doubts 
the  facts  except  a  few  intrepid  theologians.  We  Europeans,  together 
with  the  Persians  and  Hindus,  however  wide  may  be  the  apparent  and 
superficial  differences  between  us,  are,  nevertheless,  members  of  a  close 
and  common  brotherhood  in  the  great  families  of  nations.  First  west- 
ward and  northward,  afterwards  eastward  and  southward,  the  Aryans 
extended.  The  most  ancient  name  of  this  race  with  which  we  are  ac- 
quainted, was  the  name  Aryas,  derived  from  Ar, '  to  plough,'  and  which 
therefore  implied  originally  an  agricultural  as  distinguished  from  a 
rude  and  nomadic  race,  and  thus  naturally  came  to  mean  '  noble.' 
This  name  belonged  distinctively  to  the  two  great  eastern  branches  of 
this  family,  the  Iranian  [or  Persian]  and  Indian;  as  they  lingered  long- 
est in  the  region  of  the  primitive  home,  they  are  most  likely  to  have 
retained  the  original  name.  Their  original  home  may  be  assigned  by 
a  multitude  of  probabilities.  That  it  was  somewhere  in  the  vast  plateau 
of  Iran,  in  the  immense  quadrilateral  which  extends  from  the  Indus  to 
the  Euphrates,  and  from  the  Oxus  to  the  Persian  Gulf,  may  be  assumed 
as  almost  certain,  and  we  may  fairly  conclude,  by  the  aid  of  tradition  and 
other  circumstances,  that  it  was  immediately  north  of  the  great  chain 
of  the  Hindoo-Koosh,  west  of  the  Bolor  range,  or  the  ancient  Imaus, 
in  the  central  region  of  Bactriana,  a  district  so  fair,  and  fertile,  and 
flourishing,  that  it  was  called  by  Orientals  '  the  mother  of  cities.'  This 
region  was  eminently  suited  to  become  the  cradle  of  that  princely  race 
of  [agricultural,  not  nomadic]  shepherds  from  whose  loins  sprang  the 
nations  of  Europe,  and  which,  at  a  period  long  after  China  and  Egypt 
had  reached  the  apogee  of  their  crude  civilization,  was  still  creating  in  the 
bosom  of  its  peaceful  families  the  eternal  words  which,  as  the  law  of 
many  a  noble,  chivalrous,  and  Christian  country,  were  destined  to  be- 
come 'honour,'  'virtue,'  and  'duty.'  In  this  region,  where  Nature 
yields  her  treasures,  but  does  not  lavish  them,  lived  a  race  beautiful  in 
person,  pure  in  morals,  earnest  in  thought,  simple  in  habits,  which,  in 
a  peaceful  life,  and  under  a  patriarchal  government,  wrought  out,  as  a 


THE  AVESTA:  OR  PARSES  SCRIPTURE.  143 

means  of  its  own  precocious  development,  a  language  admirable  for  the 
wealth,  harmony,  and  perfection  of  its  forms,  full  of  poetic  images  and 
pregnant  metaphors,  and  carrying  in  itself  the  germ  of  a  magnificent 
expansion;  and,  with  this  language  to  aid  it,  the  same  happy  race 
learnt  to  acquire  ideas  which  were  destined  to  bear  fruit  a  hundred-fold 
hereafter  in  the  conquest,  colonisation,  free  institutions,  and  unceasing 
Christian  progress  of  the  civilised  world.  The  causes  which  led  to  their 
emigration  from  their  peaceful  home,  the  order  in  which  they  wan- 
dered forth,  why  the  Kelt  first  ensconced  himself  behind  the  storm-swept 
cliffs  of  Britain,  what  guided  one  great  family  to  the  plains  of  Persia 
and  Hindostan,  and  another  to  the  shores  of  the  Mediterranean  and 
the  hills  of  Italy  and  Greece,  we  cannot  tell.  Furthest  from  the  orig- 
inal home  are  the  Kelts ;  nearest  to  it  are  the  Hindoos  and  Persians ; 
next  to  them  come  the  Greeks  and  Slavonians ;  while  the  Germans 
and  Latins  occupy  an  intermediate  position — a  race  of  mankind  whose 
different  offshoots,  at  various  periods  of  history  down  from  its  earliest 
dawn,  established  the  Achsemenid  dynasty  [in  Persia,  from  about  the 
date  of  the  Hebrew  king  Josiah's  birth,  649  B.C.],  built  Athens  and 
Lacedaemon,  founded  Rome,  worked  the  tin  mines  of  Cornwall  and 
the  silver  mines  of  Spain,  first  made  London  a  city  of  ships,  occupied 
Paris  while  Paris  was  still  but  the  mud  city  of  the  borderers,  produced 
the  Vedas  and  the  Homeric  poems,  and  the  Shah-namen,  and  the 
Eddas,  and  the  Nibelungen-Lied, —invented  the  printing-press,  dis- 
covered America,  circumnavigated  the  globe,  developed  the  principles 
of  every  science,  and,  in  a  word,  founded  that  immense  and  marvellous 
system  of  modern  civilisation  which  is  the  chief  triumph  of  the  intellect 
of  man.  Eight  distinct  families — the  Indian,  Iranian,  Hellenic,  Italic, 
Keltic,  Slavonic,  Lithuanian,  and  Teutonic, — have  sprung  from  the 
parent  stock.  Earliest,  in  all  probability,  was  the  Kelto-Graeco-Italic, 
which  afterwards  settled  into  the  Greeks,  Latins,  and  Kelts.  The  other 
great  divergent  group  which  streamed  away  from  the  yet  stationary 
Iranian  and  Indian  families  may  be  called  the  Slavo-Letto-Teutonic. 
The  last  to  linger  by  the  old  cradle  were  the  Aryans  proper,  who  sub- 
sequently divided  into  Iranians  and  Hindoos.  The  name  Iranian  is  de- 
rived from  Arya,  and  the  oldest  representatives  of  the  language  are 
the  Old  Persian  and  the  Old  Bactrian  or  Zend.  The  Zend  is  the  lan- 
guage of  the  Avesta,  the  sacred  writings  of  the  Zoroastrian  religion. 
The  Indian  family,  so  named  from  their  long  sojourn  on  the  upper 
Indus  (probably  B.C.  1000  they  began  to  advance  into  the  peninsula  and 
reached  the  Deccan  about  450  B.C.),  is  the  family  whose  language  was 
Sanskrit,  whose  religious  poems  were  the  Vedas,  and  from  the  bosom 
of  which  arose  [besides  the  Vedic  Brahmanism]  the  venerable  and  wide- 
spread religion  of  Buddhism."  (Families  of  Speech,  pp.  51-53,  70-76, 
84,  97,  104,  105]. 


144  THE  AVESTA  :  OR  PARSEE  SCRIPTURE. 

The  position  of  Persian  nationality,  faith,  and  scripture, 
is  that  of  a  close  relation  with  Hindu,  the  two  coming 
directly  from  the  primitive  Aryan  source.  Apparently 
it  was  longer  after  the  two  families  had  separated  before 
that  one  which  might  seem  the  elder  and  the  closer  to  the 
parent  stock,  produced  Zoroaster  (or  Zarathustra  Spitama) 
and  the  Avesta  or  Avasta,  than  it  was  before  the  Hindus 
produced  the  Vedas.  Prof.  Whitney  assigns  the  produc- 
tion of  the  Vedas  to  B.C.  2000-1500,  and  that  of  the 
Avesta  to  B.C.  1000-500.  But  undoubtedly  the  Iranian 
religion  had  waited  much  longer  for  its  great  prophet  and 
its  literary  development  than  the  Hindu  had.  India  caused 
poetry  to  awake  at  once,  and  the  poets  originated  the 
Veda.  It  was  by  a  great  thinker,  at  a  very  much  later 
stage  of  Iranian  history,  that  the  impulse  was  given  which 
resulted  in  the  Avesta,  before  the  triumph  of  which  the 
earlier  monuments  of  Iranian  faith  perished.  There  is 
thus  less  difference  in  real  date  and  origin  between  the  two 
great  faiths  than  at  first  appears.  Prof.  Monier  Williams 
makes  the  following  statement: 

"  The  Zand- Avasta  consists  of  1,  the  five  Gathas,  or  songs 
and  prayers  (in  metres  resembling  Vedic),  which  alone  are 
thought  to  be  the  work  of  Zoroaster  himself,  and  form  part 
of  the  Tazna  (or  r#,ma-Ya;jna),  written  in  two  dialects 
(the  older  of  the  two  called  by  Haug  the  Gatha) ;  2,  the 
Vendidad,  a  code  of  laws ;  3,  the  Yaskts,  containing 
hymns  to  the  sun,  and  other  deities.  There  is  another  por- 
tion, called  the  Visparad,  also  a  collection  of  prayers.  The 
Hindu  and  Zoroastrian  systems  were  evidently  derived 
from  the  same  source.  Fire  and  the  sun  are  venerated  in 
both;  but  Zoroaster  (properly  Zarathustra  Spitama) 
taught  that  the  Supreme  Being  created  two  inferior  beings — 
Ormuzd  (Ahuramazda)  the  good  Spirit,  and  Ariman  the 
evil.  The  former  will  destroy  the  latter.  This  dualistic 
principle  is  foreign  to  the  Veda  "  (Indian  Wisdom.  Introd. 
p.  xviii.i). 

The  essay  which  Prof.  Whitney  has  devoted  to  the 
Avesta  affords  a  more  full  account,  from  which  we  cull  the 


THE  AVESTA:  OR  PARSEE  SCRIPTURE.  145 

following  sketch,  beginning  with  the  texts  of  the  Avesta, 
or  Persian  scripture : 

"  The  sacred  canon  is  made  up  of  several  separate  por- 
tions, differing  in  age,  origin,  and  character.  Foremost 
among  them  is  the  Yasna;  its  name  is  identical  with  the 
Sanskrit  yajna,  signifying  *  offering,  sacrifice,'  and  has 
essentially  the  same  meaning.  It  is  made  up  of  seventy- 
two  distinct  pieces  or  chapters,  of  very  different  extent,  and 
of  diverse  age  and  character.  A  considerable  number  are 
of  only  slight  interest.  The  second  general  division  (chap- 
ters 28-53),  along  with  a  few  passages  occurring  elsewhere, 
is  written  in  a  dialect  that  differs  perceptibly,  though  only 
slightly,  from  that  of  all  the  rest  of  the  sacred  writings, 
and  is  evidently  of  greater  antiquity.  Seventeen  chapters 
of  this  division  constitute  the  so-called  GdtTids,  five  col- 
lections of  religious  lyrics,  each  collection  written  in  a 
different  metre.  The  Gathas  are  the  oldest  and  the  most 
interesting  part  of  the  whole  Iranian  scripture ;  their  rela- 
tion to  the  rest  may  be  rudely  compared  with  that  of  the 
Vedic  hymns  to  the  later  Brahmana  literature.  It  is  not 
impossible  that  some  of  these  lyrics,  with  the  sacred  formu- 
las written  in  the  same  dialect,  may  go  back  to  the  time  of 
Zoroaster  himself.  Only  here,  at  any  rate,  could  material 
so  ancient  and  original  be  looked  for." 

"  Of  much  the  same  style  and  character  as  the  more  re- 
cent parts  of  the  Yasna  is  the  Vispered,  divided  into 
twenty -three  Tcarde,  '  sections,'  and  in  extent  hardly  more 
than  one-seventh  of  the  Yasna.  The  Yasna  and  the  Vis- 
pered are  combined  with  one  another  and  with  a  third  text, 
the  Vendidad,  to  make  up  a  liturgical  collection.  The 
Vendidad  is  a  work  of  a  very  different  nature  from  those 
already  noticed:  while  they  are  chiefly  doctrinal  and  devo- 
tional, this  is  practical  and  prescriptive,  constituting  the 
moral  and  ceremonial  code  of  the  Zoroastrian  religion. 
The  name  is  a  corruption  of  the  title  m-daevadata, '  the 
law  against  the  demons,' or '  established  against  the  devs.' 
It  teaches  by  what  means  a  man  may  keep  himself  from 
such  sin  and  impurity  as  give  the  powers  of  evil  dominion 


146  THE  AVESTA:  OR  PARSEE  SCRIPTURE. 

over  him.  The  impurity  thus  provided  against  is  chiefly 
of  a  ceremonial  character.  The  whole  is  in  the  form  of 
colloquies  between  Ormuzd  (Ahuramazda),  the  supreme 
deity,  and  Zoroaster  (Zarathustra).  To  this  body  of  cere- 
monial directions,  however,  have  become  appended,  at  the 
beginning  and  the  end,  certain  other  chapters,  by  no  means 
the  least  interesting  of  the  whole.  The  first  gives  a  de- 
tailed account  of  the  countries  created  by  the  Supreme 
Being ;  the  second  describes  the  reign  of  Yima  upon  the 
earth,  and  his  preparation  of  an  abode  of  happiness  for  a 
certain  part  of  mankind,  illustrating  in  a  striking  manner 
the  relation  of  the  ancient  Persian  and  Indian  religions. 
The  last  five  are  mainly  an  assemblage  of  fragments." 

"  Next  in  extent  and  importance  are  the  TesJit,  nearly 
identical  with  Yasna  in  meaning.  They  are  twenty-four 
pieces,  of  very  different  length,  each  addressed  to  one  of 
the  persons  or  objects  held  in  veneration  by  the  Zoroas- 
trian  faith.  The  remaining  portions  of  the  sacred  writings 
are  not  of  consequence  enough  to  require  any  special 
description.  The  whole  body  of  canonical  scriptures  is 
called  by  the  Parsis  [the  modern  disciples  of  this  faith]  the 
Avesta.  It  has  already  been  pointed  out  that  the  different 
portions  of  the  text  of  the  Avesta  are,  to  some  extent  at 
least,  the  product  of  different  periods,  and  that,  while 
some  passages  may  perhaps  be  as  old  as  the  time  of  Zoroas- 
ter himself,  the  bulk  of  the  collection  is  of  such  a  char- 
acter that  it  cannot  be  supposed  to  have  originated  until 
long  after.  We  cannot  yet  even  fix  our  earliest  limit  [of 
time],  by  determining  the  time  of  the  appearance  of  Zo- 
roaster, and  of  his  activity  as  a  reformer  of  the  ancient 
religion.  We  can  only  conclude,  from  the  obscurity  which 
five  centuries  before  Christ  seemed  to  envelop  and  hide 
from  distinct  knowledge  the  period  of  the  great  religious 
teacher,  and  from  the  extension  of  his  doctrines  at  that 
time  over  the  whole  Iranian  territory,  even  to  its  western 
border,  that  he  must  have  lived  at  least  as  early  as  a  thou- 
sand years  before  our  era.  And  the  absence  in  the  sacred 
texts  of  any  mention  of  Media  or  Persia  indicates  clearly 


THE  AVESTA:  OR  PAESEE  SCRIPTURE.  147 

that  they  were  composed  prior  to  the  conquest  of  all  Iran 
by  the  early  monarchs  of  those  countries." 

"Respecting  the  region  in  which  the  Avesta  had  its 
origin  we  may  speak  with  more  confidence :  it  was  doubt- 
less Bactria  and  its  vicinity,  the  northeastern  portion  of  the 
immense  territory  occupied  by  the  Iranian  people,  and  far 
removed  from  those  countries  with  which  the  western 
world  came  more  closely  into  contact.  The  two  oldest 
records  of  the  Indo-European  family,  then,  were  composed 
in  countries  which  lie  almost  side  by  side,  and  at  periods 
not  very  far  removed  from  one  another.  It  is  no  wonder 
that  their  languages  exhibit  so  near  a  kindred  that  the  one 
[that  of  the  Avesta]  has  been  deciphered  and  read  by  the 
aid  of  the  other." 

"  It  is  claimed  by  the  Parsis  that  the  Avesta  is  the  work 
of  Zoroaster  himself  ;  with  how  little  ground  will  have  been 
already  sufficiently  shown  by  what  has  been  said  respecting 
the  character  and  period  of  the  different  parts.  Nowhere 
in  the  texts  themselves  is  any  such  claim  set  up ;  they  pro- 
fess only  to  be  a  record  of  the  revelations  made  to  the 
prophet,  and  the  doctrines  promulgated  by  him.  The 
Parsis  also  assert  that  Zoroaster's  writings  originally  com- 
posed twenty-one  books,  or  Nosks,  and  covered  the  whole 
ground  of  religious  and  secular  knowledge;  as  the  Egyp- 
tians claimed  the  same  thing  in  behalf  of  their  forty-two 
books  of  Thoth." 

"  The  Iranian  people  is  of  our  own  kindred,  a  branch  of 
the  great  Indo-European  family,  to  which  we,  along  with 
all  the  most  highly  civilized  races  of  the  present  age,  belong. 
Persia  is,  in  a  certain  sense,  the  elder  brother  of  the  family, 
the  first  to  assume  that  importance  in  the  eyes  of  the  world 
which  the  family  has  ever  since  maintained,  and  promises 
henceforth  to  maintain.  The  prominence  of  the  Indo- 
European  [or  Aryan]  races,  as  actors  in  the  great  drama  of 
universal  history,  commences  with  the  era  of  Persian  em- 
pire. And  the  Persian  language,  and  the  Persian  institu- 
tions, as  represented  in  the  Avesta,  lead  us  back  nearer  to 
the  primitive  period  than  do  those  of  any  other  nation, 


148  THE  AVESTA  :  OR  PARSES  SCRIPTURE. 

with  the  exception  only  of  the  Indian.  The  Veda  and 
Avesta,  those  two  most  venerable  documents  of  Indo- 
European  history,  illuminate  each  other's  pages,  and,  taken 
together,  lay  before  our  eyes  a  view  of  the  condition  of  that 
primitive  epoch  when  the  Indian  and  Persian  peoples  were 
still  dwelling  together,  one  nation  in  language,  institutions, 
and  territory  ;  an  epoch  more  than  a  thousand  years  re- 
moter in  the  annals  of  the  family  than  is  reached  even  by 
Greek  tradition." 

"  The  Zoroastrian  religion  is  one  of  the  most  prominent 
among  the  forms  of  belief  which  have  prevailed  upon  the 
earth,  by  reason  both  of  the  influence  which  it  has  exerted, 
and  of  its  own  intrinsic  character.  It  was,  indeed,  never 
propagated  by  missionary  labours  beyond  the  limits  of  Iran  ; 
we  know  of  no  people  not  of  Persian  origin  who  accepted 
it  voluntarily,  or  upon  whom  it  was  forced;  but  its  position 
on  the  eastern  border  of  the  Semitic  races  allowed  it  to 
affect  and  modify  the  various  religions  of  Semitic  origin. 
The  later  Jewish  faith  is  believed  by  many  to  exhibit  evi- 
dent traces  of  Zoroastrian  doctrines  borrowed  during  the 
captivity  in  Babylonia ;  and  the  creeds  of  some  Oriental 
Christian  sects,  as  well  as  of  a  portion  of  the  adherents  of 
Islam,  have  derived  essential  features  from  the  same  source. 
But  the  influence  which  its  position  only  gave  it  the  op- 
portunity of  exercising,  was  assured  to  it  by  its  own  ex- 
alted character.  Of  all  the  religions  of  Indo-European 
origin,  of  all  the  religions  of  the  ancient  Gentile  world,  it 
may  fairly  be  claimed  to  have  been  the  most  noble  and 
worthy  of  admiration,  for  the  depth  of  its  philosophy,  the 
spirituality  of  its  views  and  doctrines,  and  the  purity  of  its 
morality." 

"  By  the  testimony  of  its  own  scriptures,  the  Iranian  re- 
ligion is  with  the  fullest  right  styled  the  Zoroastrian :  Zo- 
roaster is  acknowledged  as  its  founder  throughout  the 
whole  of  the  sacred  writings  ;  these  are  hardly  more  than  a 
record  of  the  revelations  claimed  to  have  been  made  to  him 
by  the  supreme  divinity.  It  is  not,  then,  a  religion 
which  has  grown  up  in  the  mind  of  a  whole  people,  as  the 


THE  AVESTA  :  OR  PARSEE  SCRIPTURE  149 

expression  of  their  conception  of  things  supernatural  ;  it 
has  received  its  form  in  the  mind  of  an  individual;  it  has 
been  inculcated  and  taught  by  a  single  sage  and  thinker. 
Yet  such  a  religion  is  not  wont  to  be  an  entirely  new  crea- 
tion, but  rather  a  carrying  out  of  tendencies  already  exist- 
ing: in  the  general  religious  sentiment,  a  reformation  of  the 
old  established  creed  which  tbe  times  were  prepared  for  and 
demanded.  And  so  it  was  in  the  present  instance.  We  are 
able,  by  the  aid  of  the  Indian  Veda,  to  trace  out  with  some 
distinctness  the  form  of  the  original  Aryan  faith,  held 
before  the  separation  of  the  Indian  and  Persian  nations. 
It  was  an  almost  pure  nature-religion,  a  worship  of  the 
powers  conceived  to  be  the  producers  of  all  the  various 
phenomena  of  the  sensible  creation  ;  and,  of  course,  a 
polytheism,  as  must  be  the  first  religion  of  any  people  who 
without  higher  light  are  striving  to  solve  for  themselves  the 
problem  of  the  universe.  But  even  in  the  earliest  Vedic  re- 
ligion appears  a  tendency  toward  an  ethical  and  monothe- 
istic development,  evidenced  especially  by  the  lofty  and  en- 
nobling moral  attributes  and  authority  ascribed  to  the  god 
Varuna:  and  this  tendency,  afterwards  unfortunately 
checked  and  rendered  inoperative  in  the  Indian  branch  of 
the  race,  seems  to  have  gone  on  in  Persia  to  an  entire  trans- 
formation of  the  nature-religion  into  an  ethical,  of  the  poly- 
theism into  a  monotheism ;  a  transformation  effected 
especially  by  the  teachings  of  the  religious  reformer  Zo- 
roaster. It  is  far  from  improbable  that  Varuna  himself  is 
the  god  out  of  whom  the  Iranians  made  their  supreme  di- 
vinity ;  the  ancient  name,  however,  nowhere  appears  in 
their  religious  records  ;  they  have  given  him  a  new  title, 
Ahura-Mazdd,  'spiritual  mighty-one,'  or  '  Wise-one.'  The 
name  itself  indicates  the  origin  of  the  conception  to  which 
it  is  given ;  a  popular  religion  does  not  so  entitle  its  crea- 
tions, if  indeed  it  brings  forth  any  of  so  elevated  and  spir- 
itual a  character.  Ahura-Mazda  is  a  purely  spiritual  concep- 
tion ;  he  is  clothed  with  no  external  form  or  human  attri- 
butes ;  he  is  the  creator  and  ruler  of  the  universe,  the  au- 
thor of  all  good  ;  he  is  the  only  being  to  whom  the  name  of 


150  THE  AVESTA:  OR  PARSEE  SCRIPTURE. 

a  god  can  with  propriety  be  applied  in  the  Iranian  religion. 
Other  beings,  of  subordinate  rank  and  inferior  dignity,  are 
in  some  measure  associated  with  him  in  the  exercise  of  bis 
authority;  such  as  Mithra,  an  ancient  sun  god,  the  almost 
inseparable  companion  of  Varuna  in  the  Vedic  invocations, 
and  the  seven  Amshaspands  (Amesha-spenta),  'Immortal 
Holy-ones,'  whose  identity  with  the  Adityas  of  the  Veda 
has  been  conjectured  ;  they  appear  here,  however,  with  new 
titles,  expressive  of  moral  attributes.  The  other  gods  of 
the  original  Aryan  faith,  although  they  have  retained  their 
ancient  name  of  dceva  (Sanskrit  deva),  have  lost  their  indi- 
viduality and  their  dignity,  and  have  been  degraded  into 
the  demons,  the  malignant  and  malevolent  spirits,  of  the 
new  religion;  just  as,  when  Christianity  was  introduced 
into  Germany,  the  former  objects  of  heathen  worship  were 
not  at  once  and  altogether  set  aside  and  forgotten,  but  main- 
tained a  kind  of  place  in  the  popular  belief  as  mischievous 
spirits  of  evil.  The  Dsevas,  together  with  other  classes  of 
beings  of  like  character,  form  a  body  of  malevolent  and 
harmful  powers  corresponding  to  the  Indian  rdkshas.  At 
their  head,  and  the  chief  embodiment  of  the  spirit  which 
inspires  them,  is  Angra-Mainyus  (Ahriman\  the  '  Sinful- 
minded,'  or  '  Malevolent.'  His  name  is  one  given  him  as  an 
antithesis  to  the  frequent  epithet  of  Ahura-Mazda,  spento- 
mainyus, '  holy-minded,'  or  '  benevolent.'  This  side  of  the 
religion  came  to  receive,  however,  a  peculiar  development, 
which  finally  converted  the  religion  itself  into  a  dualism. 
Such  was  not  its  character  at  the  period  represented  by  the 
Avesta ;  then  the  demons  were  simply  the  embodiment  of 
whatever  evil  influences  existed  in  the  universe,  of  all  that 
man  has  to  hate,  and  fear,  and  seek  protection  against. 
This  was  the  Persian  or  Zoroastrian  solution  of  the  great 
problem  of  the  origin  of  evil." 

"  Such  being  the  constitution  of  the  universe,  such  the 
powers  by  which  it  was  governed,  the  revelation  was  made 
by  the  benevolent  Creator  to  his  chosen  servant  for  the  pur- 
pose of  instructing  mankind  with  reference  to  their  condi- 
tion, and  of  teaching  them  how  to  aid  the  good,  how  to 


THE  AVESTA :  OR  PARSEE  SCRIPTURE.  151 

avoid  and  overcome  the  evil.  The  general  features  of  the 
method  by  which  this  end  was  to  be  attained  are  worthy  of 
all  praise  and  approval.  It  was  by  sedulously  maintaining 
purity,  in  thought,  word,  and  deed ;  by  truthfulness*,  tem- 
perance, chastity  ;  by  prayer  and  homage  to  Ahura-Mazda 
and  the  other  beneficent  powers ;  by  the  performance  of 
good  works,  by  the  destruction  of  noxious  creatures ;  by 
everything  that  could  contribute  to  the  welfare  and  happi- 
ness of  the  human  race.  No  cringing  and  deprecatory 
worship  of  the  powers  of  evil  was  enjoined  ;  toward  them 
the  attitude  of  the  worshipper  of  Mazda  was  to  be  one  of 
uncompromising  hostility;  by  the  power  of  a  pure  and 
righteous  walk  he  was  to  confound  and  frustrate  their  ma- 
levolent attempts  against  his  peace.  Fasts  and  penance,  ex- 
cept as  imposed  by  way  of  penalty  for  committed  transgres- 
sions, were  unknown.  Religious  ceremonies  were  few  and 
simple,  for  the  most  part  an  inheritance  from  the  primitive 
Aryan  time  ;  they  were  connected  chiefly  with  the  offering 
of  Homa  (Indian  Soma)  and  with  the  fire.  The  latter  was 
to  the  ancient  Iranians,  and  has  remained  down  to  the  pres- 
ent day,  the  sacred  symbol  of  divinity.  An  object  of  wor- 
ship properly  so  called  it  never  was  ;  it  was  only  invested 
with  the  same  sanctity  which  belonged  also  to  the  other 
elements,  the  pure  creations  of  Ahura-Mazda  ;  all  were  in- 
voked and  addressed  with  homage,  and  it  was  unpardonable 
sin  to  profane  them  with  impurity.  Fire  was  kept  con- 
stantly burning  in  an  enclosed  space  ;  not  in  a  temple,  for 
idols  and  temples  have  been  alike  unknown  throughout  the 
whole  course  of  Persian  history :  and,  before  it,  as  in  a  spot 
consecrated  by  the  especial  presence  of  the  divinity,  were 
performed  the  chief  rites  of  worship." 

"The  doctrines  of  the  Zoroastiian  religion  respecting 
death,  and  the  fate  of  mankind  after  death,  are  a  very  re- 
markable and  interesting  part  of  it.  Sickness  and  death 
were  supposed  to  be  the  work  of  the  malignant  powers. 
The  dead  body  had  been  gotten  by  the  demons  into  their 
own  peculiar  possession.  But  the  different  nature  and  sepa- 
rate destiny  of  the  soul  were  fully  believed  in.  If  the  per- 


152  THE  AVESTA:  OR  PARSES  SCRIPTURE. 

son  of  whose  mortal  form  the  demons  had  obtained  posses- 
sion had  been  during  life  a  sincere  worshipper  of  Mazda,  if 
he  had  abhorred  evil  and  striven  after  truth  and  purity, 
then  the  powers  of  evil  had  no  hold  upon  his  soul ;  this, 
after  hovering  for  a  time  about  its  former  tenement,  hoping 
for  a  reunion  with  it,  was  supposed  to  pass  away  beyond  the 
eastern  mountains  from  which  the  sun  rises,  to  the  paradise 
of  the  holy  and  benevolent  gods  ;  the  souls  of  the  unbeliev- 
ing and  the  evil-doers,  however,  were  not  deemed  worthy  of 
that  blessedness,  and  were  thought,  so  it  seems,  to  be  de- 
stroyed with  the  body.  It  cannot  be  said,  however,  that 
this  belief  in  immortality,  and,  to  a  certain  extent,  in  a  fu- 
ture state  of  rewards  and  punishments,  formed  a  prominent 
feature  of  the  Iranian  religion,  any  more  than  of  the 
Indian." 


THE   VEDA. 


rjlHE  Veda  or  Hindu  Bible  began  with  a  book  of  hymns, 
_L_  genuine  hymns  of  nature-worship,  and  called  the 
Big-veda,  or  Veda  of  Praise.  There  are  1,017  hymns,  ar- 
ranged in  ten  books.  The  first  with  191  hymns  represents 
15  authors.  From  the  second  to  the  seventh  each  book  rep- 
resents a  single  author,  with  number  of  hymns  to  each  as 
follows  :  43,  62,  58,  87,  75,  104.  Thus  far  the  work  appears 
to  be  a  first  collection  by  a  single  hand.  The  eighth  book 
has  92  hymns,  representing  many  authors,  and  thrown  to- 
gether without  arrangement.  The  hymns  of  this  book  are 
called  by  a  new  name,  meaning  a  kind  of  song.  The  ninth 
book  has  114  hymns  devoted  to  a  sacramental  drink  called 
Soma,  and  designed  to  be  sung  during  the  preparation  of 
the  Soma  drink.*  These  hymns  are  called  by  a  special 
name  meaning  "  purificational."  Some  hymns  of  like  ref- 
erence appeared  also  in  the  previous  book,  the  eighth. 

The  tenth  book,  and  last,  of  the  Kig-veda,  has  191  hymns. 
It  is  a  final  addition  to  the  work  ;  no  authors'  names  are 
known  ;  there  is  no  arrangement ;  the  pieces  are  not  purely 
devotional,  but  mythical,  speculative,  merely  poetical,  or 
miscellaneous,  such  as  "  The  Gambler's  Lament."  This 

*  Soma,  it  may  be  explained,  means  '  extract,'  and  was  the  name  of 
a  sacred  drink  prepared  from  a  plant  akin  to  our  milkweed,  of  which 
the  fermented  juice  had  an  intoxicating  effect,  and  was  used  by  the 
priests  as  a  kind  of  holy  rum,  to  produce  the  frenzy  which  they  repre- 
sented as  divine. 

(153) 


154  THE  VEDA. 

original  Veda  is  thus  a  book  of  hymns,  songs,  ceremonial 
verses,  and  poetical  and  other  pieces,— a  genuine  historical 
collection,  the  natural  production  and  collection  of  which 
we  readily  detect,  especially  as  the  original  authors  fre- 
quently refer  to  their  own  work  of  composition. 

The  second  and  third  of  the  four  books  composing  the 
whole  primary  Veda*  were  prepared  by  the  priests,  chiefly 
in  the  words  of  the  Kig-veda.  They  are  books  of  ritual 
and  ceremony.  First  of  the  two  is  the  Sama-veda,  a  book 
of  chants,  or  liturgical  forms,  used  in  the  Soma  sacramental 
ceremonies.  Of  its  1,808  verses,  1,733  are  verses  from  the 
Rig-veda,  especially  its  ninth  and  eighth  books.  It  was  a 
manual  of  Hindu  High  Church  Ritualism,  for  use  in  the 
Soma  sacraments. 

The  other  of  these  two  Vedas  was  a  book  of  sacrificial 
formulas,  called  the  Yajur-veda,  from  the  root  yaj,  '  sacri- 
fice.' It  was  a  mere  liturgy,  the  formulas  of  which  were 
partly  prose  and  partly  verse.  Of  the  2,000  formulas, 
nearly  half  are  verse,  and  these  are  chiefly  from  the  Rig- 
veda.  Much  of  its  other  matter  is  of  later  date.  Thus  the 
second  and  third  of  the  Vedas,  or  parts  of  the  Veda,  are 
not  original  scriptures,  but  are  scripture  made  over  into 
liturgy. 

The  last  or  fourth  part  of  the  Veda  is  called  the  Atharva- 
veda.  It  is  of  much  later  origin  and  of  a  more  miscellane- 
ous character  than  the  others,  and  was  not  esteemed  as 
highly.  But  it  is  a  real  historical  collection,  and  is  thus 
next  in  interest  and  value  to  the  Rig-veda.  A  sixth  part 
of  it  is  in  prose.  It  extends  to  6,000  verses,  and  of  its  first 
18  books  one-sixth  is  borrowed  from  the  Rig-veda,  while 
the  20th  book  is  wholly  from  the  same  source.  The  pur- 

*  The  primary  Veda,  in  four  books,  forms  the  Veda  only  as  the  Law, 
embraced  in  the  Pentateuch,  formed  primarily  the  Hebrew  Bible.  In 
a  special  limited  sense  the  four  primitive  books  are  the  Hindu  Bible  ; 
but  in  a  far  larger  sense  the  Veda,  to  native  scholarship  and  belief, 
means  a  long  series  of  sacred  productions,  which  follow  the  primary 
four  Books,  and  develop  the  revelation  to  the  limits  of  a  great 
literature. 


THE  VEDA.  155 

pose  of  a  great  part  of  it  was  that  of  incantation  and 
charms,  the  literary  and  historical  element  being  subordi- 
nated to  the  priestly. 

These  four  Yedic  books  are  referred  by  Prof.  Monier 
Williams  to  a  succession  of  poets  who  lived  in  the  period 
from  perhaps  1500  B.C.  to  1000  B.C.  By  some  authorities 
this  Vedic  period  is  made  to  begin  as  far  back  as  2000  B.C., 
and  no  doubt  the  religion  and  poetry  of  the  earliest  Vedic 
hymns  were  beginning  to  be  known  as  early  as  that,  long 
before  the  age  to  which  Moses  is  referred,  and  a  thousand 
years,  if  not  twelve  or  fourteen  hundred,  before  the  earliest 
book  of  Hebrew  law  was  publicly  known,  so  as  to  give  to 
Moses  an  open  name  and  recognized  sacred  authority. 

To  his  account  of  the  original  Vedic  books,  of  which  only 
the  hymns  are  original  and  valuable,  Prof.  Williams  adds 
the  following  statement  of  the  character  of  early  Vedic 
religion : 

"To  what  deities,  it  will  be  asked,  were  the  prayers  and  hymns  of 
these  collections  addressed?  This  is  an  interesting  inquiry,  for  these 
were  probably  the  very  deities  worshipped  under  similar  names  by  our 
Aryan  progenitors  in  their  primeval  home  somewhere  on  the  table-land 
of  Central  Asia,  perhaps  in  the  region  of  Bokhara,  not  far  from  the 
sources  of  the  Oxus  [then  a  land  like  an  Eden,  now  wholly  changed, 
and  whence  came  forth  all  the  great  races  of  Europe,  with  the  Per- 
sians, and  the  Hindus ;  the  former  especially  making  the  great  body  of 
civilized  mankind,  some  400  millions  in  number,  while  the  race  to 
which  Moses  and  Mohammed  belong,  the  Semitic,  counts  no  more  than 
40  millions,  and  is  in  civilisation,  and  everything  but  the  lower  forces 
of  self-assertion  and  superstition,  very  greatly  inferior].  The  answer 
is :  They  worshipped  those  physical  forces  before  which  all  nations,  if 
guided  solely  by  the  light  of  nature,  have  in  the  early  period  of  their 
life  instinctively  bowed  down,  and  before  which  even  the  more  civil- 
ised and  enlightened  have  always  been  compelled  to  bend  in  awe  and 
reverence,  if  not  in  adoration. 

"  To  our  Aryan  forefathers  in  their  Asiatic  home  God's  power  was 
exhibited  in  the  forces  of  nature  even  more  evidently  than  to  ourselves. 
Lands,  houses,  flocks,  herds,  men,  and  animals  were  more  frequently 
than  in  western  climates  at  the  mercy  of  winds,  fire,  and  water,  and 
the  sun's  rays  appeared  to  be  endowed  with  a  potency  quite  beyond  the 
experience  of  any  European  country.  We  cannot  be  surprised,  then, 
that  these  forces  were  regarded  by  our  eastern  progenitors  as  actual 


156  THE  VEDA. 

manifestations,  either  of  one  deity  in  different  moods  or  of  separate 
rival  deities  contending  for  supremacy.  Nor  is  it  wonderful  that  these 
mighty  agencies  should  have  been  at  first  poetically  personified,  and 
afterwards,  when  invested  with  forms,  attributes,  and  individuality, 
worshipped  as  distinct  gods.  It  was  only  natural,  too,  that  a  varying 
supremacy  and  varying  honours  should  have  been  accorded  to  each 
deified  force— to  the  air,  the  rain,  the  storm,  the  sun,  or  fire— according 
to  the  special  atmospheric  influences  to  which  particular  localities  are 
exposed,  or  according  to  the  seasons  of  the  year  when  the  dominance 
of  each  was  to  be  prayed  for  or  deprecated.1' 

Passages  of  the  old  Vedic  hymns,  illustrating  the  letter 
and  spirit  of  this  earliest  Hindu  revelation,  are  given  by 
Prof.  Williams,  and  of  these  we  copy  the  best,  to  show  how 
much  was  attained  by  primitive  Vedic  efforts.  The  first 
passage  is  from  the  Atharva-veda,  and  therefore  not  one  of 
the  most  ancient,  though  celebrating  the  ancient  Aryan 
deity  Varuna  : 

"  The  mighty  Varuna,  who  rules  above,  looks  down 
Upon  these  worlds,  his  kingdom,  as  if  close  at  hand. 
When  men  imagine  they  do  ought  by  stealth,  he  knows  it. 
No  one  can  stand  or  walk  or  softly  glide  along 
Or  hide  in  dark  recess,  or  lurk  in  secret  cell, 
But  Varuua  detects  him  and  his  movements  spies. 
Two  persons  may  devise  some  plot,  together  sitting 
In  private  and  alone;  but  he,  the  king,  is  there— 
A  third— and  sees  it  all.     This  boundless  earth  is  his, 
His  the  vast  sky,  whose  depth  no  mortal  e'er  can  fathom. 
Both  oceans  find  a  place  within  his  body,  yet 
In  that  small  pool  he  lies  contained.    Whoe'er  should  flee 
Far,  far  beyond  the  sky  would  not  escape  the  grasp 
Of  Varuna,  the  king.    His  messengers  descend 
Countless  from  his  abode — for  ever  traversing 
This  world  and  scanning  with  a  thousand  eyes  its  inmates. 
Whate'er  exists  within  this  earth,  and  all  within  the  sky, 
Yea  all  that  is  beyond,  King  Varuna  perceives. 
The  winkings  of  men's  eyes  are  numbered  all  by  him. 
He  wields  the  universe,  as  gamesters  handle  dice. 
May  thy  destroying  snares  cast  sevenfold  round  the  wicked, 
Entangle  liars,  but  the  truthful  spare,  O  King!  " 

In  the  following  Prof.  Williams  brings  together  various 
scattered  texts  relating  to  the  god  Indra.  The  Soma  men- 


THE  VEDA.  157 

tioned  is  the  sacramental  intoxicant  prepared  by  the  priests 
according  to  the  Soma  ritual,  which  has  been  explained : 

"Indra,  twin  brother  of  the  god  of  fire, 
When  thou  wast  born,  thy  mother  Aditi 
Gave  thee,  her  lusty  child,  the  thrilling-  draught 
Of  mountain-growing  Soma — source  of  life 
And  never-dying  vigour  to  thy  frame. 
Then  at  the  Thunderer's  birth,  appalled  with  fear, 
Dreading  the  hundred-jointed  thunderbolt 
Earth  shook  and  heaven  trembled.     Thou  wast  born 
Without  a  rival,  king  of  gods  and  men — 
The  eye  of  living  and  terrestrial  things. 
Immortal  Indra,  unrelenting  foe 
Of  drought  and  darkness,  infinitely  wise, 
Terrific  crusher  of  thy  enemies, 
Heroic,  irresistible  in  might. 
Wall  of  defence  to  us  thy  worshippers, 
We  sing  thy  praises,  and  our  ardent  hymns 
Embrace  thee,  as  a  loving  wife  her  lord. 
Thou  art  our  guardian,  advocate,  and  friend, 
A  brother,  father,  mother,  all  combined. 
Most  fatherly  of  fathers,  we  are  thine 
And  thou  art  ours ;  oh !  let  thy  pitying  soul 
Turn  to  us  in  compassion,  when  we  praise  thee, 
And  slay  us  not  for  one  sin  or  for  many. 
Deliver  us  to-day,  to-morrow,  every  day." 

In  the  next  hymn,  addressed  to  Agni,  « god  of  fire,'  es- 
pecially of  sacrificial  fire,  the  "  mystic  double  Arani "  to 
which  reference  is  made  means  the  two  pieces  of  wood,  of 
the  Ficus  religiosa,  which  by  dextrous  use  were  made  to 
kindle  into  flame.  It  seemed  an  amazing  miracle.  But  the 
simple  fact  was  that  the  pieces  of  wood  were  heated  by  rub- 
bing to  the  point  where  the  oxygen  of  the  air  would  strike 
them  into  flame.  In  every  case  of  fire  the  active  agent  is 
not  the  fuel,  but  the  oxygen  of  the  air.  This  will  attack 
any  fuel  which  is  sufficiently  heated.  Ignorant  of  the  ac- 
tion of  oxygen,  the  Hindu  mind  ascribed  the  production  of 
fire  to  the  bits  of  wood  which  he  made  hot  by  friction. 
The  verses  to  Agni  selected  by  Prof.  Williams  are  as 
follows : 


158  THE  VEDA. 

"  Agni,  thou  art  a  sage,  a  priest,  a  king, 
Protector,  father  of  the  sacrifice. 
Commissioned  by  us  men  thou  dost  ascend 
A  messenger  conveying  to  the  sky 
Our  hymns  and  offerings.     Though  thy  origin 
Be  threefold,  now  from  air,  and  now  from  water, 
Now  from  the  mystic  double  Arani, 
Thou  art  thyself  a  mighty  god,  a  lord, 
Giver  of  life  and  immortality, 
One  in  thy  essence,  but  to  mortals  three ; 
Displaying  thine  eternal  triple  form, 
As  fire  on  earth,  as  lightning  in  the  air, 
As  sun  in  heaven.    Thou  art  a  cherished  guest 
In  every  household — father,  brother,  son, 
Friend,  benefactor,  guardian,  all  in  one. 
Bright,  seven-rayed  god !  ho\v  manifold  thy  shapes 
Revealed  to  us  thy  votaries ! 
Deliver,  mighty  lord,  thy  worshippers. 
Purge  us  from  taint  of  sin,  and  when  we  die, 
Deal  mercifully  with  us  on  the  pyre, 
Burning  our  bodies  with  their  load  of  guilt, 
But  bearing  our  eternal  part  on  high 
To  luminous  abodes  and  realms  of  bliss, 
Forever  there  to  dwell  with  righteous  men." 

The  deity  to  whom  the  next  verses  are  devoted  is  Surya, 
'the  Sun,'  who  is  often  described  as  sitting  in  a  chariot 
drawn  by  seven  ruddy  horses  (representing  the  seven  days 
of  the  week),  preceded  by  the  Dawn : 

"Behold  the  rays  of  Dawn,  like  heralds,  lead  on  high 
The  Sun,  that  men  may  see  the  great  all-knowing  god. 
The  stars  slink  off  like  thieves,  in  company  with  Night, 
Before  the  all-seeing  eye.  whose  beams  reveal  his  presence, 
Gleaming  like  brilliant  flames,  to  nation  after  nation. 
With  speed,  beyond  the  ken  of  mortals,  thou,  O  Sun, 
Dost  ever  travel  on,  conspicuous  to  all. 
Thou  dost  create  the  light,  and  with  it  dost  illume 
The  universe  entire ;  thou  risest  in  the  sight 
Of  all  the  race  of  men,  and  all  the  host  of  heaven. 
Life-giving  Varuna !  thy  piercing  glance  doth  scan 
In  quick  succession  all  this  stirring,  active  world, 
And  penetrateth  too  the  broad  ethereal  space, 
Measuring  our  days  and  nights  and  spying  out  all  creatures. 
Onward  thou  dost  advance.    To  thy  refulgent  orb 


THE  VEDA.  159 

Beyond  this  lower  gloom  and  upward  to  the  light 
Would  we  ascend,  O  Sun,  thou  god  among  the  gods." 

One  of  the  most  celebrated  of  Vedic  utterances,  and  one 
used  in  daily  devotions  by  every  Brahman  throughout  India 
to  this  day,  is  a  short  prayer  to  the  Sun  in  his  character  of 
'  the  Vivifier.'  It  is  called  the  Gayatri,  and  the  very  metre 
in  which  it  is  written  is  considered  supernatural.  Prof. 
Williams  gives  the  following  as  a  literal  rendering  : 

"Let  us  meditate  on  that  excellent  glory  of  the  Divine  Vivifier. 
May  he  enlighten  our  understanding." 

Among  the  various  ways  in  which  the  Hindu  mind  car- 
ried out  the  common  heathen  conception  of  a  Trinity,  one 
was  that  of  grouping  together  Indra,  Agni,  and  Surya,  in 
which  case  the  Divine  Vivifier  would  answer  to  the  Holy 
Spirit  of  Christian  speculation.  Prof.  Williams  pertinently 
says: 

"  May  we  not  conjecture,  with  Sir  William  Jones,  that  the  great  ven- 
eration in  which  this  text  has  ever  been  held  by  the  Hindus  from  time 
immemorial,  indicates  that  the  more  enlightened  worshippers  adored, 
under  the  type  of  the  visible  sun,  that  divine  light  which  could  alone 
illumine  their  intellects  ? " 

Prof.  Williams  appends  to  his  illustration  of  Hindu  rev- 
erence for  the  Sun,  a  paraphrase  showing  how  the  Dawn 
was  addresed : 

"  Hail  ruddy  Ushas,  golden  goddess  borne, 

Upon  thy  shining  car,  thou  comest  like 

A  lovely  maiden  by  her  mother  decked, 

Disclosing  coyly  all  thy  hidden  graces 

To  our  admiring  eyes ;  or  like  a  wife 

Unveiling  to  her  lord,  with  conscious  pride. 

Beauties  which  as  he  gazes  lovingly, 

Seem  fresher,  fairer,  each  succeding  morn. 

Through  years  on  years  thou  hast  lived  on,  and  yet 

Thou'rt  ever  young.     Thou  art  the  breath  and  life 

Of  all  that  breathes  and  lives,  awaking  day  by  day 

Myriads  of  prostrate  sleepers,  as  from  death, 

Causing  the  birds  to  flutter  from  their  nests, 

And  rousing  men  to  ply  with  busy  feet 

Their  daily  duties  and  appointed  tasks, 

Toiling  for  wealth  or  pleasure  or  renown." 


160  THE  VEDA. 

The  '  god  of  departed  spirits,'  Yam  a,  is  one  of  the  Vedic 
deities  about  whom  were  grouped  thoughts  which  have  no 
place  in  Mosaic  religion.  Prof.  Williams  gives  the  follow- 
ing account  and  illustration : 

' '  It  appears  tolerably  certain  that  the  doctrine  of  metempsychosis  has 
no  place  in  the  Mantra  portion  of  the  Veda,  nor  do  the  authors  of  the 
hymns  evince  any  sympathy  with  the  desire  to  get  rid  of  all  action  and 
personal  existence,  which  became  so  remarkable  a  feature  of  the  theol- 
ogy and  philosophy  of  the  Brahmans  in  later  times.  But  there  are 
many  indirect  references  to  the  immortality  of  the  soul  and  a  future 
life,  and  these  become  more  marked  and  decided  towards  the  end  of  the 
Rig-veda.  One  ol  the  hymns  in  the  last  Mandala  is  addressed  to  the 
Pitris  or  fathers,  that  is  to  say,  the  spirits  of  departed  ancestors  who 
have  attained  to  a  state  of  heavenly  bliss,  and  are  supposed  to  occupy 
three  different  stages  of  blessedness, — the  highest  inhabiting  the  upper 
sky,  the  middle  the  intermediate,  air  and  the  lowest  the  regions  of  the 
atmosphere  near  the  earth.  Reverence  and  adoration  are  always  to 
be  offered  them,  and  they  are  presided  over  by  the  god  Yama, 
the  ruler  of  all  the  spirits  of  the  dead,  whether  good  or  bad.  The 
earlier  legends  represent  this  god  as  a  kind  of  first  man  (his  twin  sister 
being  Yami)  and  also  as  the  first  of  men  that  died.  Hence  he  is  described 
as  guiding  the  spirits  of  other  men  who  die  to  the  same  world.  In 
some  passages,  however,  Death  is  said  to  be  his  messenger,  he  himself 
dwelling  in  celestial  light,  to  which  the  departed  are  brought,  and 
where  they  enjoy  his  society  and  that  of  the  fathers.  In  the  Veda  he 
has  nothing  to  do  with  punishing  the  departed  (as  in  the  later  mythol- 
ogy), but  he  has  two  terrific  dogs,  with  four  eyes,  which  guard  the  way 
to  his  abode.  Here  are  a  few  thoughts  about  him  from  various  hymns 
in  the  tenth  Mandala  [book]  of  the  Kig-veda: 

"  To  Yama,  mighty  king,  be  gifts  and  homage  paid. 
He  was  the  first  of  men  that  died,  the  first  to  brave 
Death's  rapid  rushing  stream,  the  first  to  point  the  road 
To  heaven,  and  welcome  others  to  that  bright  abode. 
No  power  can  rob  us  of  the  home  thus  won  by  thee. 
O  king,  we  come;  the  born  must  die,  must  tread  the  path 
That  thou  hast  trod— the  path  by  which  each  race  of  men, 
In  long  succession,  and  our  fathers,  too,  have  passed. 
Soul  of  the  dead!  depart;  fear  not  to  take  the  road— 
The  ancient  road — by  which  thy  ancestors  have  gone; 
Ascend  to  meet  the  god— to  meet  thy  happy  fathers, 
Who  dwell  in  bliss  with  him.     Fear  not  to  pass  the  guards— 
The  four-eyed  brindled  dogs— that  watch  for  the  departed. 
Return  unto  thy  home,  O  soul !  a  Thy  sin  and  shame 


THE  VEDA.  161 

Leave  thou  behind  on  earth ;  assume  a  shining  form — 
Thy  ancient  shape — refined  and  from  all  taint  set  free." 

"  Two  of  the  most  remarkable  hymns  in  the  Rig-veda," 
says  Prof.  Williams,  are  the  following,  the  first  from  the 
first  book,  and  the  other  from  the  last  book  of  this  oldest 
of  the  Vedas : 

"  What  god  shall  we  adore  with  sacrifice  ? 
Him  let  us  praise,  the  golden  child  that  rose 
In  the  beginning,  who  was  born  the  lord — 
The  one  sole  lord  of  all  that  is — who  made 
The  earth  and  formed  the  sky,  who  giveth  life, 
Who  giveth  strength,  whose  bidding  gods  revere, 
Whose  hiding-place  is  immortality, 
Whose  shadow,  death ;  who  by  his  might  is  king 
Of  all  the  breathing,  sleeping,  waking  world — 
Who  governs  men  and  beasts,  whose  majesty 
These  snowy  hills,  this  ocean  with  its  rivers 
Declare ;  of  whom  these  spreading  regions  form 
The  arms ;  by  whoni  the  firmament  is  strong, 
Earth  firaily  planted,  and  the  highest  heavens 
Supported,  and  the  clouds  that  fill  the  air 
Distributed  and  measured  out;  to  whom 
Both  earth  and  heaven,  established  by  his  will, 
Look  up  with  trembling  mind ;  in  whom  revealed 
The  rising  sun  shines  forth  above  the  world. 
Where'er  let  loose  in  space,  the  mighty  waters 
Have  gone,  depositing  a  fruitful  seed 
And  generating  fire,  there  he  arose, 
Who  is  the  breath  and  life  of  all  the  gods, 
Whose  mighty  glance  looks  round  the  vast  expanse 
Of  watery  vapor — source  of  energy, 
Cause  of  the  sacrifice — the  only  God 
Above  the  gods.     May  he  not  injure  us  ! 
He  the  creator  of  the  earth — the  righteous 
Creator  of  the  sky,  creator  too 
Of  oceans  bright,  and  far  extending  waters. 


In  the  beginning  there  was  neither  nought  nor  aught, 
Then  there  was  neither  sky  nor  atmosphere  above. 
What  then  enslirouded  all  this  teeming  universe  ? 
In  the  receptacle  of  what  was  it  contained  ? 
Was  it  enveloped  in  the  gulf  profound  of  water  ? 


162  THE  VEDA. 

Then  there  was  neither  death  nor  immortality, 

Then  there  was  neither  day,  nor  night,  nor  light,  nor  darkness, 

Only  the  Existent  One  breathed  calmly  self-contained. 

Nought  else  than  him  there  was — nought  else  above,  beyond. 

Then  first  came  darkness  hid  in  darkness,  gloom  in  gloom. 

Next  all  was  water,  all  a  chaos  indiscreet, 

In  which  the  One  lay  void,  shrouded  in  nothingness. 

Then  turning  inwards  he  by  self -developed  force 

Of  inner  fervour  and  intense  abstraction,  grew 

And  now  in  him  Desire,  the  primal  germ  of  mind, 

Arose,  which  learned  men,  profoundly  searching,  say 

Is  the  first  subtle  bond,  connecting  Entity 

With  Nullity.    This  ray  that  kindled  dormant  life, 

Where  was  it  then  ?  before  ?  or  was  it  found  above  ? 

Were  there  parturient  powers  and  latent  qualities, 

And  fecund  principles  beneath,  and  active  forces 

That  energized  aloft  ?    Who  knows  ?    Who  can  declare  ? 

How  and  from  what  has  sprung  this  Universe  ?  the  gods 

Themselves  are  subsequent  to  its  development. 

Who  then  can  penetrate  the  secret  of  its  rise  ? 

Whether  'twas  framed  or  not;  made  8r  not  made;  he  only 

Who  in  the  highest  heaven  sits,  the  omniscient  lord, 

Assuredly  knows  all,  or  haply  knows  he  not." 

The  following  hymn  illustrates  the  pantheism  which 
India  universally  developed  when  speculation  succeeded  to 
simple  worship.  In  quoting  it  Prof.  Williams  explains 
that  the  all-pervading  self-existent  spirit  is  called  Purusha. 
The  pertinent  lines  are  as  follows  : 

"  The  embodied  spirit  has  a  thousand  heads, 
A  thousand  eyes,  a  thousand  feet,  around 
On  every  side  enveloping  the  earth, 
Yet  filling  space  no  larger  than  a  span. 
He  is  himself  this  very  universe. 
He  is  whatever  is,  has  been,  and  shall  be. 
He  is  the  lord  of  immortality. 
All  creatures  are  one-fourth  of  him,  three-fourths 
Are  that  which  is  immortal  hi  the  sky. 
Him  gods  and  holy  men  made  their  oblation. 
With  Parusha  as  victim  they  performed 
A  sacrifice.    When  they  divided  him, 
How  did  they  cut  him  up  ?  what  was  his  mouth  ? 
What  were  his  arms  ?  and  what  his  thighs  and  feet  ? 


THE  VEDA.  168 

The  Brahman  was  his  mouth,  the  kingly  soldier 
Was  made  his  arms,  the  husbandman  his  thighs, 
The  servile  Sudra  issued  from  his  feet." 

With  two  hymns  to  Time,  and  to  Night,  Prof  Williams 
closes  his  illustration  of  the  spirit  and  matter  best  worth 
attention  in  the  old  Yedic  hymns. 

"  Time,  like  a  brilliant  steed  with  seven  rays, 
And  with  a  thousand  eyes,  imperishable, 
Full  of  fecundity,  bears  all  things  onward. 
On  him  ascend  the  learned  and  the  wise. 
Time,  like  a  seven-wheeled,  seven-naved  car  moves  on. 
His  rolling  wheels  are  all  the  worlds,  his  axle 
Is  immortality.     He  is  the  first  of  gods. 
We  see  him  like  an  overflowing  jar; 
We  see  him  multiplied  in  various  forms. 
He  draws  forth  and  encompasses  the  worlds ; 
He  is  all  future  worlds;  he  is  their  father; 
He  is  their  son ;  there  is  no  power  like  him. 
The  past  and  future  issue  out  of  Time, 
All  sacred  knowledge  and  austerity. 
From  Time  the  earth  and  waters  were  produced ; 
From  Time  the  rising,  setting,  burning  sun; 
From  Time  the  wind;  through  time  the  earth  is  vast; 
Through  time  the  eye  perceives ;  mind,  breath,  and  name 
In  him  are  comprehended.    All  rejoice 
When  Time  arrives — the  monarch  who  has  conquered 
This  world,  the  highest  world,  the  holy  worlds, 
Yea,  all  the  worlds — and  ever  marches  on. 


The  goddess  Night  arrives  in  all  her  glory, 
Looking  about  her  with  her  countless  eyes. 
She,  the  immortal  goddess,  throws  her  veil 
Over  low  valley,  rising  ground,  and  hill. 
But  soon  with  bright  effulgence  dissipates 
The  darkness  she  produces ;  soon  advancing 
She  calls  her  sister  Morning  to  return, 
And  then  each  darksome  shadow  melts  away. 
Kind  goddess,  be  propitious  to  thy  servants 
Who  at  thy  coming  straightway  seek  repose, 
Like  birds  who  nightly  nestle  in  the  trees. 
Lo !  men  and  cattle,  flocks  and  winged  creatures, 
And  e'en  the  ravenous  hawks,  have  gone  to  rest. 
Drive  thou  away  from  us,  0  Night,  the  wolf; 


164  THE  VEDA. 

Drive  thou  away  the  thief,  and  bear  us  safely 
Across  thy  borders.     Then  do  thou,  O  Dawn, 
Like  one  who  clears  away  a  debt,  chase  off 
This  black,  yet  palpable  obscurity, 
Which  came  to  fold  us  in  its  close  embrace. 
Receive,  O  Night,  dark  daughter  of  the  day, 
My  hymn  of  praise,  which  I  present  to  thee, 
Like  some  rich  offering  to  a  conqueror." 

The  history  of  the  four  Vedic  books  show  us,  as  we  have 
seen,  first,  a  simple  hymn  book  of  natural  religion  ;  sec- 
ondly, two  priestly  books  which  treat  the  hymns  of  the 
first  as  sacred,  and  make  them  over  into  books  of  ritual ; 
and  thirdly,  a  much  later  new  collection  of  hymns  and 
pieces  in  which  priestly  superstition  and  wandering  specu- 
lation both  appear.  But  to  complete  our  view  of  what 
Veda  or  Revealed  Knowledge  was  to  the  Hindu  mind,  we 
must  glance  at  the  successive  extensions  by  which  the  idea 
was  applied  to  successive  stages  of  literature  received  as 
divine.  The  first  stage  of  revelation,  and  the  supremely 
divine  and  original  one,  represented  by  the  four-fold  Veda 
was  designated  as  Mantra,  meaning  prayer  and  praise  em- 
bodied in  hymns,  songs,  verses,  and  texts.  After  this  came 
a  stage  of  Brahmanas,  works  in  prose  devoted  to  ritualis- 
tic precept  and  illustration.  They  grew  up  at  a  period 
much  later  than  that  of  the  original  Vedic  books,  the  old- 
est perhaps  as  early  as  700  B.C.  or  800  B.C.  It  was  after  the 
ancient  hymns  and  liturgies,  and  texts  of  the  four  Vedas 
had  come  to  be  looked  upon  as  sacred,  miraculous,  perfect 
Revelation,  in  the  hands  of  divinely  commissioned  priests. 
These  priests  produced  the  Brahmanas  as  commentaries 
on  the  original  revelation,  and  got  them  into  use  and  au- 
thority as  no  less  sacred  than  the  ancient  hymns.  In  fact 
they  made  them  more  important  than  the  old  original 
hymns.  The  plan  of  the  Brahmanas  was  to  give  rules  and 
explanations  for  the  priests  ;  and  these  rules  were  so  loose 
and  rambling  and  interminable  as  to  form  a  monstrous  mass 
of  worthless  matter,  which  has  had  little  or  no  real  value, 
and  only  contains  some  grains  of  good  material  for  the 
history  of  Vedic  religion. 


THE  VEDA,  165 

The  case  was  not  unlike  that  of  the  vast  mass  of  very 
mixed  matter  which  forms  the  Talmud  of  Judaism,  only 
the  Talmud  embodies  much  more  of  reflection  and  precept, 
and  was  much  less  the  work  of  priests.  So  priestly  and 
so  worthless  were  the  Brahmanas,  in  fact,  that  for  any  thing 
like  thought  and  religious  sentiment  there  had  to  be  an- 
other stage,  in  a  series  of  works  appended  to  the  Brah- 
manas, mostly  prose  dialogues,  entering  into  an  explanation 
of  some  of  the  problems  of  religious  philosophy,  such  as 
the  nature  of  deity,  the  origin  of  the  universe,  the  nature 
of  the  soul,  and  the  relation  of  spirit  to  matter.  These 
philosophico-theological  treatises  are  called  the  Upanishads. 
The  word  upa-ni-s7iad  is  said  to  mean  "  to  set  ignorance  at 
rest  by  revealing  the  knowledge  of  the  supreme  spirit." 
The  works  which  bear  this  name  are  attached  each  one  to 
some  one  of  the  Brahmanas,  except  one  instance  of  an 
Upanishad  attached  to  an  original  Vedic  book.  It  was 
chiefly  at  certain  peculiarly  obscure  Brahmanic  chapters 
that  the  thinkers  of  Hinduism  started  with  their  task  of 
explanation,  and  the  Upanishads  do  not  escape  forming  a 
bewildering  "  labyrinth  of  mystic  language,  fanciful  ety- 
mologies, far-fetched  analogies,  and  puerile  conceits."  And 
yet  they  represent  the  early  efforts  of  the  Hindu  mind  to 
add  philosophy  to  the  priestly  form  of  religion,  and  out  of 
the  germs  which  the  Upanishads  contain  grew  at  a  later 
date  remarkable  systems  of  Hindu  philosophy.  As  in  the 
doctrinal  parts  of  the  Jewish  Talmud,  the  Upanishads  some- 
times contain  "  striking  thoughts,  original  ideas,  and  lofty 
sentiments,"  as  Prof.  Williams  says.  They  date  through  a 
period  beginning  perhaps  as  early  as  500  B.C.  Although 
only  a  third  stage  of  it,  they  count  as  revelation  no  less 
than  the  Brahmanas  and  the  old  Vedic  books,  and  Prof. 
Williams  says  that  "they  are  practically  the  only  Veda  of 
all  thoughtful  Hindus  in  the  present  day."  They,  and 
the  Brahmanas,  with  the  ancient  original  Veda,  are  all  alike 
held  to  be  Veda,  or  Divinely  Revealed  Knowledge.  And 
yet  the  Hindu  mind  did  not  rest  satisfied  with  all  this  Holy 
Knowledge,  but  carried  out  the  germs  of  thought  in  the 


166  THE  VEDA. 

Upanishads  into  six  systems  of  philosophy  called  Darsanas 
or  Demonstrations.  The  Darsanas  came  in  great  part  from 
the  free-thinking  or  Broad  Church  members  of  Hindu  com- 
munion. In  the  old  Vedic  hymns  were  seen  only  "the  first 
gropings  of  the  human  mind,  searching  for  truth  by  the 
light  of  natural  phenomena,"  The  ritualistic  Brahmanas 
added  nothing  to  the  religion  of  the  simple  nature- worship- 
ping hymns.  In  fact.  "  they  merely  encouraged  the  growth 
of  a  superstitious  belief  in  the  efficacy  of  sacrifice  and  fos- 
tered the  increasing  dependence  of  the  multitude  on  a 
mediatorial  caste  of  priests,  supposed  to  be  qualified  to 
stand  between  them  and  an  angry  god."  Hence  "  the  minds 
of  men  finding  no  rest  in  mere  traditional  revelation  and  no 
satisfaction  in  mere  external  rites,  turned  inwards,  each 
thinker  endeavoring  to  think  out  the  great  problems  of  life 
for  himself  by  the  aid  of  his  own  reason."  It  was  in  men's 
minds  to  ask,  says  Prof.  Williams : 

"  What  am  I?  Whence  have  I  come?  Whither  am  I  going  ?  How 
can  explain  my  consciousness  of  personal  existence?  What  is  the  re- 
lationship between  my  material  and  immaterial  nature  ?  What  is  this 
world  in  which  I  find  myself  ?  Did  a  wise,  good,  and  all-powerful 
Being  create  it  out  of  nothing?  or  did  it  evolve  itself  out  of  an  eternal 
germ?  or  did  it  come  together  by  the  combination  of  eternal  atoms  ? 
If  created  by  a  Being  of  infinite  wisdom,  how  can  I  account  for  the 
inequalities  of  condition  in  it— good  and  evil,  happiness  and  misery  ? 
Has  the  Creator  form,  or  is  he  formless  ?  Has  he  any  qualties  or 
none  ? " 

The  first  attempts  to  answer  such  questions  were  made  in 
the  Upanishads,  as  has  been  stated.  Prof.  Williams  thinks 
that  when  the  Brahmanical  priests  found  free  inquiry 
springing  up,  they  adopted  its  first  fruits,  the  Upanishads, 
into  the  body  of  Vedic  Revelation,  and  tried  to  have  it  un- 
derstood that  a  man  might  think  what  he  chose  if  he  would 
only  support  the  priests  and  profess  assent  to  the  Veda. 


"It  was  not  long  before  Brahmanism  and  rationalism  advanced 
hand  in  hand,  making  only  one  compact,  that  however  inconsistent 
with  each  other,  neither  should  declare  the  other  to  be  a  false  guide. 
A  Brahman  might  be  a  rationalist,  or  both  rationalist  and  Brahman 


THE  VEDA.  167 

might  live  together  in  harmony,  pro  Tided  both  gave  a  nominal  assent 
to  the  Veda,  and  maintained  the  inviolability  of  caste,  the  ascendancy 
of  Brahmans,  and  their  sole  right  to  be  the  teachers  both  of  religion 
and  philosophy.  But  if  a  rationalist  asserted  that  any  one  might  be  a 
teacher  or  might  gain  emancipation  for  himself  irrespective  of  the  Veda 
or  caste  observances,  he  was  at  once  excommunicated  as  a  heretic  and 
infidel.  In  the  second  book  of  Manu's  laws  it  is  declared:  ' The  Brah- 
man who  resorting  to  rationalistic  treatises  shall  contemn  the  two  roots 
of  all  knowledge  (revelation  and  tradition),  that  man  is  to  be  excom- 
municated by  the  righteous .  as  an  atheist  and  reviler  of  the  Vedas. ' 
Such  heretics,  however,  soon  became  numerous  in  India." 

There  was  a  common  underlying  creed  for  all  the  six 
philosopical  systems,  rationalistic  in  fact,  but  purporting  to 
be  Vedic.  This  creed,  says  Prof.  Williams,  "  is  not  only 
the  faith  of  every  Indian  philosopher  at  the  present  day, 
but  also  of  the  greater  number  of  thinking  Brahmans, 
whether  disciples  of  any  particular  philosophical  school  or 
not,  and  indeed  of  the  greater  number  of  educated  Hindus  " 
(p.  61).  The  points  of  this  Vedic  creed,  the  common  faith 
of  the  Hindus,  or  rationalistic  Brahmanism  as  contrasted 
with  priestly,  are  stated  by  Prof.  Williams  as  follows  : 

1.  That  soul,  in  the  individual,  as  well  as  in  the  Supreme 
Soul,  has  existed  everlastingly  and  will  never    cease  to 
exist. 

2.  That   matter  is  equally  eternal,  the  substance  of  the 
universe  existing  as  soul   exists,  without  beginning  and, 
without  end. 

3.  That  the  soul  dwells  in  and  acts  through  an  inward 
body  and  an  outward  body,  the  inward  being  the  mind, 
and  this  surviving  with  the  soul  when  the  outward  body 
perishes.    The  Supreme  Soul,  it  is  held,  may  take  form, 
either  divine  or  human,  with  either  the  mind-body,  as  in 
gods,  or  with  a  body  of  flesh  as  well,  in  men. 

4.  That  the  union  of  soul  and  body  produces  bondage  for 
the  soul,  and  in  the  case  of  men,  misery,  the  bodily  senses 
bringing  to  the  soul  pain  and  pleasure,  and  leading  to  action, 
which  involves  the  soul  in  the  fate  of  actions,  which  is  for 
bad  actions  punishment  and  woe. 

5.  And  to  the  fate  of  actions  belongs  the  necessity  not 


168  THE  VEDA. 

only  of  heaven  or  hell,  but  of  returning  into  some  form  of 
bodily  existence,  whether  god,  or  demon,  or  man,  or  animal, 
or  plant,  or  even  stone,  to  work  out  the  fate.  According  as  a 
man  has  come  to  goodness,  or  passion,  or  darkness,  he  must  live 
again  as  god,  or  man,  or  beast,  plant,  stone.  Hells  numerous 
and  fearful  are  prepared  for  the  bad,  but  from  hell  or  heaven 
fate  fetches  forth  the  soul  to  renew  bodily  existence  in  a  bound- 
less succession  of  forms.  The  gods  are  subject  to  the  same 
law;  they  live,  and  suffer,  and  take,  in  due  course  their  re- 
turn to  the  supreme  soul.  They  feed  literally  on  the  sac- 
rifices. They  perish  as  to  individual  life  at  last,  the  great 
gods  of  nature  as  well  as  the  small. 

6.  The  transmigration  of  the  soul  through  a  succession  of 
lives  is  the  root  of  all  evil.     By  it  all  the  misery,  inequality 
of  fortune  and  diversity  of  character  in  the  world  is  to  be 
explained.     Even  great  genius,  aptitude  for  special  work, 
and  innate  excellence,  are  not  natural  gifts,  but  the  result 
of  habits  formed  and  powers  developed  through  perhaps 
millions  of  previous  existences.     So  again,  sufferings  of  all 
kinds— weaknesses,  sicknesses,  and  moral  depravity,  are 
simply  the  consequences  of  acts  done  by  each  soul,  of  its 
own  free  will,  in  former  lives  the  result  of  which  is  felt, 
though  not  seen. 

7.  The  great  aim  of  philosophy  is  to  teach  a  man  to  ab- 
stain from  every  kind  of  action,  from  liking  or  disliking, 
from  loving  or  hating,  and  even  from  being  indifferent  in 
any  active  way,  in  order  to  finally  get  rid  of  body,  mind 
(or  spiritual  body),  and  all  sense  of  separate  personality, 
and  in  the  condition  of  pure  and  simple  soul  return  into 
the  supreme  and  only  really  existing  Being  (pp.  51-70,  In- 
dian Wisdom). 

The  existence  of  such  a  creed  as  this,  in  conjunction  with 
a  system  of  caste,  which  alloted  to  the  priests  or  Brahmans 
a  sacred  rank,  illustrates  a  remark  made  by  Prof.  Williams 
in  regard  to  the  two  contrasted  sides  of  Hindu  religion. 
According  to  the  Hindu  idea,  he  says : 

"Veda  or  sacred  knowledge  is  said  to  possess  two  quite  distinct 
branches;  the  first  for  that  vast  majority  of  persons  who  are  unable  to 


THE  VEDA.  169 

conceive  of  religion  except  as  a  process  of  laying  up  merit  by  external 
rites,  and  for  whom  the  one  God,  although  really  without  form  assumes 
various  forms  with  the  sole  object  of  lowering  himself  to  the  level  of 
human  understandings;  and  the  second  reserved  for  that  select  few 
who  are  capable  of  the  true  knowledge,  which  is,  that  there  is  but  one  real 
Being  in  the  universe,  which  Being  also  constitutes  the  universe ;  this  one 
Being  existing  as  the  great  universal  Spirit,  the  only  really  existing  Soul 
with  which  all  seemingly  existing  material  substances  are  identified, 
and  into  which  the  separate  souls  of  men,  falsely  regarded  as  emana- 
tions from  it,  must  be  ultimately  merged." 

This  says  Prof.  Williams,  is  ' '  the  pantheistic  doctrine  everywhere 
traceable  in  some  of  the  more  ancient  Upanishads," — "the  creed  of 
the  man  who  is  said  to  possess  the  true  Veda" — "  simply  pantheism, 
it  will  be  said,  but  it  is  at  least  a  pantheism  of  a  very  spiritual  kind." 

It  was  indeed  no  low  or  mean  conception  which  led  to  the 
creed  to  which  expression  is  given  in  the  following  from  a 
Vedantic  tract : 

"The  world  and  all  the  course  of  mundane  things 

Are  like  the  vain  creation  of  a  dream, 

In  which  ambition,  hatred,  pride,  and  passion 

Appear  like  phantoms  mixing  in  confusion. 

While  the  dream  lasts  the  universe  seems  real, 

But  when  'tis  past  the  world  exists  no  longer. 

Like  the  deceptive  silver  of  a  shell, 

So  at  first  sight  the  world  deludes  the  man 

Who  takes  mere  semblance  for  reality. 

As  golden  bracelets  are  in  substance  one 

With  gold,  so  are  all  visible  appearances 

And  each  distinct  existence  one  with  Brahma 

By  action  of  the  five-fold  elements. 

Through  acts  performed  in  former  states  of  being, 

Are  formed  corporeal  bodies  which  become 

The  dwelling-place  of  pleasure  and  of  pain. 

The  soul  inwrapped  in  five  investing  sheaths 

Seems  formed  of  these,  and  in  all  its  purity 

Darkened,  like  crystal  laid  on  coloured  cloth. 

As  winnowed  rice  is  purified  from  husk, 

So  is  the  soul  disburdened  of  its  sheaths 

By  force  of  meditation,  as  by  threshing. 

The  soul  is  like  a  king  whose  ministers 

Are  body,  senses,  mind  and  understanding. 

As  brightness  is  inherent  in  the  sun, 

Coolness  in  water,  warmness  in  the  fire, 


170  THE  VEDA. 

E'en  so  existence,  knowledge,  perfect  bliss, 
And  perfect  purity  inhere  in  soul. 
The  understanding  cannot  recognize 
The  soul,  nor  does  the  soul  need  other  knowledge 
To  know  itself,  e'en  as  a  shining  light 
Requires  no  light  to  make  itself  perceived. 
The  soul  declares  its  own  condition  thus — 
'  I  am  distinct  from  hody,  I  am  free 
From  birth,  old  age,  infirmity,  and  death. 
I  have  no  senses :  I  have  no  connection 
With  sound  or  sight  or  objects  of  sensation. 
I  am  distinct  from  mind,  and  so  exempt 
From  passion,  pride,  aversion,  fear,  and  pain.' 
The  saint  who  has  attained  to  full  perfection 
Of  contemplation,  sees  the  universe 
Existing  in  himself  and  with  the  eye 
Of  knowledge  sees  the  All  as  the  One  Soul. 
When  bodily  disguises  are  disolved, 
The  perfect  saint  becomes  completly  blended 
With  the  one  Soul,  as  water  blends  with  water, 
As  air  united  with  air,  as  fire  with  fire. 
That  gain  than  which  there  is  no  greater  gain, 
That  joy  than  which  there  is  no  greater  joy, 
That  love  than  which  there  is  no  greater  love, 
Is  the  one  Brahma — this  is  certain  truth. 
That  which  is  true,  above,  below,  complete, 
Existence,  wisdom,  bliss,  without  a  second, 
Endless,  eternal,  one — know  that  as  Brahma. 
Nothing  exists  but  Brahma,  when  aught  else 
Appears  to  be,  'tis  like  the  mirage,  false." 


TEMPLE  AND  ROYAL  SEPULCHRE  AT  MADURA,  INDIA.— The  largest  temple 
in  the  world,  built  in  the  3d  century  T..C.  ;  the  enclosure  measuring  847  by  744  feet ;  nine 
colossal  towers  as  gateways  ;  one  of  its  halls  showing  997  pillars  ;  the  modern  additions  by 
Tirumal  Nayak  (1621-57).  From  the  3d  century  to  the  13th  Madura  had  a  great  university 
and  was  the  literary  centre  of  India. 


and  Buflflfiist  Scripture. 

THE   TRIPITO^A. 


names  used  in  speaking  of  this  remarkable  charac- 
1  ter  leave  one  in  doubt  how  they  severally  apply. 
Sakya  is  the  clan  or  tribal  name.  His  father,  king  Sud- 
dhodana,  who  ruled  at  Kapilavastu,  was  the  chief  of  the 
Sakyas.  Gautama  was  the  family  name  of  the  king  and 
his  son,  and  Siddhartha  was  the  son's  individual  name. 
The  Sakya  prince,  Siddhartha  Gautama,  became  the  Buddha 
or  Enlightened,  and  he  is  called  Sakya  Buddha  or  Gautama 
Buddha.  Sakyamuni  means  the  Sakya  solitary  or  monk. 

The  birthplace  of  the  future  Buddha  was  about  100  miles 
north  of  Benares  and  about  50  miles  south  of  the  foot  of 
the  Himalaya  mountains.  Benares  is  the  religious  centre 
of  Hinduism,  the  sacred  city  of  India  from  time  immemorial, 
and  one  of  the  most  ancient  cities  on  the  globe.  The 
Ganges  makes  a  sweep  at  Benares  of  about  four  miles  in 
length,  and  the  city,  about  three  miles  long  by  one  broad, 
lies  on  the  elevated  northern  bank  of  this  bend,  rising  from 
the  river  in  the  form  of  an  amphitheatre,  thickly  studded 
with  domes  and  minarets,  and  presenting  a  scene  exceed- 
ingly picturesque  and  grand.  The  entire  bank  of  the  river, 
the  sacred  stream  of  the  Ganges,  is  lined  with  stone.  Very 
fine  ghats  or  landing-places  for  bathers  have  been  erected 
by  pious  devotees,  and  crowds  of  worshippers  are  constantly 
thronging  into  the  purifying  waters.  Shrines  and  temples 
line  the  bank,  and  are  thickly  scattered  through  the  city, 
the  greater  number  small,  but  elaborately  adorned  with  rich 
and  delicate  carvings  worthy  of  the  finest  Grecian  or  Gothic 

(171) 


172  BUDDHA  AND  BUDDHIST  SCRIPTURE. 

art.  It  was  from  Benares  that  Buddha  itinerated  in  the 
valley  of  the  Ganges  during  forty -five  years  of  public  min- 
istry, and  never  more  than  150  miles  from  the  Hindu  Holy 
City.  The  famous  Chinese  pilgrim,  who  went  all  through 
India  in  the  7th  century  A.D.,  described  the  city  at  that 
time  as  containing  thirty  Buddhist  monasteries,  with  about 
three  thousand  monks  of  the  yellow  robe,  and  about  one 
hundred  temples  of  Hindu  gods. 

The  birth  of  the  Sakya  prince,  Gautama,  took  place  under 
circumstances  calculated  to  secure  a  greatly  exalted  opera- 
tion of  those  influences  of  motherhood  which  we  may  with 
great  probability  consider  the  origin  of  great  genius.  The 
two  principal  wives  of  king  Suddhodana,  daughters  of  a 
neighboring  king,  were  both  childless,  and,  according  to 
Hindu  ideas,  it  was  an  occasion  of  the  greatest  rejoicing 
when  the  elder  sister,  Mahamaya,  in  about  the  forty-fifth 
year  of  her  age,  promised  her  husband  a  son.  Mr.  Rhys 
Davids'  account  of  the  facts  says  : 

"In  due  time  she  started  with  the  intention  of  being  confined  at  her 
parents'  home,  but  the  party  halting  on  the  way  under  the  shade  of 
some  lofty  satin  trees,  in  a  pleasant  garden  called  Lumbini  on  the  river 
side,  her  son,  the  future  Buddha,  was  there  unexpectedly  born." 

The  story  which  came  to  be  told  of  this  birth  took  no 
note  of  the  natural  influences  calculated  to  produce  in  Ma- 
hamaya's  offspring  profound  strength  of  sensibility,  with 
remarkable  vigor  of  endeavor,  in  a  mind  far  more  of  the 
mother  than  of  the  father,  and  more  inclined  to  -the 
shelter  of  the  grove  or  forest  than  to  a  settled  home.  In- 
stead of  this  there  grew  in  time  what  Mr.  Davids  calls : 

"  Belief  in  his  voluntary  incarnation,  his  immaculate  conception,  the 
miracles  at  his  birth,  the  prophecies  of  the  aged  saint  at  his  formal 
presentation  to  his  father,  and  how  nature  altered  her  course  to  keep 
the  shade  over  his  cradle,  whilst  sages  from  afar  came  and  worshipped 
him." 

The  young  prince  married  at  19  his  cousin  Yasodhara, 
and  gave  no  sign  for  ten  years  of  the  genius  which  was  at  work 
in  him.  Then  suddenly,  yielding  to  impressions,  or  perhaps 
to  visions,  which  reflected  his  observation  of  old  age,  of  dis- 


BUDDHA  AND  BUDDHIST  SCRIPTURE.  173 

ease,  of  death,  and  of  the  ascetic  escape  from  the  world, 
he  left  his  home  to  go  in  search  of  the  victory  that  over- 
cometh  the  world.  Directly  in  his  way  at  this  moment  was 
the  happiest  event  of  a  Hindu's  life,  the  birth  of  a  son.  To 
this  he  said,  "  This  is  a  new  and  strong  tie  which  I  shall 
have  to  break."  The  rejoicings  over  the  birth  were  hardly 
over  when  he  rose  from  a  troubled  sleep  at  midnight,  re- 
pressed, in  the  doorway  of  the  room  where  the  mother  and 
the  babe  slept,  the  desire  to  take  the  child  in  his  arms,  and 
hastened  away  under  the  full  moon  of  July,  to  carry  out  the 
GKEAT  RENUNCIATION.  The  tradition  here  says  : 

"Mara,  the  great  tempter,  appears  in  the  sky,  and  urges  Gautama 
to  stop,  promising  him,  in  seven  days,  a  universal  kingdom  over  the 
four  great  continents  if  he  will  but  give  up  his  enterprise. " 

A  long  night  ride  with  his  charioteer,  Channa,  took  him 
into  stranger  territory,  and  cutting  off  his  flowing  locks 
with  his  sword,  he  gave  all  his  ornaments  to  Channa,  to  go 
back  with  them,  and  with  his  horse,  to  Kapilavastu.  Seven 
days  he  spent  alone  in  a  grove.  Then  he  gave  himself  to 
severe  study  of  all  that  Hindu  philosophy  could  teach. 
Then  for  six  years  he  gave  himself  to  the  severest  penance 
and  self-torture  in  the  jungle  on  the  mountain  side,  until, 
falling  as  one  dead,  he  saw  the  failure  of  all  such  effort, 
and  lost  the  five  disciples  he  then  had  by  resuming  the  use 
of  food  and  a  more  natural  life.  The  crisis  of  his  mental 
struggles  came  one  day,  when  he  sat  under  the  shade  of  a 
great  tree,  reviewing  everything  behind  him,  and  on  through 
the  night,  while  there  came  to  him  the  clear  light  of  pro- 
found conviction,  which  made  him  Buddha,  the  Enlightened. 
It  was  light  under  the  spell  of  which  he  could  have  rested 
from  effort,  but  love  and  pity  for  humanity  made  him  under- 
take to  show  the  world  what  he  had  found  of  the  path  of 
enlightenment  and  release.  To  one  whom  he  met  now,  as 
he  set  off  to  go  to  Benares  to  begin  his  mission,  he  said : 

"  I  am  now  going  to  the  city  of  Benares  to  establish  the  kingdom  of 
righteousness,  to  give  light  to  those  enshrouded  in  darkness,  and  to 
open  the  gate  of  immortality  to  men." 
.     "I  have  completely  conquered  all.  evil  passions,  and  am  no  longer 


174  BUDDHA  AND  BUDDHIST  SCRIPTURE. 

tied  down  to  things  material ;  I  now  only  live  to  be  the  prophet  of 
perfect  truth." 

The  five  disciples  who  had  left  him  were  found  in  the 
Deer-forest  at  Benares,  and  to  these  he  first  preached  his 
gospel  of  thought  overcoming  all  desires  and  all  passions, 
the  whole  brood  from  sensuality  to  unkindliness,  and  in 
perfect  purity  of  heart,  rising  to  perfect  and  universal 
charity,  to  attain  the  last  blessed  rest,  the  calm  state  of 
universal  kindliness,  of  perfect  Love.  There  are  hints  and 
suggestions  in  the  Buddhist  records  which  lead  to  the  belief 
that  he  who  now  undertook  as  a  Buddha  to  be  the  teacher 
unto  redemption  of  men  was  of  majestic  figure  and  com- 
manding presence,  with  a  personal  magnetism  singularly 
winning  and  impressive,  and  a  voice  touching  as  music  to 
every  listening  ear ;  and  as  he  expounded  with  masterly 
analysis  the  way  of  knowledge  of  sorrow  in  all  life,  of  de- 
sire and  thirst  and  passion  causing  sorrow,  of  putting  away 
desires  and  ignorance  and  doubt,  false  belief  and  all  un- 
kindliness and  vexation,  to  "  exert  good- will  without  meas- 
ure towards  all  beings,  as  a  mother,  even  at  the  risk  of  her 
own  life,  watches  over  her  child,  her  only  child,"  the  clear 
words  and  the  deep  feeling  brought  the  five  former  disci- 
ples to  new  discipleship,  as  the  result  of  the  first  five  days 
of  arduous  labor  to  win  souls,  from  which  Buddha  went 
steadily  on  for  forty -five  years. 

The  idea  of  a  priesthood,  with  any  special  power  or  au- 
thority, any  magical  or  mystical  ability  to  minister  to  souls, 
is  utterly  contrary  to  the  spirit  and  teaching  of  Buddha. 
The  recluse  in  yellow  robe,  with  shaven  face  and  shaven 
head,  taking  but  one  meal  a  day,  and  that  whatever  might 
be  put  into  the  begging  bowl  carried  from  door  to  door  of 
rich  and  poor  alike  during  the  morning  hours,  could  not 
pretend,  not  even  Buddha  himself,  to  the  slightest  place 
above  his  fellows,  except  that  of  character  and  truth.  Gau- 
tama gathered  at  Benares  about  three  score  personal  fol- 
lowers, monks  of  the  yellow  robe,  and  a  somewhat  larger 
number  of  outside  believers.  Among  the  former  was  a  rich 
youth  who  first  sought  him  at  night,  but  later  brought  his 


BUDDHA  AND  BUDDHIST  SCRIPTURE.  175 

father,  as  the  first  lay  believer,  and  his  mother  and  wife  as 
the  first  female  disciples.  Buddha  never  approved  of  dis- 
criminating against  the  lay  believers,  or  of  using  pressure 
to  bring  them  from  the  life  of  rectitude  and  kindliness  in 
the  world  of  home  and  business  to  that  of  the  ardent  soli- 
tary aiming  at  higher  perfection. 

Daring  his  whole  career  Buddha  was  accustomed  to 
spend  the  rainy  season  at  one  spot,  collecting  about  him  a 
large  number  of  disciples  to  whom  he  gave  divinity  instruc- 
tion perhaps  never  equalled  for  clear  thinking,  sagacious 
discrimination,  and  the  highest  and  wisest  possible  spirit. 
The  method  of  Jesus  does  not  come  into  comparison,  be- 
cause it  attempted  so  much  less,  in  the  way  of  thought  and 
system,  and  was  so  soon  suspended,  without  leaving  more 
than  very  meagre  report  of  the  things  said  by  him.  It  was 
especially  a  note  of  the  genius  of  Buddha  that  he  had  the 
right  kind  of  word  for  very  different  classes  of  persons,  and 
not  only  gave,  in  fine  analysis  and  lucid  exposition,  the 
highest  philosophy  to  those  who  could  receive  it,  but  put 
in  equally  effective  shape  the  more  simple  lessons  suited 
to  minds  much  less  advanced.  It  may  be  confidently  said 
that  divinity  instruction,  enabling  men  to  minister  effect- 
ively what  they  supposed  to  be  truth,  was  never  carried  to 
such  perfection,  both  of  method  and  of  spirit,  as  by  Bud- 
dha. After  the  season  at  Benares  Buddha  took  leave  of  his 
disciples  with  these  words : 

"Beloved  Rahans,  I  am  free  from  the  five  passions  which,  like  an 
immense  net,  hold  men  and  angels  in  their  power ;  you  too,  owing  to 
my  teaching,  enjoy  the  same  glorious  privilege.  There  is  now  laid  on 
us  a  great  duty,  that  of  working  effectually  for  men  and  angels,  and 
gaining  for  them  also  the  priceless  blessing  of  salvation.  Let  us,  there- 
fore, separate,  so  that  no  two  of  us  shall  go  the  same  way.  Go  ye  now 
and  preach  the  most  excellent  law,  explaining  every  point  thereof,  un- 
folding it  with  diligence  and  care." 

Gautama  settled  himself  in  the  solitudes  of  Uruwela, 
where  three  famous  brothers,  hermit  fire- worshippers,  had 
gathered  a  school  of  disciples.  These  brothers  were  per- 
suaded to  accept  the  Buddha's  teaching,  and  Kasyapa,  the 
eldest,  became  one  of  his  principal  followers.  It  was  here 


176  BUDDHA  AND  BUDDHIST  SCRIPTURE. 

that  Buddha  preached  a  first  set  sermon,  which  has  been 
designated  as  his  Sermon  on  the  Mount.  Looking  across 
from  their  retreat  to  the  hillside  opposite,  where  a  jungle- 
fire  had  broken  out,  Buddha  dwelt  with  clear  exposition 
and  warning  on  the  fires  of  desire,  anger,  ignorance,  and 
anxiety  ;  birth,  decay,  and  death  ;  and  compared  all  human 
sensations  to  a  burning  flame  which  seems  to  be  something 
which  it  is  not,  producing  pleasure  or  pain,  passing  rapidly 
away,  and  ending  only  in  destruction. 

Gautama  now  led  his  new  disciples  to  Rajagriha,  the 
capital  of  Magadha,  where  King  Bimbisara  welcomed  them, 
and  the  people  marvelled  at  the  presence  of  Kasyapa, 
famous  to  them  as  the  teacher  of  another  way.  Kasyapa 
proclaimed  that  he  had  become  a  disciple  of  Buddha;  that 
he  had  given  up  his  belief  in  sacrifices,  either  great  or  small, 
the  efficacy  of  which  was  an  immensely  developed  Hindu 
doctrine  ;  and  that  change  of  heart  was  the  sole  path.  The 
king  gave  to  Gautama  a  garden,  Yeluvana  or  the  Bamboo- 
grove,  one  of  the  celebrated  places  afterwards,  where  the 
teacher  and  his  chief  disciples  spent  many  rainy  seasons, 
and  where  he  preached  many  of  his  most  complete  dis- 
courses. The  Society  of  yellow-robed  mendicants  or 
recluses,  at  the  head  of  which  Buddha  was,  was  called  the 
Sangha,  and  among  its  leading  members  were  two  who 
came  in  at  this  time,  Sariputra  and  Mogallana. 

Gautama's  father,  hearing  how  his  son  had  given  up  ex- 
treme asceticism  and  was  itinerating  as  a  teacher  and 
preacher,  sent  to  ask  that  he  might  see  him  once  more  be- 
fore he  died.  The  Buddha  repaired  at  once  to  a  grove  out- 
side of  Kapilavastu,  and  the  father  and  uncles  came  to  see 
him,  but  gave  him  no  invitation,  as  the  custom  was,  to  come 
to  them  for  the  next  day's  meal.  The  next  day,  therefore, 
Gautama  started  on  the  street  in  his  father's  city  with  his 
begging  bowl.  The  father  hearing  of  it  came  quickly,  and 
after  remonstrances,  himself  took  the  bowl,  and  led  the  way 
to  his  palace.  It  was  after  seven  years  of  absence  that 
Gautama  was  now  to  see  his  wife.  It  was  a  rule  that  a 
recluse  must  not  touch  or  be  touched  by  a  woman,  and 


BUDDHA  AND  BUDDHIST  SCRIPTURE.  177 

\  asodhara  did  not  come  out  with  the  other  women  to  wel- 
come him.     She  said, 

"  I  will  wait  and  see;  perhaps  I  am  still  of  some  value  in  his  eyes; 
he  may  ask,  or  come.  I  can  welcome  him  better  here." 

Gautama  said,  in  disregard  of  the  rule, 

"  The  princess  is  not  yet  free  from  desire  as  I  am;  not  having  seen 
me  so  long  she  is  exceeding  sorrowful.  Unless  her  sorrow  be  allowed 
to  take  its  course  her  heart  will  break.  She  may  embrace  me ;  do  not 
stop  her." 

He  then  went  to  her,  and  when  she  saw  him  enter,  in  the 
recluse  garb  and  shaven  head, — no  longer  the  husband  she 
had  mourned  so  long, — she  fell  on  the  ground,  unable  to 
contain  herself,  and  clung  to  his  feet  and  wept ;  then  recov- 
ering herself  rose  and  stood  on  one  side.  His  father  said, 
in  apology  for  her,  to  his  son,  that  she  had  continued  in 
faithful  love  of  him,  would  not  have  comforts  whi^h  he  de- 
nied himself,  took  only  the  one  meal  a  day,  and  used  a  hard 
uncanopied  bed.  The  thoughts  of  Buddha  on  very  many 
occasions  are  told  in  the  accounts  which  are  given,  but 
nothing  of  what  passed  in  his  mind  at  this  time.  He 
evaded  speech  that  might  have  seemed  yielding  to  sorrow 
by  telling  a  Jataka  story  of  a  former  birth  of  Yasodhara, 
in  which  her  virtue  had  been  great.  She  became  an  earnest 
disciple,  and  when,  long  after,  the  Buddha  was  induced, 
much  against  his  will,  to  establish  a  Society  for  female 
recluses  or  nuns,  she  was  one  of  the  first. 

Gautama  had  a  half  brother,  Nanda,  whose  marriage 
festival  was  to  take  place  the  next  day.  Gautama  sought 
Nanda  and  said  to  him,  "  The  greatest  festival  after  all  is  the 
destruction  of  all  evil  desires,  the  knowledge  of  truth,  the 
life  of  a  recluse,  and  the  attainment  of  Nirvana."  The 
great  love  which  Nanda  had  for  Gautama  soon  made  him  a 
disciple. 

At  this  time  the  child  Kahula,  Gautama's  son,  was  sent  by 
his  mother,  dressed  in  his  best,  to  ask  his  father  for  his  in- 
heritance. Taking  the  child  in  her  arms  at  a  window  of 
the  palaee  where  the  father  could  be  seen  partaking  of  his 
mid-day  meal,  she  said  : 


178  BUDDHA  AND  BUDDHIST  SCRIPTURE. 

"  That  monk  whose  appearance  is  so  glorious,  is  your  father;  he  has 
four  mines  of  wealth ;  go  to  him,  and  entreat  him  to  put  you  in  pos- 
session of  your  inheritance." 

Rahula  came  close  to  Gautama  without  fear  and  with 
much  affection,  and  said,  "  My  father,  how  happy  I  am  to 
be  near  you."  Gautama  silently  gave  the  child  his  bless- 
ing, and  presently  rose  to  go.  Rahula  followed,  and  asked, 
as  his  mother  had  told  him,  that  he  might  have  his  inherit- 
ance. But  Gautama  said  nothing,  until,  reaching  their 
grove,  he  said  to  Sariputra, 

"  Beloved  disciple,  Eahula  is  asking  for  a  worldly  inheritance  which 
would  avail  him  nothing ;  I  will  give  him  a  spiritual  inheritance  which 
will  not  fade  away;  let  him  be  admitted  among  us." 

This  loss  of  his  son  Nanda  and  his  grandson  Rahula 
deeply  grieved  the  old  king,  and  he  secured  from  the 
Buddha  a  regulation  that  the  consent  of  parents  should  in 
future  be  required  for  admission  among  the  recluses.  Then 
Gautama  went  back  to  Rajagriha,  the  capital  of  Magadha, 
where  King  Bimbisara  had  given  him  the  Bamboo-grove. 

It  was  now  but  eighteen  months  since  the  Buddha  began 
his  ministry,  and  from  this  time  onward  there  are  only 
snatches  of  biography  to  be  gleaned  from  the  records,  until 
we  come  to  the  last  few  days  of  the  Buddha's  long  life.  He 
was  eighty  years  of  age,  and,  resting  at  Pawa,  east  of  his 
birthplace  about  eighty  miles,  and  one  hundred  and  twenty 
miles  N.  N.  E.  of  Benares,  he  partook  of  a  meal  given  him 
by  Chunda,  donor  of  a  grove  there, — a  meal  of  rice  and 
pork,  which  brought  on  illness,  as  he  started  in  the  after- 
noon for  Kusi-nagara,  not  far  distant.  Feeling  that  he  was 
dying,  he  gave  his  attendant  a  strict  charge  to  give  a  mes- 
sage of  gratitude  and  praise  to  Chunda,  that  he  might  not 
blame  himself  for  the  meal  of  pork  and  rice.  Going  on  a 
little  Gautama  rested  for  the  last  time,  lying  under  the  Sal 
trees,  with  his  face  to  the  south,  and  talking  long  and 
earnestly  with  Ananda,  of  whom  he  said  to  the  others, 

"Ananda  for  long  years  has  served  me  with  devoted  affection. 
He  knows  all  that  should  be  done;  after  I  am  gone,  listen  to  his 
word/' 


BUDDHA  AND  BUDDHIST  SCRIPTURE.  179 

To  Ananda,  who  went  aside  weeping,  as  the  evening  came 
on,  Gautama,  sending  for  him,  said  : 

"  Do  not  weep;  do  not  let  yourself  be  troubled.  You  know  what  I 
have  said ;  sooner  or  later  we  must  part  from  all  we  hold  most  dear. 
This  body  of  ours  contains  within  itself  the  power  which  renews  its 
strength  for  a  time,  but  also  the  causes  which  lead  to  its  destruction. 
Is  there  anything  put  together  which  shall  not  dissolve  ? " 

Ananda  was  a  cousin  who  had  come  to  him  twenty-five 
years  before,  and  remained  his  attendant  from  that  time. 
To  Ananda  he  had  talked,  as  his  illness  came  on,  of  his 
burial,  and  of  rules  to  be  observed  after  his  death.  About 
midnight  a  famous  Brahman  came  to  make  inquiries,  and 
Ananda  refused  him  admission,  until  the  Buddha  hearing 
and  asking  what  it  was,  directed  that  he  should  come  in. 
To  a  broad  inquiry 'about  the  six  systems  of  philosophy  the 
Buddha  said : 

"  This  is  not  the  time  for  such  discussions.  To  true  wisdom  there  is 
only  one  way,  the  path  that  is  laid  down  in  my  law.  Many  have  al- 
ready followed  it,  and  conquering  the  lust,  and  pride,  and  anger,  of 
their  own  hearts,  have  become  free  from  ignorance,  and  doubt,  and 
wrong  belief,  have  entered  the  calm  state  of  universal  kindliness,  and 
reached  Nirvana  even  in  this  life.  Save  in  my  religion  the  Twelve 
Great  Disciples,  who,  being  good  themselves,  rouse  up  the  world,  and 
deliver  it  from  indifference,  are  not  to  be  found.  O  Subhadra  !  I  do 
not  speak  to  you  of  things  I  have  not  experienced.  Since  I  was  twenty- 
nine  years  old  till  now  I  have  striven  after  pure  and  perfect  wisdom, 
and  following  the  good  path,  have  found  Nirvana." 

The  impression  made  by  the  dying  teacher  led  the  great 
Brahman  to  ask  for  admission  at  once,  in  disregard  of  the 
rule  requiring  four  months  probation  for  a  convert  from  any 
rival  system  ;  and  Buddha  granted  his  request.  To  his  dis- 
ciples he  then  said : 

"  When  I  have  passed  away  and  am  no  longer  with  you, 
do  not  think  that  the  Buddha  has  left  you,  and  is  not  still 
in  your  midst.  You  have  my  words,  my  explanations  of  the 
deep  things  of  truth,  the  laws  I  have  laid  down  for  the 
Society  ;  let  them  be  your  guide  ;  the  Buddha  has  not  left 
you." 

Again  he  said,  with  pauses  or  conversation  between :   •  •  •• 


180  BUDDHA  AND  BUDDHIST  SCRIPTURE. 

"  Beloved  mendicants,  if  you  revere  my  memory,  love  all 
the  disciples  as  you  love  me  and  my  doctrines." 

"No  doubt  can  be  found  in  the  mind  of  a  true  dis- 
ciple." 

"  Beloved,  that  which  causes  life,  causes  also  decay  and 
death.  Never  forget  this ;  let  your  minds  be  filled  with 
this  truth.  I  called  you  to  make  it  known  to  you." 

And  with  these,  his  last  words,  the  Buddha  lay  uncon- 
scious ;  and  so  died,  India's  greatest  son,  most  marvellous 
teacher,  reformer  at  once  of  an  old  faith  and  creator  of  a 
new,  whose  colossal  figure  dominates  the  vast  East  of  the 
world,  as  that  of  Christ  does  the  West,  with  a  light  of  ideals, 
if  not  of  all  ideas,  identical  for  spiritual  glory  with  that 
which  we  call  the  Light  of  the  World. 

After  the  cremation  of  Buddha's  remains  some  of  the 
chief  disciples  secured  the  holding  of  a  council  or  confer- 
ence. Such  leading  disciples  as  Sariputra  and  Moggallana 
were  dead,  but  there  were  living  Kasyapa,  under  whose 
presidency  the  council  was  held, — a  more  than  commonly 
intimate  associate  of  Gautama  ;  Ananda,  the  beloved  attend- 
ant of  twenty -five  years  ;  and  Upali,  noted,  although  of  low 
caste  origin,  as  their  greatest  authority  on  points  of  order 
and  discipline,  which  had  been  decided  by  the  Buddha  as 
they  arose.  There  were  in  all  five  hundred  who  met  in 
council  in  the  rainy  season  resort  at  Eajagriha,  the  capital 
of  Magadha.  So  far  as  is  known  the  seven  months  session 
of  the  council  was  occupied  only  with  hearing  from  Ananda 
or  Upali  some  portion  of  the  Buddha's  teaching,  and  the 
repetition  of  it  in  concert.  A  second  council  was  held  a 
hundred  years  later  in  Vaisali,  70  miles  north  of  Rajagriha, 
and  a  third  and  great  council  about  B.C.  250,  under  the 
Buddhist  emperor  Asoka,  in  his  capital  Pataliputra,  the 
modern  Patna. 

The  sacred  books  of  Buddhism,  as  now  known  in  Ceylon, 
are  believed  to  be  substantially  the  same  as  those  declared 
canonical  at  the  great  council  under  Asoka.  The  more 
orthodox  Buddhists  claim  that  this  canon  dates,  not  from 
the  third  but  from  the  first  council,  but  the  contents,  the 


BUDDHA  AND  BUDDHIST  SCRIPTURE.  181 

biographical  especially,  are  such  as  to  disprove  this  claim. 
Gautama  did  not  leave  it  possible  for  his  disciples  to  carry 
over  into  Buddhism  the  scripture,  the  principle  of  sacrifice, 
or  the  ritual  and  priestly  order  of  Yedic  Brahmanism.  He 
cut  loose  from  the  gods  of  Brahmanism,  from  the  Veda  as  a 
Bible  of  inspired  origin  and  absolute  authority,  and  from 
the  Brahmanical  church,  with  its  priests,  its  ritual,  its 
castes,  and  its  imposition  of  a  Brahmanical  creed. 

Even  in  forming  the  Sangha,  or  Society,  of  monks,  also  of 
nuns,  Gautama  imposed  no  yoke  ;  no  vow  of  obedience  was 
taken ;  no  observance  of  ceremony,  no  belief  of  any  kind, 
was  supposed  to  avail ;  nothing  but  a  free  mind  with  a  pure 
heart  exerted  in  the  direction  of  self-conquest  and  universal 
charity.  In  the  deeper  things  of  the  spirit  five  principal 
kinds  of  meditation  took  the  place  of  prayer,  each  con- 
ducted according  to  a  careful  system  of  reflections  tending 
to  the  five  ideals,  which  were  those  of  Love,  of  Pity,  of 
Gladness,  of  Purity,  and  of  Serenity.  There  was  in  every 
port  of  Gautama's  teaching  the  broad  appeal  of  a  great  heart 
to  the  many  ;  not  to  the  learned  or  rich  but  to  all  mankind  ; 
to  nobles  and  peasants,  to  men  and  women,  to  Brahmans 
and  to  Sudras  (the  lowest  caste),  to  slaves  and  bondmen, 
giving  an  equal  welcome  to  all.  Every  kind  of  wrong  and 
oppression  felt  the  touch  of  Gautama's  spirit,  and  when 
Asoka  made  Government  in  India  Buddhist,  the  enlighten- 
ment acted  upon  and  the  philanthropy  carried  out  were  un- 
exampled. 

As  Buddhism  was  absolulely  tolerant,  was  perfect  in  char- 
ity, was  catholic  in  fellowship,  denying  human  brotherhood 
with  none  ;  and  as  it  wrought  on  lines  many  of  which  were  * 
underlying  conceptions  to  Brahmanism  also,  there  was  noth- 
ing to  prevent  the  old  Brahmanical  religion  from  continuing 
in  India  while  Buddhism  obtained  an  immense  hold  upon 
the  mind  of  India.  The  son  and  daughter  of  the  emperor 
Asoka  planted  it  in  Ceylon.  It  went  thence  to  Burmah 
about  A.D.  500,  and  to  Siam  200  hundred  years  later.  It 
had  become,  in  a  much  altered  form,  the  religion  of  Kash- 
mir about  the  time  of  Christ,  and  went  thence  to  Nepal  and 


182  BUDDHA  AND  BUDDHIST  SCRIPTURE. 

to  Thibet.  This  northern  Buddhism  took,  as  Lamaism, 
j»  marvellously  altered  form,  so  like  in  externals  to  Roman- 
ist Catholicism  that  the  first  Catholic  missionaries  thought 
it  must  be  an  imitation  by  the  devil  of  their  own  religion. 
In  China  Buddhism  was  officially  recognized,  A.D.  65,  as  the 
third  state  religion,  after  Confucianism  and  Taouism. 

The  history  of  Buddhist  declension  in  India  during  some 
centuries,  until  in  the  8th  and  9th  centuries  of  our  era  a 
very  great  effort  of  Brahmanical  persecution  drove  it  out 
completely,  has  been  hardly  at  all  recovered,  if  indeed  it  is 
not  completely  lost.  The  overthrow  at  least  was  complete, 
and  Buddha  counts  475,000,000  of  nominal  disciples  with 
none  to  speak  of  in  India  itself,  and  with,  in  fact,  China  and 
Japan  largely  making  up  the  immense  count,  of  those  who 
are  not  solely,  nor  even  first,  Buddhists,  and  the  mass  of 
whom  know  but  very  imperfectly  the  elevated  and  pure 
Buddhism  of  Buddha  himself.  Legends  and  superstitions, 
low  primitive-culture  spiritism,  the  worship  of  relics,  for 
their  magical  efficacy,  and  of  ancestors,  and  even  of  gods 
unknown  to  Buddha,  had  debased  his  system  before  India 
cast  it  out,  and  debases  it  to-day  for  the  mass  of  those  who 
are  named  in  his  name. 

The  Buddhist  Bible  is  commonly  represented  as  of  im- 
mense extent,  a  mass  of  writings  so  vast  as  to  defy  examina- 
tion. This,  however,  is  an  exaggeration,  due  to  ignorant 
misconception.  The  Bible  of  Christendom,  embracing  both 
Old  and  New  Testaments,  contains  not  far  from  950,000 
words.  In  the  Buddhist  scriptures  very  many  repetitions 
occur,  and  some  of  the  important  books  are  wholly  made  up 
of  extracts  from  other  books.  If  allowance  is  made  for  all 
these  repetitions  the  Buddhist  Bible,  in  the  opinion  of  Prof. 
Rhys  Davids,  "is  probably  even  shorter  than  ours";  and, 
counting  the  many  repetitions,  the  full  aggregate  reaches 
"  rather  less  than  twice  as  many  words  (in  the  original)  as 
are  found  in  our  Bible  ;  and  a  translation  of  them  into 
English  would  be  about  four  times  as  long." 

The  universal  Buddhist  church,  to  which  not  far  from 
475,000,000  of  the  human  race  belong,  was  at  an  early  date 


BUDDHA  AND  BUDDHIST  SCRIPTURE.  183 

separated  into  northern  and  southern  divisions,  through 
certain  divergences  of  development.  The  sacred  writings 
of  northern  Buddhism  are  transmitted  in  Sanskrit,  the  class- 
ical tongue  of  India,  and  the  language  of  the  Vedas  of 
Brahmanism— the  Hindu  Bible.  Those  of  southern  Budd- 
hism are  in  Pali,  one  of  the  linguistic  developments  of 
ancient  India,  now  extinct  as  a  spoken  language.  The  lan- 
guage in  which  Buddha  expressed  his  teaching  was  in  all 
probability  nearer  to  classical  Sanskrit  than  the  Pali.  Cey- 
lon, Burmah,  Siam,  Anam,  British  Burmah,  and  to  a  small 
extent  India,  belong  to  the  southern  division  ;  China,  Japan, 
Korea,  Thibet,  and  some  of  the  East  Indian  islands,  belong 
to  northern  Buddhism.  Chinese  translations  of  Buddhist 
scriptiire  were  made  at  an  early  date,  and  Japan  borrowed 
from  these.  The  more  ancient  and  original  texts  are  those 
of  southern  Buddhism.  But  to  a  large  extent  the  tradition 
of  sacred  writings  is  the  same  in  the  two  divisions.  Both 
have  the  three  Pitakas — or  the  Tripitaka,  "  three  baskets  " — 
and  many  other  writings,  while  each  has  some  writings 
which  are  not  in  the  other.  "  The  Tripitaka  "  designates 
the  Buddhist  scriptures,  as  "the  Testaments"  would  the 
Christian. 

The  first  basket,  or  collection,  of  sacred  authoritative  ut- 
terances is  the  Vinaya  Pitaka,  or  scripture  of  Discipline 
(for  the  order  of  yellow-robed  monks  established  by 
Buddha).  It  is  in  three  sections  or  books. 

The  second  basket,  or  collection,  in  five  parts,  is  the  Sutta 
Pitaka,  or  scripture  of  Discourses  (for  the  laity  and  for 
common  instruction  in  the  teachings  of  Buddha).  It  is  in 
this  Pitaka  of  Discourses  that  occur  the  most  that  we  have 
of  the  utterances  of  Buddha.  Among  the  parts  of  this 
Pitaka  one  treats  of  objections  to  the  teaching  drawn  from 
the  Yeda  by  Brahmanism ;  one  sets  forth  the  principal 
teachings  of  Buddha  ;  and  one,  called  the  Book  of  the  Great 
Decease,  relates  the  last  words  and  the  death  of  Buddha. 
The  fifth  and  last  portion  of  this  Pitaka  contains  fifteen 
sections,  of  which  two,  both  in  verse,  are  (1)  Dhammapada, 
the  Path  of  the  Law,  consisting  of  423  short  utterances,  in 


184  BUDDHA  AND  BUDDHIST  SCRIPTURE. 

26  chapters, — a  Buddhist  book  of  proverbs ;  and  (2)  a  collec- 
tion of  speeches  and  dialogues,  some  of  them  very  ancient, 
illustrating  the  fundamental  principles  of  Buddhism.  In 
one  section  are  given  eighty-two  "Songs  of  exultation," 
short  lyrics  supposed  to  have  been  uttered  by  Gautama 
under  a  great  access  of  feeling,  at  important  crises  of  his 
life.  Another  section,  called  Jataka,  contains  550  old  stories, 
fairy  tales,  and  fables,  as  they  were  retold  by  Buddha  to 
illustrate  former-birth  facts. 

The  third  Pitaka,  or  collection,  devoted  to  philosophy, 
has  seven  sections,  among  which  one  is  on  the  conditions  of 
life  in  various  worlds;  one  deals  with  1,000  controverted 
points ;  and  one  is  on  the  causes  of  existence. 

Among  notable  words  of  Buddhist  scripture,  this  summed 
up  the  means  of  salvation : 

"  To  cease  from  all  wrong-doing; 

To  get  virtue; 

To  cleanse  one's  own  heart; 

This  is  the  religion  of  the  Buddhas." 

To  his  father  Buddha  stated  the  cardinal  tenet  of  his 
teaching  in  these  verses : 

"  Eise  up!  and  loiter  not! 
Practice  a  normal  life  and  right; 
Who  follows  virtue  rests  in  bliss, 
Both  in  this  world  and  in  the  next. 
Follow  after  the  normal  life; 
Follow  not  after  wrong; 
Who  follows  virtue  rests  in  bliss, 
Both  in  this  world  and  in  the  next." 

Asked  to  declare  the  chief  good,  Buddha  pronounced 
these  Beatitudes : 

Not  to  serve  the  foolish, 
But  to  serve  the  wise ; 
To  honor  those  worthy  of  honor; 
This  is  the  greatest  blessing. 

To  dwell  in  a  pleasant  land ; 

Good  works  done  in  a  former  birth; 

Right  desires  in  the  heart; 


BUDDHA  AND  BUDDHIST  SCRIPTURE.  185 

"  Much  insight  and  education, 
Self-control  and  pleasant  speech, 
And  whatever  word  be  well-spoken: 
This  is  the  greatest  blessing. 

To  support  Father  and  mother, 
To  cherish  wife  and  child, 
To  follow  a  peaceful  calling: 

This  is  the  greatest  blessing. 

To  bestow  alms  and  live  righteously, 
To  give  help  to  kindred, 
Deeds  which  cannot  be  blamed; 

These  are  the  greatest  blessing. 

To  abhor,  and  cease  from,  sin, 
Abstinence  from  strong  drink, 
Not  to  be  weary  in  well-doing; 

These  are  the  greatest  blessing. 

Reverence  and  lowliness, 
Contentment  and  gratitude, 
The  hearing  of  the  law  at  due  seasons; 
This  is  the  greatest  blessing. 

To  be  long-suffering  and  meek, 
To  associate  with  the  tranquil, 
Religious  talk  at  due  seasons; 

This  is  the  greatest  blessing. 

Self-restraint  and  purity, 

Tho  knowledge  of  the  noble  truths, 

The  realization  of  Nirvana; 

This  is  the  greatest  blessing. 

Beneath  the  stroke  of  life's  changes, 
The  mind  that  shaketh  not; 
Without  grief  or  passion,  and  secure; 
This  is  the  greatest  blessing. 

On  every  side  are  invincible 
They  who  do  acts  like  these, 
On  every  side  they  walk  in  safety, 

And  their's  is  the  greatest  blessing. 


C0NMCKI3 


AND 


HE  Confucian  Bible  counts  nine  books  which  are  called 
I  classics,  and  which  have  been,  for  more  than  twelve 
hundred  years,  so  widely  accepted  as  to  have  been  for  all  that 
time  the  principal  study  and  the  rule  of  life  for  every  gen- 
eration of  Chinamen.  The  Buddhism  and  the  Taouism  of 
China,  widespread  as  they  are,  do  not  at  all  interfere  with  the 
absolute  supremacy  of  Confucianism.  Divine  as  Buddha 
is  to  Buddhists,  and  mere  man  as  Confucius  is  known  to 
have  been,  it  is  not  Buddha  but  Confucius  to  whom  China 
universally  directs  worship  as  to  a  divinity  between  heaven 
and  man.  The  Chinese  may  be  more  or  less  Buddhists  and 
Taouists,  as  Christians  may  be  Spiritualists  and  Faith  Cur- 
ists,  the  former  openly  always  and  regularly,  and  the  latter 
not  so  openly  perhaps  and  not  so  regularly.  The  educated 
classes  in  China  are  supposed  to  follow  Confucianism  only. 
It  is  almost  entirely  among  the  uneducated  classes  that 
Taouism  and  Buddhism  also  are  followed,  and  even  these 
will  not  accept  what  is  inconsistent  with  Confucian  teach- 
ing. This  teaching  is  the  basis  of  education.  Its  Bible 
has  been  the  only  text  book  which,  since  A.D.  631,  students 
have  had  to  master  to  comply  with  the  conditions  of  com- 
petitive examination  which  China  adopted  at  the  date 
named. 

Singularly  enough,  Confucius  at  his  death  had  not  made 
a  personal  success.    Neither  rulers  nor  people  had  heeded 
his  teaching  or  accepted  the  body  of  literature  prepared  by 
(186) 


THE  CONFUCIAN  BIBLE.  187 

him.  He  had  begun  giving  instruction  to  earnest  and  ad- 
miring students  when  he  was  but  twenty-two  (B.  c.  529) ;  at 
thirty,  when,  as  he  tells  us,  he  "  stood  firm,"  his  fame  had 
become  great,  and  many  noble  youth  were  enrolled  as  his 
disciples ;  at  this  time  also  he  made  his  first  visit  to  Loo, 
capital  of  the  Chow  dynasty,  and  had  an  interview  with 
Lao-tsze,  the  founder  of  Taouism  ;  and  on  his  return  to  Loo 
not  less  than  three  thousand  disciples  had  gathered  about 
him.  But  very  soon  public  disorder  sent  him  adrift,  and 
even  when  he  was  able  to  return  to  Loo,  he  found  the  un- 
settled state  of  things  unfavorable  to  public  work,  and  em- 
ployed himself  in  compiling  the  "  Book  of  Odes "  and  the 
"Book  of  History." 

At  a  later  date,  when  public  affairs  were  less  disturbed, 
Confucius  took  the  post  of  magistrate  of  a  town,  and  cre- 
ated such  order  and  prosperity  as  to  lead  to  his  being  ap- 
pointed, first,  superintendent  of  works,  and  then  minister  of 
crime,  for  the  dukedom  or  state  of  Loo.  The  eminent  suc- 
cess with  which  Confucius  now  administered  justice  was 
yet  more  or  less  a  failure  from  the  point  of  view  of  his 
times.  To  one  ruler  he  said,  "  Why  employ  capital  punish- 
ment at  all  in  carrying  on  your  government?  Let  your 
evinced  desires  be  for  what  is  good,  and  the  people  will  be 
good.  The  grass  must  bend  when  the  wind  blows  across 
it."  Not  many  months,  however,  after  taking  office  he  sur- 
prised his  disciples  by  signing  the  death  warrant  of  one 
Shaou,  a  well-known  citizen,  for  disturbing  the  public 
peace ;  and  to  remonstrance  replied : 

"There  are  five  great  evils  in  the  world;  a  man  with  a  rebellious 
heart  who  becomes  dangerous;  a  man  who  joins  to  vicious  deeds  a 
fierce  temper ;  a  man  whose  words  are  knowingly  false ;  a  man  who 
treasures  in  his  memory  noxious  deeds  and  disseminates  them ;  a  man 
who  follows  evil  and  fertilizes  it.  All  these  evil  qualities  were  com- 
bined in  Shaou.  His  house  was  a  rendezvous  for  the  disaffected ;  his 
words  were  specious  enough  to  dazzle  any  one ;  and  his  opposition  was 
violent  enough  to  overthrow  any  independent  man." 

The  good  fortune  which  the  rule  of  Confucius  brought  to 
the  state  of  Loo,  where  the  people  at  their  work  sang  songs 


188  THE  CONFUCIAN  BIBLE. 

in  praise  of  him  as  their  saviour  from  oppression  and 
wrong,  stirred  up  hostility  in  the  state  adjoining,  the  rulers 
of  which  were  jealous  of  their  prosperous  neighbor's  grow- 
ing strength.  To  countermine  Confucius  a  crafty  scheme 
to  demoralize  Loo  was  planned.  Eighty  beautiful  dancing 
girls  were  sent  to  the  Duke  of  Loo  as  an  antidote  to  the 
counsels  of  duty  spoken  by  the  Sage,  and  even  when  the 
great  sacrifice  to  Heaven  at  the  solstice  came  round,  after 
special  efforts  made  by  Confucius  to  have  the  Duke  rise  to 
a  full  sense  of  his  duties,  the  event  proved  that  temptation 
was  more  than  a  match  for  admonition.  Confucius  gave  up 
his  post  and  went  to  the  state  of  Wei ;  but  a  cabal  drove 
him  thence  after  ten  months.  In  a  moment  of  supposed 
peril  at  this  time,  Confucius  showed  his  faith  in  his  own 
mission  by  saying  to  alarmed  friends  : 

"After  the  death  of  King  "Wan,  was  not  the  cause  of  truth  lodged 
in  me  ?  If  Heaven  had  wished  to  let  the  sacred  cause  perish,  I  should 
not  have  been  put  into  such  a  relation  to  it.  Heaven  will  not  let 
the  cause  of  truth  perish,  and  what  therefore  can  the  people  of  Kwang 
do  to  me  ? " 

A  short  return  to  Wei,  where  the  duke's  consort  was  a 
notoriously  bad  character,  was  attended  by  an  incident 
which  some  disciple  thought  out  of  character  for  the  Sage. 
His  response  was,  "  Wherein  I  have  done  improperly  may 
Heaven  reject  me !  may  Heaven  reject  me  !"  A  corrupt 
court  was  too  repulsive,  however,  for  the  great  teacher  of 
propriety,  and  he  quitted  Wei.  The  story  goes  that  some 
officious  public  personage  had  noted  the  "  proud  air  and 
many  desires,  insinuating  habit  and  wild  will "  of  the  sage, 
and  tried  to  arrest  him  ;  and  that  when  he  had  escaped  and 
reached  Ching,  some  one  announced  him,  to  a  disciple  who 
was  expecting  him,  as  so  and  so  in  forehead  and  shoulders 
and  height,  "  and  altogether  having  the  forsaken  appear- 
ance of  a  stray  dog."  "  Capital !  capital !"  said  Confucius, 
"  to  say  I  was  like  a  stray  dog."  In  person  Confucius  was 
tall,  and  strong,  and  well-built,  with  a  large  and  heavy 
head,  and  a  full  red  face.  Poverty  was  commonly  enough 
his  lot,  and  he  would  say,  "  With  coarse  rice  to  eat,  with 


THE  CONFUCIAN  BIBLE.  189 

water  to  drink,  and  my  bended  arm  for  my  pillow,  I  am 
still  contented  and  happy.  Riches  and  honor  acquired  by 
wrong  are  to  me  as  floating  clouds." 

The  taste  of  Confucius  in  dress  was  refined  and  scrupulous; 
to  avoid  red  as  belonging  to  girls  and  women,  and  to  wear 
the  "  correct "  colors,  azure,  yellow,  carnation,  white,  and 
black.  In  matters  of  food  and  drink  he  showed  the  same 
scrupulous  refinement,  along  with  frugality  and  self-re- 
straint. He  drank  wine,  but  only  in  moderation.  His 
manner  was  invariably  dignified,  formal,  and  ceremonious 
often,  to  give  special  significance  to  demeanor  or  action. 
Music  was  his  chief  accomplishment.  "  It  is  by  the  odes," 
he  said,  "  that  the  mind  is  aroused.  It  is  by  the  rules  of 
propriety  that  the  character  is  established.  And  it  is  music 
which  completes  the  edifice." 

After  an  absence  of  two  years  Confucius  sought  to  return 
to  Wei,  whose  duke  he  seems  to  have  had  hopes  of.  On  his 
way  some  rude  fellows  laid  violent  hands  on  him  and  made 
him  take  an  oath  not  to  go  to  Wei.  He  took  the  oath,  and 
yet  went  all  the  same  ;  and  upon  the  remonstrance  of  Tsze- 
kung,  the  ardent  Simon  Peter  of  his  disciples,  he  said : 
"  It  was  an  oath  extracted  by  force.  The  spirits  do  not  hear 
such."  These  last  words  speak  after  the  faith  then  familiar; 
a  way  of  saying,  so  as  to  be  understood,  that  such  an  oath 
had  no  validity.  The  affairs  of  Wei  made  no  place  for  a 
sage,  and  Confucius  again  departed, but  only  to  be  driven  back 
by  worse  prospects  elsewhere.  The  duke  of  Wei  used  every 
endeavor  to  have  the  large-minded  teacher  give  him  counsel 
formatters  of  war,  but  got  only  this  answer  :  "  If  you  should 
wish  to  know  how  to  arrange  sacrificial  vessels,  I  will 
answer  you,  but  about  warfare  I  know  nothing." 

At  sixty  years  of  age,  after  much  teaching,  more  waiting, 
and  still  more  disappointment,  owing  to  so  much  disorder 
everywhere  in  the  states  com  prising,  the  empire,  Confucius 
carried  himself  with  a  most  remarkable  steadiness  of  hope 
and  confidence,  the  ideal  temper  of  a  genuine  prophet. 
When  one  of  his  disciples  had  evaded  replying  to  an  in- 
quiry about  him,  Confucius  said  :  "  Why  did  you  not  say 


190  THE  CONFUCIAN  BIBLE. 

to  him,  '  He  is  simply  a  man  who,  in  his  eager  pursuit  of 
knowledge,  forgets  his  food  ;  who,  in  the  joy  of  its  attain- 
ments, forgets  his  sorrows  ;  and  who  does  not  perceive  that 
old  age  is  coming  on.'" 

After  residence  three  years  in  one  of  the  states  where,  as 
in  the  empire  generally,  strife  and  war  prevailed,  and  hav- 
ing changed  to  another  where  also  he  was  much  thought  of 
but  not  at  all  heeded,  much  less  employed,  Confucius  re- 
turned once  more  to  Wei,  but  finding  the  court  worse  than 
ever  lived  for  five  or  six  years  in  close  retirement,  until  the 
time  came  when,  after  fourteen  years' absence,  he  could  return 
to  his  native  state  of  Loo.  It  was,  however,  in  the  hope  of 
securing  his  counsel  for  matters  of  war,  or  without  permit- 
ting him  to  attempt  the  correction  of  gross  evils,  that  he 
had  been  brought  back  to  Loo,  and  in  despair  of  public  ser- 
vice he  shut  himself  up  in  his  study,  a  statesman  far  too 
wise  and  strong  for  any  state  then  existing,  and  a  scholar 
permitted  to  do  no  more  than  complete  the  literary  under- 
takings which  were  destined  to  give  China  a  Bible.  If  any 
state  could  have  given  him  the  helm,  it  was  prevented  doing 
so  by  rival  states  who  feared  the  strength  which  would  go 
with  a  mind  so  masterful.  It  is  to  the  everlasting  credit  of 
Confucius  that  with  abundant  opportunity  to  rise  to  power 
as  an  adviser  in  military  matters,  he  evaded  every  attempt 
to  get  any  counsel  from  him  in  that  direction,  and  remained 
to  the  end  a  devotee  of  peace  and  righteousness. 

The  dream  of  his  life— full  fifty  years  actively  given  to 
study  and  teaching— was  to  understand  the  best  traits  of 
the  most  worthy  kings  of  an  ancient  day,  and  holding  up 
those  reverend  ideals  to  the  rulers  of  his  own  time,  secure 
in  them  character  and  conduct  calculated  to  give  China, 
then  a  scene  of  warring  states  and  incessant  strife,  peace, 
and  prosperity.  There  never  failed  him  confidence  the 
most  absolute  that  his  method  of  grand  historical  ideals, 
put  in  operation  through  rulers  accepting  them  and  seeking 
to  enforce  them,  would  redeem  at  once  the  public  service 
and  the  people.  And  lacking  opportunity  to  make  any  fair 
experiment,  he  wrought  for  the  high  ends  of  his  faith  with 


THE  CONFUCIAN  BIBLE.  191 

his  pen,  as  well  as  his  voice.  His  last  years,  in  his  native 
state,  were  devoted  to  the  final  editing  of  the  "  Book  of  His- 
tory," to  which  he  wrote  a  preface  ;  while  he  also  "  carefully 
digested  the  rites  and  ceremonies  determined  by  the  wisdom 
of  the  more  ancient  sages  and  kings  ;  collected  and  arranged 
the  ancient  poetry ;  and  undertook  the  reform  of  music." 

The  existing  "  Book  of  Changes  "  he  not  only  carefully 
studied  but  wrote  a  commentary  upon. 

It  is  related  that  at  this  time,  when  his  life  was  manifestly 
drawing  to  a  close,  he  exclaimed,  with  a  burst  of  tears,  "  The 
course  of  my  doctrine  is  run,  and  I  am  unknown."  To 
Tsze-kung's  question,  "  How  do  you  mean  that  you  are  un- 
known ? "  he  said : 

"  I  do  not  complain  of  Providence,  nor  find  fault  with 
men,  that  learning  is  neglected  and  success  is  worshipped. 
Heaven  knows  me.  Never  does  a  superior  man  pass  away 
without  leaving  a  name  behind  him.  But  my  principles 
make  no  progress,  and  I,  how  shall  I  be  viewed  in  future 


At  this  time  Confucius  wrote  the  "  Spring  and  Autumn 
Annals,"  the  only  work  of  which  he  was  wholly  the  author. 
It  was  a  history  of  his  native  state  from  the  time  of 
duke  Yin  to  the  last  days  of  the  Sage.  He  had  compiled 
the  "Book  of  History,"  which  commences  with  "the  em- 
peror Yaou,  all-informed,  intelligent,  accomplished,  thought- 
ful," as  far  back  as  2,356  B.C.  It  is  related  that  Yaou  not 
only  wrought  harmony  and  union  throughout  the  empire, 
but  promoted  astronomy,  fixed  the  year  and  the  four  sea- 
sons, and  arranged  the  calendar  which  China  still  uses.  He 
was  succeeded  by  Shun  of  whom  the  Confucian  story  says  : 

''Profound,  wise,  accomplished,  and  intelligent,  he  was  also  mild, 
respectful,  and  quite  sincere.  The  report  of  his  mysterious  virtue  was 
heard  on  high,  and  he  was  appointed  to  take  the  throne.  Thereafter 
he  sacrificed  specially,  but  with  the  ordinary  forms,  to  Shang-te  [the 
Supreme];  sacrificed  with  purity  and  reverence  to  the  six  Honored 
Ones;  offered  appropriate  sacrifices  to  the  hills  and  rivers;  and  extend- 
ed his  worship  to  the  host  of  spirits." 

The  empire  at  this  time  had  ministers  of  agriculture, 


192  THE  CONFUCIAN  BIBLE. 

crime,  works,  forests,  religious  worship,  and  music.  A  very 
high  standard  of  morality  was  in  force  and  lofty  ideals  of 
public  service.  There  came,  however,  times  of  great  wrong 
and  wretchedness,  and  eras  again  of  deliverance  and  new, 
noble  example.  In  portraying  both  Confucius  made  history 
speak  his  own  lessons  of  wisdom,  and  set  forth  what  had 
been  the  customs  and  conceptions  of  Chinese  religion,  some 
of  .which  he  did  not  otherwise  refer  to  in  his  teaching. 
The  "  Book  of  History  "  closes  with  the  year  721 ,  and  from 
this  point  the  "  Spring  and  Autumn  Annals  "  took  up  the 
story,  so  that  the  two  cover  Chinese  history  from  2,356  to 
480  B.C.  In  the  "Book  of  History,"  called  the  Shoo  King, 
the  matter  consists  largely  of  conversations  between  the 
kings  and  their  ministers  on  almost  all  subjects  of  public 
importance.  In  these  conversations  it  is  largely  Confucius 
who  speaks  through  the  ancient  voices.  The  work,  says 
Mr.  Wells  Williams,  "  contains  the  seeds  of  all  things  that 
are  valuable  in  the  estimation  of  the  Chinese  ;  it  is  at  once 
the  foundation  of  their  political  system,  their  history,  and 
their  religious  rites,  the  basis  of  their  tactics,  music,  and 
astronomy."  In  the  Chun  Tsew,  or  "  Spring  and  Autumn 
Annals,"  Confucius  wrote  only  the  briefest  notes  of  events 
during  two  hundred  and  forty-two  years,  without  a  touch 
of  judgment  on  them  or  even  of  graphic  literary  treatment. 
Yet  Confucius  himself,  and  Mencius,  his  greatest  disciple, 
about  a  century  later,  speak  as  if  it  was  a  book  of  righteous 
judgments,  of  severe  censures,  and  of  pictures  of  character 
and  recitals  of  conduct  calculated  to  deeply  impress  the 
Confucian  teaching.  It  certainly  is  not  as  we  read  it  now. 

Confucius,  studiously  modest  and  humble,  disclaimed 
originality,  and  with  profound  sagacity  sought  to  make 
China  in  her  history  the  instructor  of  the  Chinese.  "A 
transmitter  and  not  a  maker,  believing  in  and  loving  the 
ancients,"  was  his  own  description  of  himself.  The  "  Book 
of  Changes,"  or  Yih  King,  had  been  produced  by  Wan 
Wang,  upon  his  imprisonment  in  1,150  B.C.  It  sought  to 
make  a  system  of  philosophy  by  means  of  eight  diagrams 
and  their  sixty-four  combinations,  which  the  emperor  Fu-he 


THE  CONFUCIAN  BIBLE.  193 

had  invented.  Its  root  idea  was  the  production  by  the  first 
great  cause,  Tai  Keih,  of  two  great  male  and  female  vivify- 
ing elements,  the  Yin  and  the  Yang,  from  which  come  all 
material  things,  with  the  sexual  principle  inherent  in  them. 
It  is  a  conception  which  runs  through  all  knowledge  in 
China.  The  heaven,  the  sun,  the  day,  are  male ;  the  earth, 
the  moon,  and  night  female.  The  great  divinities  of  the 
state  religion  of  which  the  emperor  is  high  priest  are 
Heaven  and  Earth.  The  text  of  Wan  Wang's  book  was 
obscure  enough,  yet  suggestive  enough,  to  permit  the  stu- 
dent or  commentator  to  read  into  it  almost  any  outgrowth 
of  its  fundamental  conception,  and  the  commentary  added 
by  Confucius  only  enlarged  the  field  of  opportunity  to 
imagine  deep  things. 

The  Le  Ke,  or  "  Book  of  Rites,"  is  said  to  have  been  com- 
piled by  the  duke  of  Chow  in  the  twelfth  century  B.C.  The 
duke  of  Chow  was  a  personage  on  whose  wisdom  and  virtue 
Confucius  was  never  tired  of  expatiating.  His  dreams  gave 
him  constant  intercourse  with  this  heroic  ancient,  and  when 
they  ceased  the  Sage  took  it  as  a  warning  that  with  waning 
powers  his  mission  was  coming  to  an  end.  The  purpose  of 
the  book  is  the  application  of  ceremonial  to  every  action 
and  every  relation  of  life,  all  domestic  and  all  social  duties, 
everything  of  everyday  behavior  and  conduct.  It  is  the 
guide  and  rule  by  which  Chinamen  live,  the  part  of  the 
Chinese  Bible  which  is  reflected  in  the  manners  and  customs 
of  the  people.  It  has  been  described  as  "the  most  exact 
and  complete  monograph  that  this  nation  can  give  of  itself 
to  the  rest  of  the  world."  One  of  the  six  governing  boards 
at  Peking— the  Board  of  Rites — is  wholly  .occupied  with 
seeing  that  minute  observance  of  its  precepts  is  maintained 
throughout  the  empire. 

The  She  King,  or  "  Book  of  Poetry,"  is  a  compilation  of 
songs  and  ballads,  dating  from  a  very  remote  antiquity.  It 
was  in  the  earliest  days  the  custom  of  the  various  states  of 
China  to  employ  at  the  courts  music  masters  and  historio- 
graphers, whose  task  it  was  to  collect  and  set  to  music  the 
songs  of  the  people,  and  to  preserve  the  historical  records 


194  THE  CONFUCIAN  BIBLE. 

of  the  empire.  At  certain  times  the  princes  of  states  met 
the  ruling  sovereign  to  make  report  and  obtain  instructions, 
and  on  these  occasions  the  collected  ballads  and  songs 
would  be  submitted,  to  pass  into  a  classified  collection.  It 
thus  happened  that  Confucius  had  in  his  hands  an  official 
collection  of  some  three  thousand  songs,  and  out  of  these 
he  chose  three  hundred  and  eleven,  which  fell  under  the 
four  heads  of  "Songs  of  Homage,"  "National  Airs,"  and 
the  "Lesser"  and  the  "Greater  Eulogies."  A  Chinese 
historian  says  that  Confucius  "  rejected  those  which  were 
only  repetitions  of  others,  and  selected  those  which  would 
be  serviceable  for  the  inculcation  of  propriety  and  righteous- 
ness." The  songs  of  homage  were  hymns  sung  when  the 
emperor  sacrificed  to  the  Supreme  God.  The  following  is 
said  to  have  been  sung  by  the  monarch,  or  in  his  name,  on 
the  occasion  of  a  great  drought  in  the  eighth  century  B.C. 

"Brightly  resplendent  in  the  sky  revolved 
The  milky  way. 

The  monarch  cried,  Alas ! 

What  crime  is  ours,  that  Heaven  thus  sends  on  us 
Death  and  disorder,  that  with  blow  on  blow 
Famine  attacks  us  ? 

Surely  I  have  grudged 
To  God  no  victims;  all  our  store  is  spent 
Of  tokens.     Why  is  it  I  am  not  heard? 
Rages  the  drought.    The  hills  are  parched,  and  dry 
The  streams.     The  demon  of  the  drought 
Destroys  like  one  who  scatters  fiery  flames. 
Terrified  by  the  burning  heat  my  heart, 
My  mourning  heart,  seems  all  consumed  with  fire. 
The  many  dukes  and  ministers  of  the  past 
Pay  me  no  heed. 

O  God !  from  thy  great  heaven 
Send  me  permission  to  withdraw  myself 
Into  seclusion. 

Fearful  is  the  drought. 
I  hesitate,  I  dread  to  go  away. 
Why  has  the  drought  been  sent  upon  my  land? 
No  cause  for  it  know  I.     Full  early  rose 
My  prayers  for  a  good  year;  not  late  was  I 
In  off 'ring  sacrifice  unto  the  lords 


THE  CONFUCIAN  BIBLE.  195 

Of  the  four  quarters  and  the  land.     Afar 
In  the  high  heaven  God  listens  not.    And  yet 
Surely  a  reverent  man  as  I  have  been 
To  all  intelligent  spirits  should  not  be 
The  victim  of  their  overwhelming  wrath." 

Crude  in  measure,  wanting  in  harmony,  but  of  a  simple 
and  religious  tenor,  these  expressions  of  Chinese  antiquity 
reveal  a  people  among  whom  family  life,  lowly  industry, 
respect  for  women,  and  a  simple  monotheistic  belief,  be- 
token remarkable  culture,  even  while  we  hear  at  times 
the  wail  of  suffering  under  misrule  and  tyranny,  and  the 
noise  of  revelry,  bordering  upon  licentious  and  dissolute  mis- 
conduct, of  princes  or  nobles.  A  special  student  of  Chinese 
literature  says : 

"  Through  most  of  the  ballads  their  breathes  a  patriarchal  simplicity 
of  thought  and  life.  We  have  brought  before  the  mind's  eye  the  lowly 
cottage,  where  dwell  a  family  united  by  the  bonds  of  affection  and 
duty.  Their  food  is  the  produce  of  the  soil  and  the  spoils  of  the  chase. 
The  highest  ambition  of  the  men  is  to  excel  as  archers  and  charioteers, 
and  their  religious  worship  is  the  same  as  that  which,  untainted  by 
Buddhism  or  any  other  form  of  philosophical  teaching,  is  now  practised 
at  the  imperial  temples  of  Heaven  and  earth,  by  the  emperor  only  as 
high  priest.  Their  wives  are  objects  of  affection  and  respect,  and 
though  in  one  song  we  find  the  belief  expressed  that  '  a  wise  woman 
will  ruin  a  city,'  yet  there  seems  to  have  been  abundance  of  regard  for 
honest  housewives  who  did  their  duty,  who  shared  the  toil  of  their  hus- 
bands, and  enjoyed  with  them  the  simple  pleasures  within  their  reach." 

No  doubt  the  "Book  of  Poetry,"  of  which  Confucius 
made  a  scripture,  was  culled  with  reference  to  the  senti- 
ments sought  to  be  impressed  by  the  great  teacher.  The 
later  poetry  of  China  breathed  another  spirit,  that  of  un- 
settled times,  of  war  and  conflict.  It  reflected  also  new  and 
strange  fancies  bred  by  the  superstition  to  which  Taouism 
led,  belief  in  spirits  and  in  divination  ;  or  perhaps  unbelief, 
contempt  for  life,  doubt  of  future  life,  and  an  Epicurean 
devotion  to  sensual  pleasure.  From  206  B.C.  to  221  A.D., 
the  Han  dynasties  advanced  along  a  path  of  progress  ;  then 
came  eight  short  dynasties  covering  times  of  confusion  and 
disorder,  until  the  period  of  the  Tang  dynasty,  620-907  A.D., 


196  THE  CONFUCIAN  BIBLE. 

which  proved  a  golden  age  of  not  only  literature  but  of 
power  and  progress  in  the  state.  Imperial  armies  occupied 
Bokhara  and  Samarcand  ;  the  first  influences  of  Christianity 
were  brought  by  the  Nestorians  into  the  heart  of  the  em- 
pire; the  Buddhist  traveller,  Heuen-tsang,  journeyed  to 
India,  and  brought  back  the  story  of  the  places  made  sacred 
by  the  presence  of  Buddha. 

The  five  productions  thus  far  spoken  of,  the  "  Book  of 
Changes,"  "Book  of  Rites,"  "Book  of  Poetry,"  "Book  of 
History,"  and  "  Spring  and  Autumn  Annals,"  are  known 
as  the  Five  Classics.  They  exactly  correspond  in  place  to 
the  Pentateuch  in  Hebrew  literature,  and  to  the  four  gospels 
and  the  book  of  Acts  in  the  records  of  Christianity.  And 
just  as  in  both  Hebrew  scripture  and  Christian  other  writ- 
ings were  added,  so  to  make  up  the  Confucian  scriptures 
there  were  added  to  the  Five  Classics  four  other  works, 
which  are  called  the  "  Four  Books."  Of  these  the  Lun  yu, 
or  "  Confucian  Analects,"  are  a  sort  of  gospel  record  of  the 
sayings  and  doings  of  Confucius,  made  by  disciples  faithful 
to  his  memory  and  to  the  tradition  of  his  teaching.  They 
are  a  graphic  revelation  of  the  mind  of  the  philosopher, 
the  statesman,  and  the  man.  Two  other  works,  the  Ta  Heo, 
or  "  Great  Learning,"  and  the  Chung  Yung,  or  "  Doctrine 
of  the  Mean,"  are  treatises,  both  of  which  are  generally  as- 
cribed to  the  grandson  of  Confucius,  Tsze-sze,  and  both  of 
which  present  digests  of  the  doctrines  of  the  master. 

The  fourth  work,  which  comes  last  in  the  ninefold  scrip- 
ture of  China,  is  a  record  of  the  teaching  of  the  most  emi- 
nent of  Confucian  disciples,  Mencius.  Born  in  371  B.C.,  and 
adopting  the  calling  of  a  teacher,  with  desire  also  to  serve 
the  common  weal  in  some  office  of  state,  Mencius,  no  more 
than  Confucius  found  his  abilities  and  wisdom  valued  in 
courts;  and  he  devoted  his  life  to  unsparing  exposure  of 
the  evils  of  the  time,  and  vigorous  incisive  exposition  of 
the  demands  of  righteousness  in  rulers  and  in  the  people. 
To  the  question,  "  May  a  subject  put  a  ruler  to  death  ? "  he 
replied : 

"  He  who  outrages  benevolence  is  called  a  ruffian  ;  and  he 


THE  CONFUCIAN  BIBLE.  197 

who  outrages  righteousness  is  called  a  villain.  The  ruffian 
and  villain  we  call  a  mere  fellow.  I  have  heard  of  the  cut- 
ting off  of  the  fellow  Show;  but  I  have  not  heard  of  a 
ruler  having  been  put  to  death." 

The  fellow  Show  was  the  last  emperor  of  the  Shang  dyn- 
asty ;  cut  off  because  he  was  a  ruffian  and  a  villain,  and  not 
a  ruler.  It  was  the  doctrine  of  Mencius  that  "  the  people 
are  the  most  important  element  in  the  country,  and  the 
ruler  the  lightest."  Unable  to  make  any  impression  on  his 
times,  or  to  enter  the  public  service  to  put  into  effect  his 
principles,  Mencius  spent  the  last  fifteen  years  of  his  life  in 
retirement,  giving  instruction  to  his  disciples  and  compil- 
ing his  utterances.  He  died  B.C.  289,  and  it  was  not  until 
the  revival  o£  learning  under  the  Han  dynasty  that  scholars 
recognized  his  importance,  and  not  until  the  reign  of  Shin- 
tsung  (A.D.  1068-1085)  that  the  volume  of  his  works  was 
added  to  the  Confucian  classics. 

An  interesting  note  of  the  life  of  Mencius  is  the  place 
filled  by  his  mother,  in  whose  sole  care  he  had  been  left 
upon  the  death  of  his  father  when  he  was  in  his  third  year. 
She  was  a  lady  of  remarkable  character,  and  her  virtues  and 
dealings  with  her  son  were  celebrated  by  an  eminent  writer 
in  the  first  century  before  Christ ;  a  work  which  has  made 
her  for  two  thousand  years  the  model  mother  of  Chinese 
reverence.  The  keynote  of  the  mind  of  Mencius  appears  in 
his  idea  of  the  true  great  man  : 

"  To  dwell  in  love,  the  wide  house  of  the  world  ;  to  stand 
in  propriety,  the  correct  seat  of  the  world  ;  and  to  walk  in 
righteousness,  the  great  path  of  the  world : 

"  When  he  obtains  his  desire  for  office,  to  practise  his 
principles  for  the  good  of  the  people  ;  and  when  that  desire 
is  disappointed  to  practise  them  alone  : 

"  To  be  above  the  power  of  riches  and  honors  to  make 
dissipated  ;  of  poverty  and  mean  condition  to  make  swerve 
from  the  right ;  and  of  power  and  force  to  make  bend : 

"These  characteristics  constitute  the  great  man." 

The  Confucian  ideal  in  teaching  is  not  what  is  commonly 
known  as  religion.  It  does  not  deal  with  things  commonly 


198  THE  CONFUCIAN  BIBLE. 

thought  of  as  spiritual.  But  it  is  a  total  mistake  to  see 
Confucianism  as  anything  but  religion,  and  that  of  the 
spiritual  kind.  Those  things  of  God,  of  spirits  living  be- 
yond present  limitations,  and  of  duty  and  destiny  under 
God  the  Eternal,  are  not  denied,  are  not  wholly  unknown, 
are  not  left  unmentioned,  but  are  simply  postponed,  under 
the  assumption  that  the  whole  present  duty  of  man  is  con- 
centration of  interest  upon  the  present  conduct  of  life, 
leaving  theism  and  spiritism  and  other- world-ism  in  the 
background.  A  Scotch  apologist,  in  a  St.  Giles  lecture  on 
the  religion  of  China,  admits  that  Confucian  faith  has  not 
unwisely  insisted  that  "  the  chief  end  of  man  is  not  mainly 
to  prepare  for  a  future  world  ; "  that "  the  present  system  of 
things,  so  far  from  being  radically  bad,  contains  in  its  root 
the  germs  of  all  perfection  and  the  sources  of  infinite 
development."  The  Scotch  lecturer  continues  : 

"Let  it  be  remembered  that,  in  proclaiming  this  doctrine,  China  has 
made  a  real  contribution  to  the  science  of  religious  thought.  It  has 
often  appeared  as  if  she  had  no  place  in  the  science  of  religion ;  her 
name  is  generally  associated  with  the  profession  of  atheism.  That  she 
has  rarely  raised  her  eyes  to  a  God  above  the  world ;  that  she  has  sel- 
dom striven  to  contemplate  the  essential  nature  of  the  divine  life ;  that 
she  has  studiously  refrained  from  considering  the  possibility  of  any 
order  of  being  beyond  the  range  of  human  experience  and  human 
faculties, — all  this  is  true.  But  we  must  not  forget  that  there  is  an 
order  in  the  world  as  well  as  beyond  it,  and  that  the  tracing  of  this 
order  is  itself  a  mode  of  tracing  the  life  of  God.  This  was  precisely 
the  point  which  the  religions  of  the  East  did  forget.  God-intoxicated 
Brahmanism  is  weak  in  the  very  point  in  which  Confucianism  is 
strong.  All  along  the  line  of  Eastern  faiths  we  are  confronted  by 
the  tendency  to  look  for  divine  harmony  in  things  beyond  the  world. 
China  proclaims  the  thought  that  there  is  a  moral  order  in  the  world ; 
that  this  earth  is  itself  a  harmony ;  that  the  one  spot  where  divine 
order  must  be  found  is  in  the  commonplace  morality  of  daily  life,  the 
plain  and  practical  duties  of  the  hour." 


MOHAMMED  AHD  THE  KORAH. 


FOR  the  purposes  of  a  concise  view  of  what  is  of  chief 
interest  in  the  Koran  of  Mohammed,  we  cannot  do 
better  than  draw  from  a  volume  of  lectures  on  Moham- 
med and  Mohammedanism  which  were  given  at  the  Royal 
Institution  in  London  by  R.  Bosworth  Smith.  The  final 
summary  of  Mr.  Smith  opens  the  case  both  of  the  prophet 
of  Arabia  and  of  the  faith  which  he  taught  as  follows : 

"The  religion,  indeed,  that  he  taught  is  below  the  purest  form  of 
our  own  as  the  central  figure  of  the  Mohammedan  religion  is  below 
the  central  figure  of  the  Christian — a  difference  vast  and  incommen- 
surable ;  but,  in  my  opinion,  he  comes  next  to  him  in  the  long  roll  of 
the  great  benefactors  of  the  human  race ;  next  to  him,  longo  intervallo 
certainly,  but  still  next.'*  In  comparison  with  all  the  men  that  the 
common  consent  of  the  world  has  called  'Great,'  Mr.  Smith  thinks 
that  Mohammed,  "take  him  all  in  all,  what  he  was,  and  what  he 
did,  and  what  those  inspired  by  him  have  done,  stands  alone,  above 
and  beyond  them  all Without  a  standing  army,  without  a  body- 
guard, without  a  palace,  without  a  fixed  revenue,  if  ever  any  man 
had  the  right  to  say  that  he  ruled  by  right  Divine,  it  was  Moham- 
med  The  contemporai'ies  of  Mohammed,  his  enemies  who  re« 

jected  his  mission,  with  one  voice  extol  his  piety,  his  justice,  his 
veracity  his  clemency,  his  humility,  and  that  before  any  imaginary 
sanctity  could  have  enveloped  him  "  (pp.  233,  235,  236). 

In  a  sense  not  distant  from  that  of  the  truth  of  Christ 
Mohammed  brought  every  soul  under  the  direct  sovereignty 
of  Deity,  and  made  the  essence  of  faith  to  consist  in  utter 
submission  of  heart  and  life  to  God.  If  he  did  not  clothe 
the  absolute  God  and  Lord  of  all  in  the  character  of  Christ's 
God  and  Father  of  all  souls,  and  did  not  understand  as 
Christ  did  the  brotherhood  of  all  souls  and  the  law  of  sym- 
pathy and  love,  he  at  least  named  God  ever,  "  The  Compas- 

(199) 


200  MOHAMMED  AND  THE  KORAN. 

sionate,  the  Merciful,"  and  would  not  so  much  as  think,  that 
he  could  receive  blood  as  an  offering  and  slaughter  as  a 
sacrifice;  and  he  made  a  mighty  effort,  with  marvellous 
success,  to  advance  justice  and  kindness  among  men,  and  to 
promote  human  welfare. 
Mr.  Smith  not  unjustly  says : 

"In  a  sympathetic  study  even  of  Mohammedanism  as  it  is,  Christians 
have  not  a  little  to  gain.  There  is  the  protest  against  polytheism  in  all 
its  shapes ;  there  is  the  absolute  equality  of  man  before  God ;  there  is 
the  sense  of  the  dignity  of  human  nature;  there  is  the  simplicity  of 
life,  the  vivid  belief  in  God's  providence,  the  entire  submission  to  his 
will ;  and  last,  not  least,  there  is  the  courage  of  their  convictions,  the 
fearless  avowal  of  their  belief  in  God,  and  then1  pride  in  its  possession 
as  the  one  thing  needful.  There  is  in  the  lives  of  average  Moham- 
medans, from  whatever  causes,  less  of  self-indulgence,  less  of  the  mad 
race  for  wealth,  less  of  servility,  than  is  to  be  found  in  the  lives  of 
average  Christians "  (p.  231). 

But  how  did  Mahommed  do  and  think  all  this  ?  On  what 
foundation  did  he  build  ?  With  what  method  did  he  work  ? 
Whence  drew  he  that  confidence  which  gave  his  mission 
such  reality  and  power?  What  was  the  solid  fact  under 
his  feet,  which  to  him  seemed  the  veritable  interference  of 
God  himself  ?  How  was  it  that  was  wrought  through  him 
the  making  of  the  Koran,  which  he  regarded  as  the  stand- 
ing miracle  of  his  mission,  and  not  his  own  work,  but  in 
every  word  the  work  of  God  himself.  The  mere  letter  of 
the  Koran  was  in  no  sense  the  power  which  created  the  re- 
ligion, nor  was  it  the  power  which  moved  and  sustained  the 
prophet.  That  power  lies  behind  the  Koran,  in  that  expe- 
rience of  Mohammed  which  at  once  made  him  feel  and  seem 
a  prophet,  and  also  produced  the  Koran.  That  evident, 
genuine,  and  altogether  wonderful  experience  first  com- 
pelled Mohammed,  in  dismay  and  fear  and  against  his  will, 
to  think  himself  a  prophet ;  it  then  carried  conviction  of 
his  prophetic  gift  and  mission  to  those  about  him ;  and 
finally  it  produced,  in  detatched  parts,  and  little  by  little, 
the  revelations  which  are  put  together  as  a  book  in  the 
Koran. 

What  the  Koran  is  we  will  see  before  we  consider  the 


MOHAMMED  AND  THE  KORAN.  201 

experience  of  the  prophet,  out  of  which  it  grew,  and  on 
which  the  claim  of  a  right  to  speak  in  God's  name  was  made 
to  rest.  Mr.  Smith  speaks  in  the  following  of  the  general 
character  of  the  Koran  : 

"We  have  in  it  a  book  absolutely  unique  in  its  origin,  in  its  preser- 
vation, and  in  the  chaos  of  its  contents,  but  on  the  authenticity  of 
which  no  one  has  ever  been  able  to  cast  a  serious  doubt.  There,  if  in 
any  book,  we  have  a  mirror  of  one  of  the  master-spirits  of  the  world; 
often  inartistic,  incoherent,  self-contradictory,  dull,  but  impregnated 
with  a  few  grand  ideas  which  stand  out  from  the  whole;  a  mind 
seething  with  the  inspiration  pent  within  it,  'intoxicated  with  God,' 
but  full  of  human  weaknesses,  from  which  he  never  pretended  to  be 
free"  (p.  17). 

Again  Mr.  Smith  says,  comparing  our  Bible  with  Moham- 
med's : 

"The  Bible  is  the  work  of  a  large  number  of  poets,  prophets,  states- 
men, and  lawgivers,  extending  over  a  vast  period  of  time,  and  incor- 
porates with  itself  other  and  earlier,  and  often  conflicting  documents ; 
the  Koran  comes  straight  from  the  brain,  sometimes  from  the  ravings, 
of  an  unlettered  enthusiast,  who  yet  in  this  proved  himself  to  be  poet 
and  prophet,  statesman  and  lawgiver  in  one"  (p.  19). 

And  in  summing  up  Mohammed's  record,  Mr.  Smith  fur- 
ther says  of  him : 

"Illiterate  himself,  scarcely  able  to  read  or  write,  he  was  yet  the 
author  of  a  book  which  is  a  poem,  a  code  of  laws,  a  Book  of  Common 
Prayer,  and  a  Bible  in  one,  and  is  reverenced  to  this  day  by  a  sixth  of 
the  whole  human  race  as  a  miracle  of  style,  of  wisdom,  and  of  truth. 
It  was  the  one  miracle  claimed  by  Mohammed — his  '  standing  miracle ' 
he  called  it;  and  indeed  a  miracle  it  is  "  (p.  237). 

And  yet  it  has  to  be  said  of  this  book  that  it  has  no 
method,  and  that  its  character  is  to  a  singular  degree  a  want 
of  character.  It  is  in  chapters  called  Suras,  some  very  short 
indeed  and  some  quite  long  and  elaborate,  each  a  separately 
given  revelation,  but  not  one  of  them,  of  any  length,  sus- 
taining a  uniform  character  throughout.  It  is  a  dull  and 
monotonous  book  to  read,  unless  one  has  an  interest  to 
study  it.  But  the  most  remarkable  fact  about  it  is  that 
none  of  it  was  written  by  Mohammed.  It  was  not  as  a  pen- 


202  MOHAMMED  AND  THE  KORAN. 

man  that  Mohammed  produced  one  by  one  the  Suras  of  the 
Koran,  but  as  a  speaker,  whose  words  were  listened  to,  taken 
down,  and  finally  copied  out  to  make  a  book.  In  part  the 
memories  of  his  disciples  served  to  catch  and  preserve  the 
master's  spoken  words,  but  in  time  all  were  written,  gath- 
ered into  one  book,  and  made  a  Bible  of  Islam. 

Mr.  Smith  says,  of  "  The  way  in  which  it  was  composed, 
preserved,  edited,  and  stereotyped  "  : 

"Dictated  from  time  to  time  by  Mohammed  to  his  disciples,  it  was 
by  them  partly  treasured  in  their  memories,  partly  written  down  on 
shoulder-bones  of  mutton,  or  oyster  shells ;  on  bits  of  wood,  or  tablets 
of  stone,  which  were  not  put  into  any  shape  until  after  the  prophet's 
death.  The  work  of  the  editor  consisted  simply  in  arranging  the 
Suras  in  the  order  of  their  respective  lengths,  the  longest  first,  the 
shortest  last  ....  By  this  arrangement,  even  such  psychological  de- 
velopment as  there  was  in  the  Koran  has  been  obscured ;  for,  as  a  rule, 
what  the  editor  put  last  really  came  first "  (pp.  123,  124). 

Rodwell,  in  his  translation  of  the  Koran,  following  the 
labors  of  learned  critics  before  him,  arranges  the  Suras  in 
their  probable  chronological  order.  In  his  preface  Rodwell 


"The  scattered  fragments  of  the  Koran  were  in  the  first  instance 
collected  by  his  immediate  successor  Abu  Bekr,  about  a  year  after  the 
prophet's  death,  at  the  suggestion  of  Omar,  who  foresaw  that,  as  the 
Muslim  warriors,  whose  memories  were  the  sole  depositories  of  large 
portions  of  the  revelations,  died  off  or  were  slain,  the  loss  of  the 
greater  part,  or  even  of  the  whole,  was  imminent.  Zaid  Ibn  Thabit, 
a  native  of  Medina,  and  one  of  the  Ansars,  or  helpers,  who  had  been 
Mohammed's  amanuensis,  was  the  person  fixed  upon  to  carry  out  the 
task,  and  we  are  told  that  he  '  gathered  together '  the  fragments  of  the 
Koran  from  every  quarter,  '  from  date  leaves  and  tablets  of  white  stone 
a»d  from  the  breasts  of  men ' "  (p.  vii). 

The  earliest  uttered  Suras  are  the  shortest  ones.  They 
are  the  burning  words  of  the  prophet's  first  inspiration, 
suggesting  the  shepherd  of  the  desert,  the  despised  vis- 
ionary, the  poet  and  prophet  not  yet  made  self-conscious  by 
success.  As  his  mind  became  more  engaged  with  his  mis- 
sion, and  more  used  to  uttering  itself,  the  Suras  increased 
in  length,  in  argumentative  effort,  and  in  the  appearance  of 


MOHAMMED  AND  THE  KORAN.  203 

conscious  opinion  and  purpose,  rather  than  unconscious  in- 
spiration (Smith,  88, 96, 121-125).  The  whole  made  a  volume 
which  became  a  Bible  more  strictly  and  rigidly  than  even 
the  Christian  has  ever  been.  The  Suras  were  put  forth  in  the 
name  of  God,  and  they  from  time  to  time  claimed  to  be 
God's  work  and  to  be  far  above  anything  that  man  could 
do.  The  prophet  who  in  all  else  asserted  his  fallibility, 
was  never  more  sincere  than  when  he  claimed  an  equal  in- 
fallibility for  all  the  Suras  of  the  Koran  alike  ;  and  as  we 
read  the  Koran  we  find  that  it  lays  claim  to  a  verbal,  literal, 
and  mechanical  inspiration  in  every  part  alike  (Smith,  pp. 
18,  231). 

In  setting  up  this  claim,  and  in  pretending  to  be  a 
prophet  of  God,  Mohammed  rested  upon  the  double  fact 
that  he  did  not  of  his  own  purpose,  wish,  or  thought,  at- 
tempt the  prophetic  office,  but  had  it  thrust  upon  him  by 
extraordinary  visions,  wherein  were  spoken  to  him  the  com- 
mands and  instructions,  as  he  was  assured  and  believed,  of 
God  himself ;  and  that  the  successive  Suras  of  the  Koran, 
were  none  of  them  consciously  conceived  and  deliberately 
composed  by  himself,  from  his  own  thought  and  feeling 
and  purpose,  and  with  his  own  words  and  style,  but  were 
all  of  them,  either  given  to  his  mind  to  be  recited  as  revela- 
tions, or  directly  spoken  through  his  lips,  in  a  way  beyond 
and  above  his  consciousness,  from  a  presence  and  power 
which  appeared  independent  of  his  own  mind,  and  which 
not  only  employed  a  style  and  disclosed  thoughts  and  aims 
which  he  could  not  have  reached,  but  also  declared  itself  to 
be,  in  a  special  manner,  and  for  a  great  historic  purpose,  the 
direct,  unerring  inspiration  of  Deity.  There  is  no  other  in- 
stance in  human  history  in  which  equal  external  evidence 
has  created  a  prophet,  or  in  any  way  moved  a  mind  to  a 
course  which  it  would  not  otherwise  have  taken.  Moham- 
med stands  first  among  men  for  extraordinary  experience  of 
visions,  ecstacy,  the  trance,  and  for  a  life  honestly,  faith- 
fully, and  resolutely  built  upon  this  experience. 

The  illiterate  Meccan  trader  found  himself  speaking  as 
none  of  his  race  had  ever  spoken;  making  Arabic  itself  to 


204  MOHAMMED  AND  THE  KORAN. 

wear  a  perfection  as  mere  language  which  it  had  never  ap- 
proached ;  uttering  poetry  which  no  other  could  equal,  and 
he  himself  could  not  consciously  produce  ;  and  declaring 
ideas  of  religion,  of  ethics,  of  reform,  which  he  knew  he 
had  not  consciously  discovered,  and  would  not  have  de- 
liberately adopted,  and  to  which  the  testimony  of  all  his 
visions  and  revelations  affixed  the  seal  of  God's  own  com- 
mand, as  if  for  every  utterance  God  himself  had  said, 
*  Speak  thou  and  say?  Mohammed  had  absolutely  no 
knowledge  of  the  real  nature  of  his  experience.  He  could 
only  understand  it  as  the  Hebrews  did,  and  as  all  savage 
and  barbarous,  and  much  civilized,  and  even  Christian, 
culture  has  done,  as  a  supernatural  work.  With  his  sincere 
and  fervent  piety,  the  Arabian  seer  of  visions  and  trance- 
speaker,  must  inevitably  find  the  hand  of  God  in  it,  and 
believe  himself  the  organ  of  a  literal  word  of  God.  The 
conviction  came  with  far  more  warrant  of  this  kind  than 
Hebrew  prophet  or  Christian  apostle  ever  knew.  Moham- 
med's experience  of  ecstasy  and  the  trance,  of  visions  and 
words  imprinted  thereby  on  the  mind,  was  of  an  energy,  a 
tremendous  intensity,  and  a  terrible  distinctness,  both  of 
the  physical  phenomena  and  of  the  mental  exercises,  for 
which  no  parallel  can  be  found.  There  was  a  mingling  of 
physical  disorder  and  mental  action  ;  of  hysteria,  catalepsy, 
or  epilepsy,  with  imagination  and  thought ;  and  of  over- 
throw of  consciousness  with  high  excitement  of  uncon- 
scious thought  and  utterance,  which  would  even  now  com- 
mand the  attention,  the  reverence  and  awe  almost,  of  a 
large  portion  of  average  mankind  anywhere,  and  which  to 
Mohammed  and  the  witnesses  of  his  experience  could  not 
but  seem  the  undoubted  visitation  of  God. 

And  to  this  belief  would  be  added  strong  confirmation  by 
the  fact  that  the  powers  and  the  moral  qualities  of  Moham- 
med, being  exceptionally  high,  came  out  in  words,  princi- 
ples, and  deeds,  in  life,  ethics,  and  religion,  of  a  truth 
worthy  of  admiration  and  reverence  and  faith.  Beyond  all 
doubt  or  question,  as  both  the  signs  and  the  substance  of 
his  mission  appeared  to  Arab,  or  to  candi$  Hebrew  eyes  of 


MOHAMMED  AND  THE  KORAN.  205 

that  day,  Mohammed  wore  the  character  of  an  inspired  and 
infallible  prophet  of  the  word  of  God.  It  is  only  when  we 
understand  the  fallacy  of  every  appeal  of  this  sort,  that  we 
can  set  aside  the  book  and  the  authority  of  Mohammed. 
From  the  lowest  savage  culture,  up  to  Hebrew,  and  Arabian, 
not  to  speak  of  any  other,  there  is  the  same  appeal  origin- 
ally to  visions,  dreams,  ecstasy,  and  the  trance.  But  of  all 
prophets  the  world  ever  saw,  Mohammed  stands  first  in  this 
appeal  to  supposed  signs  of  God  speaking  by  mortal  lips. 
It  was  simply  that  his  physical  constitution,  and  his  mental 
nature,  in  their  peculiar  union  of  force  with  disturbance,  of 
power  with  disorder,  of  energy  and  character  with  disease 
and  infirmity,  made  him  the  most  remarkable  enthusiast, 
visionary,  trance- speaker,  and  honest  fanatic,  the  race  has 
ever  produced. 

Of  the  personal  appearance  of  this  greatest  of  Semitic 
prophets,  Mr.  Smith  says  : 

' '  Mohammed  was  of  middle  height  and  of  a  strongly  huilt  frame ; 
his  head  was  large,  and  across  his  ample  forehead,  and  above  finely 
arching  eyebrows,  ran  a  strongly  marked  vein,  which,  when  he  was 
angry,  would  turn  black  and  throb  visibly.  His  eyes  were  coal  black, 
and  piercing  in  their  brightness;  his  hair  curled  slightly ;  and  a  long 
beard,  which,  like  other  Orientals,  he  would  stroke  when  in  deep  thought, 
added  to  the  general  impressiveness  of  his  appearance.  His  step  was 
quick  and  firm,  'like  that  of  one  descending  a  hill.'  Between  his 
shoulders  was  the  famous  mark,  the  size  of  a  pigeon's  egg,  which  his 
disciples  persisted  in  believing  to  be  the  sign  of  his  prophetic  office ; 
while  the  light  which  kindled  in  his  eye,  like  that  which  flashed  from 
the  precious  stones  hi  the  breast-plate  of  the  High  Priest,  they  called 
the  light  of  prophecy.  In  his  intercourse  with  others,  he  would  sit 
silent  among  his  companions  for  a  long  time  together,  but  truly  his 
silence  was  more  eloquent  than  other  men's  speech,  for  the  moment 
speech  was  called  for,  it  was  forthcoming  in  the  shape  of  some  weighty 
apothegm  or  proverb,  such  as  the  Arabs  love  to  hear.  When  he  laughed, 
he  laughed  heartily,  shaking  his  sides,  and  showing  his  teeth,  which 
'looked  as  if  they  were  hailstones.'  ....  He  was  fond  of  ablutions, 
and  fonder  still  of  perfumes;  and  he  prided  himself  on  the  neatness  of 
his  hair,  and  the  pearley  whiteness  of  his  teeth  "  (pp.  83-85). 

The  father  of  Mohammed  was  regarded  in  his  youth  as 
the  handsomest  young  man  of  his  time,  and  both  he  and  his 


206  MOHAMMED  AND  THE  KORAN. 

wife  belonged  to  a  tribe  which  was  then  the  most  influential 
in  all  Arabia.  Mohammed  was  an  only  child,  and  from  his 
mother  he  inherited  a  tendency  to  epilepsy,  and  some  also 
of  his  most  marked  mental  peculiarities.  She  was  of  a 
nervous  temperament,  and  it  is  related  of  her  that  she  used 
to  fancy,  while  between  sleeping  and  waking,  that  she  was 
visited  by  spirits.  At  the  age  of  twelve  Mohammed  visited 
Syria  in  the  company  of  his  uncle,  a  merchant  trader,  who 
sent  him  back  in  charge  of  one  Sergius,  an  Arabian  monk, 
why  may  have  put  some  Christian  ideas  into  the  boy's  mind; 
and  no  doubt  the  later  journeys  to  Syria  of  the  future 
prophet  added  to  his  knowledge  of  Christian  and  Jewish 
ideas.  At  twenty-five  years  of  age  Mohammed  took  charge 
of  a  Syrian  trading  expedition  for  Khadijah,  a  rich  widow 
of  Mecca,  who  rewarded  his  success  in  her  service  by  offer- 
ing him  her  hand.  She  was  fifteen  years  his  senior,  but  for 
twenty-five  years  the  marriage  was  the  greatest  good  fortune 
to  him,  not  only  raising  him  to  social  rank  equal  with  the 
best  in  Mecca,  but  securing  to  him  for  the  first  ten  years  of 
his  mission  a  disciple  and  helper  without  whose  faith,  and 
courage,  and  consoling  fidelity,  the  Syrian  trader  might 
never  have  become  the  Arabian  prophet.  Life  was  Moham- 
med's only  education ;  it  seems  to  be  the  true  opinion  that 
the  art  of  writing,  which  was  but  just  introduced  into  Arabia, 
he  never  learned;  Khadijah's  business,  social  position,  and 
home,  were  Mohammed's  school  for  fifteen  years  before  he 
began  to  be  a  prophet,  and  then  for  ten  years  she  was  to 
him  more  than  all  the  world  beside,  refuge,  and  help,  and 
comfort,  amid  the  perplexities  and  terrors  of  the  prophet's 
struggle  for  recognition.  "God  thus  ordained  it,"  said  Ibn 
Ishak,  an  Arabian  biographer  of  the  prophet,  "that  his 
duties  might  be  made  easy  to  him  ;  for,  as  often  as  he  had 
to  hear  reproachful  language,  or  was  accused  of  falsehood, 
or  was  cast  down,  she  cheered  him  up  and  inspired  him  with 
courage,  saying,  '  Thou  speakest  the  truth.'  "  Had  Khadijah 
lived  fifteen  years  longer  Mohammed  might  have  died  with- 
out a  blot  upon  his  aame,  and  Mohammedanism  gone  forth 
to  the  conquest  of  a  large  part  of  mankind  many  degrees 


MOHAMMED  AND  THE  KORAN.  207 

purer  than  Mohammed  without  her  left  it.  It  is  a  signal 
illustration  of  the  fact,  which  no  system  of  faith  has  yet 
recognized,  that  the  agency  nearest  to  the  direct  action  of 
deity  in  the  elevation  of  mankind  is  the  influence  of  woman, 
and  that  with  her  in  the  home  dwells  more  of  the  kingdom 
of  God  than  church  or  creed  ever  possessed,  or  ever  will 
possess. 

The  beginning  of  inspiration  with  Mohammed  is  related 
by  Mr.  Smith  as  follows : 

"  Up  to  the  age  of  forty,  there  is  nothing  to  show  that  any  serious 
scruple  had  occurred  to  him  individually  as  to  the  worship  of  idols, 
and  in  particular  of  the  Black  Stone,  of  which  his  family  were  the 
hereditary  guardians.  The  sacred  month  of  Ramadhan,  like  other  re- 
ligious Arabs,  he  observed  with  punctilious  devotion ;  and  he  would 
often  retire  to  the  caverns  of  Mount  Hira  for  purposes  of  solitude, 
meditation,  and  prayer.  He  was  melancholic  in  temperament,  to  begin 
with ;  he  was  also  subject  to  epileptic  fits,  upon  which  Sprenger  has 
laid  great  stress,  and  described  most  minutely,  and  which,  whether 
under  the  name  of  the  '  sacred  disease '  among  the  Greeks,  or  '  posses- 
sion by  the  devil '  among  the  Jews,  has  in  most  ages  and  countries  been 
looked  upon  as  something  mysterious  or  supernatural.  It  is  possible 
that  his  interviews  with  Nestorian  monks,  with  Zeid,  or  with  his  wife's 
cousin,  Waraka,  may  have  turned  his  thoughts  into  the  precise  direc- 
tion they  took.  Dejection  alternated  with  excitement;  these  gave  place 
to  ecstasy  or  dreams ;  and  in  a  dream,  or  trance,  or  fit,  he  saw  an  angel 
in  human  form"  (pp.  75,  76). 

His  earliest  vision  of  Gabriel,  with  the  command  to  recite 
divine  revelation,  and  be  the  spokesman  of  God  to  His  peo- 
ple, sent  him  trembling  with  terror  to  his  wife  Khadijah. 
He  was  in  an  agony  of  mind  at  the  seemingly  divine  call. 
<%  He  had  always  hated  and  despised  soothsayers,"  says  Mr. 
Smith,  "  and  now,  in  the  irony  of  destiny,  it  would  appear 
that  he  was  to  become  a  soothsayer  himself  "  (p.  78).  It  was 
then  that  Khadijah  consoled  and  encouraged  him,  hailing 
as  joyful  tidings  his  call  to  be  the  prophet  of  his  nation, 
and  promising  him  her  faith  and  fidelity.  Zeid  also,  the 
faithful  servant,  and  Waraka,  his  wife's  cousin,  became  his 
disciples.  But  still  the  agitated  visionary  was  but  the  victim 
as  yet  of  his  experience.  So  depressed  was  he  that  the 
thought  of  suicide  forced  itself  upon  him.  For  a  period 


208  MOHAMMED  AND  THE  KORAN. 

his  revelations  ceased,  his  mind  hung  in  suspense,  he  doubt- 
ed the  reality  of  his  call,  though  he  dared  not  yield  to  his 
doubt.  But  the  experience  which  he  deemed  supernatural 
came  back  to  him ;  fixed  in  him  a  firm  purpose  to  declare 
his  revelations  to  the  world ;  and  henceforth  never  failed 
him.  In  obedience  to  a  new  vision  he  boldly  announced  his 
mission  to  his  tribe,  who  would  lose  everything  by  it,  as 
keepers  of  the  place  of  the  chief  idols  of  Arabia.  And 
thence  onward  for  ten  years  of  bitter  struggle,  peril,  and 
almost  destruction,  he  proved  by  his  unwavering  faith  the 
reality  of  his  conviction,  and  the  sincerity  and  firmness 
of  his  purpose.  The  reality  of  his  experiences  gave  him 
this  faith.  Mr.  Smith  says  of  the  phenomena  attending  his 
times  of  inspiration : 

"  Strange  and  graphic  accounts  have  been  preserved  to  us  by  Ayesha 
of  the  physical  phenomena  attending  the  prophet's  fits  of  inspiration. 
He  heard  as  it  were  the  ringing  of  a  bell ;  he  fell  down  as  one  dead ; 
he  sobbed  like  a  camel ;  he  felt  as  though  he  were  being  rent  in  pieces, 
and  when  he  came  to  himself  he  felt  as  though  words  had  been  written 
on  his  heart.  And  when  Abu  Baker,  '  he  who  would  have  sacrifled 
father  and  mother  for  Mohammed,'  burst  into  tears  at  the  sight  of  the 
prophet's  whitening  hair,  'Yes,'  said  Mohammed,  '  Hud  and  its  sisters, 
the  Terrific  Suras,  have  turned  it  white  before  its  time '  "  (p.  128). 

A  further  fact  mentioned  by  Mr.  Smith  gives  a  vivid,  and 
no  doubt  a  correct  idea  of  the  intense  physical  excitement 
which  formed  a  part  of  Mohammed's  prophetic  experience  : 

"  Among  the  phenomena  attending  Mohammed's  fits,  it  is  recorded 
that  if  one  came  on  him  while  riding,  his  camel  itself  became  first 
wildly  excited,  and  then  fixed  and  rigid  "  (p.  180). 

We  may  conceive  of  Mohammed  as  not  unlike  the  trance- 
speakers  of  modern  spiritism,  only  we  must  discriminate 
the  particulars  in  which  he  differed  from  these.  The  in- 
tensity and  vigor  of  his  nature  gave  to  his  abnormal  experi- 
ences peculiar  elevation  and  energy,  while  the  force  of  his 
character  and  the  natural  powers  of  his  mind,  his  ethical 
genius  and  his  poetic  gift,  gave  him  a  rank  quite  by  him- 
self. At  the  same  time  it  is  a  fact  beyond  all  question  that 
the  Koran  is  as  distinctly  marked  by  the  signs  of  the  pro- 


MOHAMMED  AND  THE  KORAN.  209 

cess  which  produced  it,  as  are  the  columns  of  '  Messages ' 
published  in  a  Spiritist  newspaper.  The  peculiar  style  and 
characteristic  defects  of  trance-utterances  are  the  same  in 
all  ages  and  in  all  stages  of  culture,  and  though  Mo- 
hammed was  too  great  to  be  suppressed  by  his  ecstasies, 
yet  the  stream  of  his  speech  flows  after  the  very  manner 
which  Spiritism  has  made  so  familiar  in  our  own  day.  The 
incoherence,  the  frequent  repetitions,  the  poverty  of  imagi- 
nation, the  endless  monotony  of  expression,  and  the  evi- 
dent recasting  of  all  facts  and  fancies  and  ideas  in  one 
mould,  so  that  patriarchs  and  apostles  and  Messiah,  Ju- 
daism and  Christianity,  and  many  another  system  or  per- 
sonage, all  talk  alike,  and  all  tamely  and  stiffly,  like 
ghosts  shuffling  over  an  unaccustomed  stage, — these  charac- 
teristics of  the  Koranic  text,  apart  from  the  passages  which 
are  exceptional  outbursts,  remind  us  vividly  of  the  feeble 
drivel  which  Spiritism  would  have  us  believe  that  the 
masters  of  varied  speech  here  are  alike  reduced  to  in  the 
atmosphere  of  '  the  summer  land.' 

The  Koranic  drivel  is  largely  redeemed  by  the  fact  that 
the  commonplaces  of  Mohammed's  mind  were  the  great 
facts  of  religion,  or  the  pressing  interests  of  his  prophetic 
struggle,  but  the  poorness  of  the  method  remains  the  same. 
It  was  only  as  a  man  of  no  culture,  of  little  instruction, 
and  of  gifts  rude  and  silent,  though  strong,  that  Moham- 
med's experience  was  education  and  emancipation  to  his 
mind,  as  well  as  divine  authority  to  his  faith.  If  he  could 
have  been  quickened  and  brought  out  by  conscious  disci- 
pline and  experience,  both  as  to  his  powers,  and  as  to  the 
depths  of  his  thought  and  spiritual  tendencies,  he  could 
have  made  a  book  better  than  the  Koran,  but  all  that  con- 
scious elevation  was  impossible,  and  the  Koran  it  would 
have  made  would  have  borne  no  divine  aspect.  The  inferior 
method  of  inspiration  turned  a  boor  into  a  prophet ;  and  a 
visionary  into  the  founder  of  a  religion  ;  and  a  book  of  poor, 
though  remarkable,  compositions  into  a  divine  Bible  ;  and  a 
man  of  like  passions  with  ourselves,  though  of  many  admira- 
ble qualities  and  elevated  ideas,  into  a  vicegerent  of  Deity. 


210  MOHAMMED  AND  THE  KORAN. 

In  connection  with  one  of  the  most  doubtful  acts  of  his 
life  we  get  a  glimpse  of  the  better  side  of  Mohammed  from 
some  things  which  he  was  then  moved  to  say.  Exhorting 
his  wives  not  to  "  desire  this  present  life  and  its  braveries,' 
but  rather  "  God  and  His  apostle  and  a  home  in  the  next 
life  ;  "  offering  to  give  an  honorable  divorce  to  any  who  pre- 
fer rich  dresses,  etc.,  to  humble  life  with  him  ;  and  advising 
them  to  be  of  discreet  speech,  to  abide  in  their  houses  and 
not  go  in  public  decked  as  in  the  days  of  ignorance,  and  to 
observe  prayer  and  obey  God  and  the  Apostle,  since  God 
only  desireth  with  cleansing  to  cleanse  them,  he  concludes 
as  follows : 

"  And  recollect  what  is  rehearsed  to  you  in  your  houses  of  the  Book 
of  God,  and  of  wisdom :  for  God  is  keen-sighted  and  cognizant  of  all. 
Truly  the  men  who  resign  themselves  to  God,  and  the  women  who  re- 
sign themselves,  and  the  believing  men  and  the  believing  women,  and 
the  devout  men  and  the  devout  women,  and  the  men  of  truth  and  the 
women  of  truth,  and  the  patient  men  and  the  patient  women,  and  the 
humble  men  and  the  humble  women,  and  the  men  who  give  alms 
and  the  women  who  give  alms,  and  the  men  who  fast  and  the  women 
who  fast,  and  the  chaste  men  and  the  chaste  women,  and  the  men  and 
the  women  who  oft  remember  God ;  for  them  hath  God  prepared  for- 
giveness and  a  rich  recompense."  This  mingling  of  good  and  bad  is 
not  the  work  of  a  deceiver,  but  the  delusive  result  of  a  method  which 
facilitates  self-deception,  a  ad  invites  fraud  to  entirely  conceal  itself 
under  piety. 

Of  the  piety  towards  God  of  Mohammed  no  candid  stu- 
dent can  have  any  doubt.  The  undertone  of  all  was  God 
the  Compassionate,  the  Merciful,  and  Man  the  Self-Surren- 
dered. The  Koran  exhausts  expression  to  encourage  peni- 
tence, faith,  and  virtue,  by  declaring  that  God  is  forgiving, 
merciful,  and  that  in  submission  to  him  is  eternal  life. 
Waging  a  desperate  struggle  with  moral  and  spiritual  dark- 
ness, in  a  light  which  was  less  than  that  of  dawn,  a  twilight 
of  imperfect  revelation,  Mohammed  conceived  far  better  of 
God,  and  of  man  as  God's  creature  and  subject,  than  much 
Christian  dogma  has  done. 


§• 


OFFERING   TO   MINERVA. — H.   DE   GAUDEMARIS.— A  representation  of  Roman 
worship  of  the  gtxidesa  who  presided  over  all  handicrafts,  arts,  and  sciences, 


Christian    Scriptures. 


THE  CHRISTIAN  SCRIPTURES  of   the  New  Testa- 
ment  came  into  existence  gradually.      The  Oxford 
University  "  Helps  to  the  Study  of  the  Bible,"  of  which 
the  editor  is  Rev.  Dr    Maclear,  makes  this  concise  state- 
ment: 

"The  New  Testament  was  gradually  added  to  the  Old.  But  it  was 
some  time  after  Christ  before  any  of  the  books  contained  in  it  were 
actually  written.  The  first  and  most  important  work  of  the  apostles 
was  to  deliver  a  personal  testimony  to  the  chief  facts  of  the  gospel  his- 
tory. Their  teaching  was  at  first  oral,  and  it  was  no  part  of  their  in- 
tention to  create  a  permanent  literature.  A  cycle  of  selected  repre- 
sentative facts  sufficed  to  form  the  groundwork  of  the  oral  Gospel 
(I  Cor.  xv.  1-10).  But  in  the  course  of  time,  many  endeavored  to  com- 
mit to  writing  this  oral  gospel.  Thus  the  gospels  came  into  existence, 
two  by  the  apostles  themselves,  and  two  by  friends  and  close  companions 
of  apostles.  But  already  had  arisen  another  kind  of  composition. 
Founders  of  churches  desired  to  communicate  with  their  converts  for 
purposes  of  counsel,-  reproof,  or  instruction.  Thus  arose  the  epistles." 

Dr.  Maclear's  volume  gives   the  following  chronological 
indications : 
Birth  of  Christ,  B.C.  4. 
Death  of  Christ,  A.D.  29  or  30. 
Paul's  Conversion,  A.D.  37. 

His  first  ten  years  of  missionary  labor,  A.D.  42-52. 
The  period  of  his  Epistles,  A.D.  52-66. 
Epistle  of  James,  A.D.  52  (or  before  62). 
Gospel  of  Matthew,  A.D.  50  (or  before  60). 
Gospel  of  Luke,  A.D.  58  (or  60). 
Gospel  of  Mark,  A.D.  63  (or  before  70). 
Gospel  of  John,  about  A.D.  95. 

(211)  .  . 


212  CHRISTIAN  SCRIPTURES. 

Acts  and  1  Peter,  A.D.  63. 
Eevelation  of  John,  A.D.  68. 

The  order  and  dates  of  Paul's  epistles  are  given  as  : 

1st  and  2d  Thessalonians,  A.D.  52. 

1st  and  2d  Corinthians,  A.D.  57. 

Galatians  and  Romans,  A.D.  58. 

Philippians,  Colossians,  Philemon,  and  Ephesians,  A.D.  63. 

Hebrews  (?),  A.D.  63. 

1  Timothy  and  Titus,  A.D.  64. 

2  Timothy,  A.D.  66. 

To  some  extent  these  dates  have  been  revised  by  re- 
cent orthodox  scholarship.  The  Matthew  which  was  written 
at  an  early  date  was  a  record  of  sayings  of  Christ,  in  Ara- 
maic, and  our  present  Matthew  in  Greek,  is  later;  and 
probably  one  of  its  three  great  sections  embodies  the  earlier 
record  of  sayings  of  Christ.  Mark  is  commonly  held  to  be 
the  original  among  our  three  synoptic  gospels.  The  general 
fact  in  regard  to  dates,  as  orthodox  authorities  understand 
it,  is  given  by  Rev.  Dr.  A.  B.  Bruce  in  these  words : 

"  It  is  impossible  to  give  the  exact  dates  of  the  gospels. 
The  synoptic  gospels  were,  in  all  probability,  not  later  than 
between  60  and  70  A.D.  The  probable  date  of  the  fourth 
gospel  is  between  80  and  90  A.D." 

The  "between  60  and  70  A.D."  really  means  no  more  than 
"  before  the  fall  of  Jerusalem,"  in  A.D.  70. 

Two  things  thus  appear  at  once,  that  the  writers  of  gos- 
pels waited  until  from  thirty  or  thirty-five  to  fifty  years 
after  the  death  of  Christ  before  producing  our  gospels  ;  and 
that  Paul  occupied  with  his  work  and  his  writings  more 
than  twenty  years  preceding  the  production  of  our  gospels. 
Of  the  latest  of  the  synoptics,  Luke,  Dr.  Bruce  says  that 
students  of  scripture,  in  consequence  of  modern  discus- 
sions, "  have  seen,  as  they  never  saw  before,  the  Pauline 
stamp  on  every  page  of  that  gospel."  If  oral  gospel  alone 
was  depended  on  for  from  a  third  of  a  century  to  half  a 
century  after  Christ,  and  if  what  was  then  written  showed, 
in  one  gospel  at  least,  the  plain  impress  of  Paul's  views, 
how  does  that  affect  the  history  ?  It  is  a  serious  question. 


CHRISTIAN  SCRIPTURES.  213 

In  Boole  by  Book*  a  volume  of  recent  " Studies  of  the 
Canon  of  Scripture,"  Rev.  Wm.  Sanday,  an  eminent  Eng- 
lish authority,  says  that  "  the  first  three  gospels  present  a 
problem  which  is  believed  to  be  unique  in  the  history  of 
literature,"  inasmuch  as  they  seem  to  have  "  each  a  separate 
and  independent  history,"  and  are  "  marked  by  a  number  of 
substantial  differences,"  and  yet  "  present  numerous  points 
of  contact  and  coincidence,"  while  "the  fourth  gospel 
stands  comparatively  alone." 

Dr.  Sanday  notes  that  the  first  three  gospels  "  are  almost 
entirely  taken  up  with  the  ministry  in  Galilee,"  while  the 
fourth  has  much  to  say  of  visits  of  Christ  to  Jerusalem. 
As  to  the  first  three  he  favors  the  view  that  "  a  common 
document  or  documents  lie  at  the  base  of  all  three  gospels," 
— '*  documents  which  are  hypothetical — found  in  no  extant 
manuscripts — and  the  text  of  which  cannot  be  appealed  to." 
It  is  supposed,  in  this  view,  that  there  was  "  an  original 
Matthew  older  than  our  present  Matthew  and  an  original 
Mark  older  than  our  present  Mark,"  while  "  the  third  gospel 
came  as  we  have  it  from  Luke."  The  order  of  the  succes- 
sive sections,  says  Dr.  Sanday,  is  the  order  of  Mark,  and 
Mark  too  "  contains  the  largest  proportion  of  the  common 
language."  And  this  seems  to  prove  that  "Mark  has  pre- 
served more  nearly  than  Matthew  or  Luke  the  original 
form  of  that  common  authority  (whatever  it  was)  which 
lies  at  the  base  of  the  whole  evangelical  tradition."  But 
no  one  can  tell  how  nearly  our  Mark  represents  "the 
original  document." 

Dr.  Sanday  thinks  that  the  mass  of  Matthew,  Mark,  and 
Luke,  "  even  if  not  actually  committed  to  writing,  had  at 
least  assumed  its  present  form  before  the  fall  of  Jerusalem 
in  70  A.D."  "  In  that  year,"  he  says,  "  a  fugitive  little  com- 
munity at  Pella  was  nearly  all  that. remained  of  the  Hebrew 
or  Aramaic-speaking  Christians,"  while  far  and  wide  Gen- 
tile Christianity  was  being  built  up.  "  The  three  gospels," 


*  The  authorities  quoted  throughout  this  chapter  are  those  of  the 
Book  by  Book  volume  of  ''Studies." 


214  CHRISTIAN  SCRIPTURES. 

says  Dr.  Sanday,  "  are  so  Jewish  to  the  core  that  they  could 
not  have  arisen  except  amid  Jewish  circumstances,  such 
as  ceased  with  the  fall  of  Jerusalem."  Yet  "touches  in 
them  appear  to  date  not  before  but  after  the  taking  of 
Jerusalem."  The  "  true  date  of  Luke  must  be  placed  at  a 
substantial  interval  after  the  fall  of  Jerusalem — say  about 
the  year  80."  Dr.  Sanday  dates  "the  main  body  of  the 
first  gospel  at  a  measureable  distance  before  the  event  of 
A.D.  70;  and  the  main  body  of  the  second  gospel  within 
nearer  sight  of  that  event." 

"Many  signs,"  says  Dr.  Sanday,  "point  to  the  conclusion  that  the 
period  of  greatest  activity  in  the  composition  of  gospels  included  the 
years  just  before  and  just  after  the  fall  of  Jerusalem."  They  were  thus 
written  in  "an  anxious  and  troubled  period,"  and  "under  circum- 
stances of  constraint  and  secresy,  very  probably  on  rough  material." 
"The  first  copies  would  be  passed  about  privately  from  hand  to  hand, 
often  suffering  in  the  process,  and  becoming  more  degenerate  as  bad 
copies  were  propagated."  Those  who  had  copies,  says  Dr.  Sanday, 
would  not  hesitate  to  put  hi  "additions  from  the  oral  tradition,"  or 
"  alterations  seemingly  trivial."  "  The  autographs  of  the  gospels  soon 
perished,  and  these  interpolated  copies  alone  became  the  parents  of  that 
long  succession  which  has  come  down  to  us."  "  For  some  fifty  years," 
says  Dr.  Sanday,  "after  the  fall  of  Jerusalem,  in  A.D.  70,  there  was  a 
concurrent  stream  of  oral  tradition  side  by  side  with  the  written  gos- 
pels ;  and  the  church  writers  (such  as  there  were,  for  but  few  of  their 
remains  have  come  down  to  us),  drew  from  this  stream  as  well  as  from 
the  gospels.  And  even  when  they  used  the  gospels,  their  use  of  them 
seems  to  have  been  affected  by  the  fact  that  they  were  still  in  what  we 
may  call  an  oral  period.  They  are  apt  to  trust  to  memory,  and  to  re- 
produce freely,  often  combining  what  was  found  in  one  gospel  with 
what  was  found  in  another,  and  not  seldom,  like  the  New-Testament 
writers  themselves,  mixing  together  passages  more  or  less  widely 
separated  in  the  original." 

In  regard  to  Matthew  Dr.  Sanday  refers  to  the  tradition 
that  Matthew  wrote  in  Aramaic,  or  the  Hebrew  of  that 
time,  "the  Oracles"  or  sayings  of  Christ,  "and  every  one 
interpreted  them  [into  Greek]  as  he  was  able."  But  our 
first  gospel  comes  to  us  in  Greek,  and  the  indications  are 
that  it  was  composed  in  Greek,  and  is  not  a  translation  from 
the  Aramaic  of  Matthew.  «  Clearly  marked  phenomena," 
says  Dr.  Sanday,  "  strongly  suggest  the  conclusion  that  our 


CHRISTIAN  SCRIPTURES.  215 

present  Matthew  is  a  composite  work,  in  three  main  parts, 
one  the  matter  peculiar  to  it,  a  second  the  whole  framework 
of  narrative,  and  the  third  certain  great  blocks  of  discourse 
inserted  at  intervals  "  ;  and  "  it  is  hard  to  believe  that  the 
first  and  second  of  these  parts  came  originally  from  the 
same  hand."  "The  hand  which  gave  to  our  Matthew  its 
present  shape"  seems  to  have  welded  them  together. 
"  When  the  narrative  of  Matthew  is  closely  examined  by 
the  side  of  Mark,  the  greater  originality  of  Mark,"  says  Dr. 
Sanday,  "  is  almost  everywhere  visible."  If  not  our  Mark, 
"•  a  document  very  like  our  Mark  supplied  the  base  for  both 
the  other  gospels."  It  is  hardly  probable,  Dr.  Sanday 
reasons,  that  the  Apostle  Matthew  would  thus  use  another's 
work  instead  of  his  own  recollections.  It  is  "  much  more 
probable  that  a  later  writer  combined  the  three  elements 
into  one,  himself  supplying  the  first,  and  drawing  upon 
other  sources  for  the  other  two."  Examination  of  the  dis- 
courses in  Matthew,  compared  with  what  is  said  of  an  early 
composition  of  the  oracles  or  sayings  of  Christ  in  Hebrew, 
seems  to  bring  proof  that  "  the  gospel,  as  we  have  it,  was 
not  composed  by  Matthew  ;  but  that  he  did  compose  the 
collection  of  oracles  embodied  in  our  gospel,  and  this,  its 
most  distinctive  part  gave  the  gospel  its  name."  The  "  doc- 
trinal character  and  purpose  of  the  Gospel,"  says  Dr.  San- 
day, was  "  to  prove  that  Jesus  of  Nazareth  was  really  the 
Messiah  of  Jewish  prophecy."  It  is  "essentially  Jewish," 
and  "there  is  something  equally  Jewish  in  the  way  in 
which  the  evangelist  clings  to  the  old  use  of  terms,"  and  in 
"the  stress  which  is  laid  upon  the  fulfilment  of  the  Law." 
Thus  "  the  three  sources  of  the  gospel  seem  to  be,  (1)  the 
Mark-gospel,  (2)  the  'Oracles'  originally  composed  in 
Hebrew  (Aramaic)  by  Matthew,  and  (3)  Oral  Tradition, 
specially  collected  by  the  evangelist."  And  "  the  structure 
of  the  gospel  is  determined  by  its  leading  idea,  the  presen- 
tation of  Jesus  of  Nazareth  as  the  Jewish  Messiah." 

Mark  Dr.  Sanday  calls  "the  Petrine  gospel."  He  says 
that  "  Justin  Martyr,  in  the  middle  of  the  second  century, 
refers  to  it  in  so  many  words  as  'the  Memoirs  of  Peter';" 


216  CHRISTIAN  SCRIPTURES, 

and  that  "all  agree  tliat  the  preaching  of  Peter  supplied 
the  materials  for  the  gospel."  This  account  was  given  by 
Papias,  one  of  the  early  Christian  writers,  who  had  it  from 
an  Elder  that  "Mark,  having  become  the  interpreter  of 
Peter,  wrote  down  what  he  remembered,  accurately  though 
not  in  order,  of  the  things  said  and  done  by  Christ."  The 
account  says  that  Mark  had  "  neither  heard  the  Lord  nor 
had  he  been  in  His  company,"  and  that  Peter,  in  what  Mark 
heard,  "adapted  his  teaching  to  the  occasion,  and  not  as 
though  he  were  putting  together  a  record  of  the  sayings " 
of  Christ.  Dr.  Sanday  remarks  that  Mark  "says  nothing 
about  a  Judean  ministry  "  of  Christ,  and  that  "  extensive  and 
important  matter  is  omitted."  The  last  twelve  verses  were 
not  a  part  of  the  original  gospel.  Dr.  Sanday  thinks  that, 
"  if  not  taken  from  a  written  document,  they  were  adopted 
from  the  still  living  tradition,"  and  "  are  not  devoid  of  sub- 
stantial attestation."  The  object  of  Mark,  says  Dr.  Sanday, 
"  appears  to  be  to  give  an  adequate  idea  of  the  wondrous 
and  wonder-working  life  of  Christ,"  according  to  Peter's 
conception  in  the  Acts  (x.  37-41):  how  Jesus  by  the  power 
of  the  Holy  Ghost  healed  all  that  were  oppressed  by  the 
devil,  and  how  His  resurrection  was  made  manifest  to  a 
certain  few  chosen  witnesses. 

Luke  Dr.  Sanday  describes  as  one  degree  removed  from 
the  events  ;  he  had  not  been  present  at  them,  but  belonged 
to  the  second  generation  of  Christians,  and  had  obtained 
his  account  from  those  who  had  been  present  or  had  been 
indirectly  connected  with  the  events.  He  "  claims  to  pos- 
sess a  full  and  accurate  knowledge  of  the  whole  history,  and 
to  reproduce  it  in  regular  order  from  first  to  last."  The 
gospel  "  was  written,  in  the  first  instance,  for  a  private  per- 
son named  Theophilus,"  who  may  have  been  a  person  of 
distinction  at  Antioch.  The  great  probability,  not  to  say 
certainty,  in  Dr.  Sanday's  opinion,  is  that  the  Luke  of  whom 
we  hear  as  a  physician,  and  for  some  time  a  companion  of 
Paul,  wrote  the  gospel,  about  the  year  80  A.D.,  and  also 
wrote  the  book  of  Acts.  "  The  gospel  is  thus  especially 
Pauline.  The  predominant  tone  is  such  as  we  should  ex- 


CHRISTIAN  SCRIPTURES.  217 

pect  in  the  companion  and  disciple  of  Paul."  Certain  addi- 
tions seem  to  have  been  made  to  what  Luke  wrote,  at  two 
distinct  times,  first  the  words  of  xxii.  43,  44,  and  xxiii.  34, 
and  second  the  words  of  xxii.  19,  20,  on  the  Eucharist,  bor- 
rowed from  1  Cor.  xi.  24,  25,  and  the  description  of  the 
Ascension,  xxiv.  51.  Dr.  Sanday  says  that  "additions  like 
these  are  just  such  as  would  be  made  by  the  private  posses- 
sor of  a  written  narrative." 

The  Fourth  Gospel,  says  Rev.  Dr.  Salmon,  comes  from  a 
writer  who  "  four  times  expressly  claims  to  have  been  an 
eye-witness  "  of  the  life  of  Christ,  who  seems  beyond  doubt 
to  have  been  John  the  Apostle,  writing  "  to  supplement  some 
omissions  "  in  the  first  three  gospels.  The  earlier  gospels, 
based  in  large  part  on  "  the  account  which  Peter  gave  of  what 
he  remembered,"  gives  an  account  of  but  one  year  of  the  min- 
istry of  Christ,  the  scene  of  which,  until  the  last  week,  is  laid 
in  Galilee,  whereas  John  "  relates  the  events  of  more  pass- 
overs  than  one,  and  tells  of  more  visits  than  one  to  Jerusalem." 
It  "  is  quite  exceptional,"  says  Dr.  Salmon,  "  if  we  find  in  the 
Fourth  Gospel  anything  that  had  been  recorded  in  the  others." 
It  is  "  supplemental  to  the  other  three,"  and  '•  all  critics  agree 
in  ascribing  to  it  a  date  considerably  later  than  that  of  any 
of  the  other  three";  much  later  than  80  A.D.,  but  exactly 
when  Dr.  Salmon  does  not  attempt  to  say. 

The  Acts,  says  Rev.  Dr.  Farrar,  does  not  deal  with  "  the 
Apostles."  but  almost  solely  with  Peter  and  Paul,  and  of 
them  its  account  is  very  incomplete.  The  part  devoted  to 
Paul  is  "both  fragmentary  and  discontinuous."  Luke,  the 
author,  a  companion  of  Paul,  "  does  not  so  much  as  allude 
to  the  fact  that  Paul  ever  wrote  a  single  epistle."  The  book 
covers  a  period  of  about  thirty  years,  A.D.  33  to  A.D.  63. 
It  falls  into  two  great  sections,  chapters  1  to  12,  mainly  oc- 
cupied with  the  work  of  Peter,  and  13  to  28  devoted  almost 
exclusively  to  the  missions,  sufferings,  and  controversies  of 
Paul.  Where  the  book  was  written,  Dr.  Farrar  says,  "  can- 
not be  stated  with  any  certainty,"  but  he  thinks  that  it  may 
have  been  at  Rome,  and  that  it  "  may  have  been  given  to 
to  the  world  about  A.D,  63." 


218  CHRISTIAN  SCRIPTURES. 

The  epistles  of  Paul,  treated  in  Book  ~by  BooTc  by  Rev. 
Dr.  Marcus  Dods,  are  taken  in  this  order; — Romans,  1st 
and  2d  Corinthians,  Galatians,  Ephesians,  Philipians,  Colos- 
sians,  1st  and  2d  Thessalonians,  and  Philemon.  The  1st  and 
2d  epistles  to  Timothy,  the  epistle  to  Titus,  and  the  epistle 
to  the  Hebrews,  treated  by  other  writers,  are  also  ascribed 
to  Paul.  Dr.  Dods  gives  the  date  of  Romans  as  the  spring 
of  the  year  59  A.D.;  that  of  1st  Corinthians  as  the  spring  of 
either  57  or  58  A.D.  ;  that  of  2d  Corinthians  as  a  few  months 
later  than  the  1st ;  that  of  Galatians  as  uncertain,  but  either 
just  before  or  just  after  1st  Corinthians ;  the  two  epistles, 
Ephesians  and  Colossians,  during  his  imprisonment  at  Rome 
in  63  A.D.  ;  that  of  Philippians  near  the  close  of  the  same 
imprisonment,  64  A.D.;  that  of  1st  and  2d  Thessalonians, 
the  1st  in  the  early  part  of  53  A.D.,  and  the  2d  a  few  months 
later  in  the  same  year.  The  epistles  to  Timothy  and  Titus 
are  supposed  to  have  been  written  in  about  A.D.  66  and  67, 
if  Paul's  life  lasted  so  long ;  Philemon's  date  is  not  given. 
The  epistle  to  the  Hebrews  is  left  uncertain  as  to  both 
authorship  and  date,  except  that  "  its  date  cannot  have  been 
early,  must  have  been  after  Paul's  death,  and  before  70  A.D." 

Taking  now  Paul's  epistles  in  the  order  of  their  supposed 
date,  the  two  Thessalonian  epistles  are  four  or  five  years  the 
earliest, — the  earliest  extant  writings  of  Paul.  Paul  had 
spoken  to  the  Jews  of  Thessalonica  in  their  synagogue  on 
three  Sabbaths  (Saturdays),  and  found  some  sympathizers, 
especially  among  Greeks  and  women,  but  had  been  driven 
away  by  the  violence  of  the  more  orthodox  Jews.  He  wrote 
after  hearing  from  the  results  of  his  preaching,  which  he 
refers  to  as  having  brought  heathen  "  to  turn  unto  God  from 
idols,  to  serve  a  living  and  true  God,  and  to  wait  for  His 
Son  from  heaven,  Jesus,  whom  He  raised  from  the  dead." 

Dr.  Dods  says  that  "the  constantly  recurring  theme  of 
the  epistle  is  the  Coming  of  the  Lord."  Paul,  he  says,  "  set 
before  the  Gentiles  Jesus  as  the  Lord  appointed  by  God  to 
judge  the  world  in  righteousness."  Persecutions  made  His 
converts  "more  ready  to  listen  to  highly  colored  pictures  of 


CHRISTIAN  SCRIPTURES.  219 

the  kingdom  and  coming  of  Christ,"  and  "  such  was  the  ex- 
cited expectancy  which  the  idea  of  the  speedy  return  of 
Christ  produced  that  some  of  them  gave  up  their  secular 
employment  and  became  dependent  idlers,"  while  "others 
again  were  disturbed  in  their  minds  because  they  feared 
that  their  friends  who  died  before  the  coming  of  Christ 
might  miss  that  event."  To  this  fear  Paul's  reply  was : 

"  For  this  we  say  unto  you  by  the  word  of  the  Lord,  that 
we  that  are  alive,  that  are  left  unto  the  coming  of  the  Lord, 
shall  in  no  wise  precede  them  that  are  fallen  asleep.  For 
the  Lord  himself  shall  descend  from  heaven,  with  a  shout, 
with  the  voice  of  an  archangel,  and  with  the  trump  of  God  : 
and  the  dead  in  Christ  shall  rise  first:  then  we  that  are 
alive,  that  are  left,  shall  together  with  them  be  caught  up 
in  the  clouds,  to  meet  the  Lord  in  the  air :  and  so  shall  we 
ever  be  with  the  Lord.  Wherefore  comfort  one  another 
with  these  words." 

The  second  epistle  was  written  a  few  months  later  "  to 
remove  some  understandings  of  what  Paul  had  said  in  the 
first  regarding  the  Coming  of  the  Lord."  Getting  the  im- 
pression that  "  the  day  of  Christ  was  at  hand,"  Paul's  disci- 
ples "  had  on  the  one  hand  been  perplexed  to  find  that  the 
months  went  by  without  any  fulfilment  of  this  expectation, 
and  on  the  other  hand  they  were  led  into  idle  and  disorderly 
conduct."  Paul  assures  them  that  continuance  of  persecu- 
tion is,  as  Dr.  Dods  puts  it,  "  only  a  more  certain  proof  that 
a  manifestation  for  the  judgment  of  their  enemies  and  for 
their  deliverance  will  take  place. "  He  tells  them,  as  Dr. 
Dods  expresses  it,  that  "lawlessness  must  come  to  a  head 
in  a  person  before  the  personal  coming  of  Christ  to  destroy 
it."  And  he  gives  "  stringent  instructions  as  to  members 
walking  disorderly,  being  carried  away  by  the  expectation 
of  the  Second  Coming."  Paul,  says  Dr.  Dods,  "  believed 
that  the  Jewish  anatocism  was  to  culminate  in  an  Anti- 
Christ,  a  false  Messiah,  necessarily  a  Jew,  who  should 
head  the  anti-Christian  movement,  and  only  be  defeated 
by  the  appearance  of  Christ  Himself.  The  expressions 
and  phraseology  in  which  these  expectations  were  em- 


220  CHRISTIAN  SCRIPTURES. 

bodied  find  their  roots  in  the  eschatological  discourses  of 
the  gospels  and  in  the  book  of  Daniel."  Dr.  Dods  says 
that  the  Coming  or  Presence  (Parousia),  "  which  is  spoken 
of  as  imminent  in  the  first  epistle,  is  in  the  second  more 
guardedly,  though  more  definitely,  explained."  The  lan- 
guage of  Paul  is  this  : 

"If  so  be  that  it  is  a  righteous  thing  with  God  to  recompense  afflic- 
tion to  them  that  afflict  you,  and  to  you  that  are  afflicted  rest  with  us, 
at  the  revelation  of  the  Lord  Jesus  from  heaven  with  the  angels  of 
his  power  in  flaming  fire,  rendering  vengeance  to  them  that  know  not 
God,  and  to  them  that  obey  not  the  gospel  of  our  Lord  Jesus:  who 
shall  suffer  punishment,  eternal  destruction  from  the  face  of  the 
Lord  and  from  the  glory  of  his  might,  when  he  shall  come  to  be 
glorified  in  his  saints,  and  to  be  marvelled  at  in  all  them  that  believed, 
because  our  testimony  unto  you  was  believed,  in  that  day. 

"Now  we  beseech  you,  brethren,  in  behalf  of  the  presence  (or 
touching  the  coming)  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  our  gathering  to- 
gether unto  him ;  to  the  end  that  ye  be  not  quickly  shaken  from  your 
mind,  nor  yet  be  troubled,  either  by  spirit,  or  by  word,  or  by  epistle  as 
from  us,  as  that  the  day  of  the  Lord  is  present ;  let  no  man  beguile 
you  in  any  wise:  for  the  falling  away  must  come  first,  and  the  man  of 
sin  be  revealed,  the  son  of  perdition,  he  that  opposeth  and  exalteth 
himself  against  all  that  is  called  God  or  that  is  worshipped ;  so  that 
he  sitteth  in  the  temple  of  God,  setting  himself  forth  as  God.  Re- 
member ye  not  that  when  I  was  yet  with  you,  I  told  you  these  things? 
For  the  mystery  of  lawlessness  doth  already  work,  only  until  he  that 
now  restraineth  be  taken  out  of  the  way.  And  then  shall  be  revealed 
the  Lawless  One,  whom  the  Lord  Jesus  shall  slay  with  the  breath  of 
his  mouth,  and  bring  to  nought  by  the  manifestation  of  bis  pres- 
ence,— whose  presence  [the  lawless]  is  according  to  the  working  of 
Satan  with  all  power  and  signs  and  wonders  of  falsehood,  and  with 
all  deceit  of  unrighteousness  for  them  that  are  perishing;  because 
they  received  not  the  love  of  the  truth,  that  they  might  be  saved. 
And  for  this  cause  God  sendeth  them  a  working  of  error,  that  they 
should  believe  a  lie ;  that  they  all  might  be  judged  [damned  our  old 
version  says]  who  believed  not  the  truth  but  had  pleasure  in  un- 
righteousness." 

At  Corinth  Paul  had  spent  eighteen  months,  leaving  in 
the  spring  of  A.D.  54,  for  Jerusalem,  whence  he  went  to 
Antioch  for  some  time,  and  on  through  Asia  Minor  to  Ephe- 
sus,  which  he  reached  either  late  in  A.D.  54  or  early  in  A.D. 
65.  Apollus  had  been  at  Ephesus,  and  had  gone  thence  to 


CHRISTIAN  SCRIPTURES.  221 

Corinth.  Paul  remained  at  Ephesus  some  three  years. 
Corinth  was  a  centre  of  Greek  and  Roman  city  life  of  the 
worst  sort,  and  in  a  letter  not  extant  Paul  had  advised  his 
converts  against  intercourse  with  its  corrupt  elements. 
Their  reply  raised  questions  which  led  him  to  write  our  first 
epistle,  in  perhaps  the  spring  of  A.D.  58,  before  he  left  Ephe- 
sus on  a  journey  which  brought  him,  by  way  of  Macedonia, 
to  Corinth  for  the  next  winter.  The  second  epistle  he 
wrote  from  Macedonia,  on  hearing  news  from  Corinth,  and 
sent  in  advance  of  his  own  coming.  Besides  the  practical 
matter  of  personal  separation  for  Christian  life  from  those 
of  bad  character  and  evil  life,  Paul  wrote  against  party 
spirit,  gave  his  views  of  the  origin  and  administration  of 
the  Lord's  Supper,  explained  the  various  gifts  and  offices 
which  he  considered  elements  of  Christian  order,  and  pre- 
sented his  argument  in  support  of  resurrection  from  death. 
In  the  second  epistle  "  he  proceeds,"  says  Dr.  Dods,  "  to  ex- 
pose those  who  had  come  among  them  professing  to  have 
their  gospel  from  Christ  himself,  and  striving  to  undermine 
his  authority.  He  speaks  in  language  of  extreme  severity, 
calling  the  persons  who  plumed  themselves  on  having  heard 
Christ  himself  the  '  overmuch  Apostles ',  and  even  de- 
nounces them  as  '  false  Apostles.'  In  a  singularly  powerful 
and  eloquent  passage,  he  disposes  of  their  pretensions,  and 
explains  on  what  his  own  authority  rests."  After  Paul 
had  written  his  second  Corinthian  epistle  he  went  on  from 
Macedonia  to  Corinth  for  the  winter,  and  in  the  early  spring 
made  his  way  to  Jerusalem.  At  Jerusalem  he  suffered 
arrest,  and  imprisonment  for  two  years  in  Csesarea,  and  was 
thence  sent  a  prisoner  to  Rome,  perhaps  in  A.D.  61. 

The  Galatians  to  whom  Paul's  epistle  of  that  name  was 
addressed  were  of  Celtic  blood  and  characteristics,  a  people 
of  Asia  Minor  to  the  northeast  of  Phrygia.  In  the  first  in- 
stance Paul  had  preached  to  them  in  consequence  of  deten- 
tion caused  by  a  seizure  of  his  illness.  Dr.  Dods  says  that 
"  the  Galatians  were  unconscious  of,  or  seemed  to  overlook 
anything  insignificant  or  repulsive  in  Paul's  appearance,  and 
showed  him  the  utmost  attention."  Paul  himself  wrote  : 


222  CHRISTIAN  SCRIPTURES. 

"  Ye  know  that  because  of  an  infirmity  of  the  flesh  I  preached  the 
gospel  unto  you  the  former  time ;  and  that  which  was  a  temptation  to 
you  in  my  flesh  ye  despised  not,  nor  spat  out;  but  ye  received  me 
as  an  angel  of  God,  as  Christ  Jesus.  I  bear  you  witness,  that,  if 
possible,  ye  would  have  plucked  out  your  eyes  and  given  them  to  me." 

But  two  years  later,  as  Paul  passed  that  way,  from  Jeru- 
salem to  Ephesus,  he  found  Judaizing  teaching  at  work, 
and  heard  more  of  its  influence  after  his  departure.  On 
reaching  Ephesus  therefore,  or  some  time  later,  he  wrote  the 
epistle  to,  in  the  first  place,  argue  his  own  authority  as  an 
Apostle,  and,  in  the  second  place,  to  show  that  Jewish  re- 
quirements were  not  binding  upon  Christians.  His  apostle- 
ship,  he  declared,  was  "  not  of  man,  neither  by  man,  but  by 
Jesus  Christ  and  God  the  Father."  Dr.  Dods  says  : 

"  He  proves  from  his  movements  after  his  conversion  to  Christianity 
that  it  was  impossible  he  should  have  received  his  knowledge  of  the 
gospel  from  men.  In  point  of  fact  he  had  gone  first  into  Arabia,  and 
when  at  length  he  did  go  to  Jerusalem  he  saw  only  Peter.  It  was  only 
after  many  years  of  preaching  that  at  length  he  went  to  confer  with 
the  original  apostles  at  Jerusalem,  and  even  then,  so  far  from  receiving 
any  additional  light  from  them,  they  approved  of  his  teaching,  gave 
him  the  right  hand  of  fellowship,  and  encouraged  him  in  his  work." 

Upon  this  ground  of  acknowledged  authority  Paul  urges 
the  freedom  of  Gentile  Christians  from  Jewish  require- 
ments, and  insists  that  liberty  is  not  license,  but  is  the 
special  Christian  privilege  and  duty. 

At  Rome  Paul  had  never  been  heard.  His  plan  had  been, 
when  he  went  from  Corinth  to  Jerusalem,  to  go  from  Jeru- 
salem to  Rome,  but  arrest  and  detention  followed,  and  it 
was  only  as  a  prisoner  that  he  finally  went  from  Caesarea  to 
Rome,  about  A.D.  61.  It  was  in  the  spring  of  A.D.  59,  before 
leaving  Corinth  for  Jerusalem,  that  he  wrote  the  epistle,  as 
an  introduction  of  himself  and  his  teaching.  Dr.  Dods 
further  says : 

"In  substance  the  epistle  is  a  justification  of  the  Apostle's  mission  to 
the  Gentiles.  In  it  he  explains  his  fundamental  thoughts,  why  he  con- 
siders the  gospel  needful,  what  it  is,  and  in  what  consists  its  sufficiency 
for  Jew  and  Gentile  alike.  His  epistle  is  an  exposition  of  the  applica- 
bility of  the  gospel  to  the  Gentiles." 


CHRISTIAN  SCRIPTURES.  223 

The  epistle  called  Ephesians  does  not  seem  to  be  specially 
addressed  to  that,  or  to  any  individual  church.  It  rather 
appears  to  have  been  a  general  or  circular  letter,  meant  "  to 
be  read  first  by  the  Ephesians,  then  by  the  Laodiceans,  and 
then  by  the  Colossians."  Its  great  theme  is  unity,  spiritual 
unity  in  God  and  church  unity.  At  the  time  of  writing  it 
(and  Colossians)  Paul  was  a  prisoner  at  Rome. 

The  Colossians  epistle  was  of  the  same  character,  and  writ- 
ten at  the  same  time.  Much  that  is  in  one  occurs  also  in 
the  other.  In  both  Paul  refers  to  his  being  put  in  trust  of  a 
ministry  to  make  known  the  mystery  which  had  been  long 
hid ;  and  both  Christ's  work  and  position  and  the  Christian 
life  are  similarly  treated  in  the  two  epistles. 

The  epistle  to  the  Philippians,  says  Dr.  Dods,  "  bears  on 
its  face  that  it  was  written  from  Rome  towards  the  close  of 
Paul's  imprisonment."  He  further  remarks  that  "although 
the  object  of  the  epistle  was  not  doctrinal,  Paul  never  more 
clearly  announced  his  gospel  than  in  the  third  chapter." 
The  immediate  object  of  the  epistle  was  an  expression  of 
the  personal  feelings  of  Paul,  in  view  especially  of  a  gift 
sent  by  the  Philippians,  and  the  return  to  them  of  their 
messenger. 

The  epistles  to  Timothy,  and  that  to  Titus,  cannot,  says 
the  bishop  of  Ripon,  have  been  written  by  Paul  unless  he 
was  released  from  his  Roman  imprisonment,  and  was  thus 
able  to  act  as  the  epistles  imply,  journeying,  etc.  The 
bishop  of  Ripon  argues  that  the  author  of  Acts  would,  at 
the  close  of  his  book,  have  said  so  if  death  by  martyrdom 
had  closed  Paul's  life,  and  that  his  saying  nothing  means 
that  Paul  was  well  known  to  have  had  his  release  and  re- 
sumed his  work.  Although  "the  biographical  difficulties 
are  great,  they  cannot  be  called  decisive  against  the  Pauline 
authorship  of  these  letters." 

The  epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  which  Dr.  Maclear  writes  of  as 
"  the  epistle  of  Paul  the  Apostle  to  the  Hebrews,"  he  yet  says 
"  cannot  have  been  early,"  and  "must  have  been  written  after 
Paul's  death  and  before  the  fall  of  Jerusalem,  A.D.  70."  We 
may  "  gather  from  the  epistle  itself  that  it  was  written  to 


224  CHRISTIAN  SCRIPTURES. 

Jews,  and  that  some  particular  church  is  intended,  but 
which  it  seems  impossible  to  say."  Erasmus,  Luther,  and 
Calvin  agreed  that  it  was  not  written  by  Paul,  and  Luther 
made  "  the  attractive  suggestion"  that  its  author  was  Apollos, 
an  Alexandrian  Jew,  learned  and  eloquent,  who  is  known 
as  a  preacher  in  connection  with  Paul,  and  a  friend  to  him, 
although  some  thought  his  teaching  preferable  to  Paul's. 
Dr.  Dods  states  the  reasons  against  Pauline  authorship  as 
follows : 

"  The  writer  classes  himself  with  those  who  received  the  gospel  at 
second  hand  from  those  who  had  heard  Christ. 

"  The  writer  of  Hebrews  has  a  stately  style,  showing1  cultivation, 
sentences  rhythmical  and  balanced,  and  words  carefully  chosen,  while 
the  style  of  Paul  shows  no  trace  of  art. 

' '  The  quotations  are  introduced  in  a  different  way  from  Paul's :  they 
are  taken  from  the  Greek  translation,  commonly  with  exactness,  and 
show  little  or  no  acquaineance  with  Hebrew ;  while  Paul  often  relies 
on  his  memory  [in  the  usual  inexact  fashion  of  the  times],  sometimes 
quotes  from  the  Greek  translation,  and  sometimes  translates  from  the 
Hebrew. 

' '  The  epistle  shows  a  familiarity  with  the  Alexandrian  tone  of  thought, 
and  probably  with  the  writings  of  Philo  Judaeus  [the  great  Jew  of  Alex- 
andria, who  adopted  Greek  teaching  from  Plato,  but  seems  not  to  have 
known  anything  of  that  of  Christ]. 

"The  doctrinal  agreement  with  Paul's  teaching  is  commonly  admit- 
ted, but  it  differs  from  his  mode  of  presentation :  the  conception  of  faith 
is  distinct  from  that  of  faith  which  justifies:  nothing  is  said  about  the 
admission  of  the  Gentiles  to  the  privileges  of  Israel:  Paul  dwells  upon 
the  Law  as  having  become  obsolete ;  the  epistle  dwells  on  ceremonial 
as  the  counterpart  of  Christ's  priestly  work :  and  the  prominence  which 
Paul  gives  to  the  resurrection  of  Christ  is  not  found  in  the  epistle." 

The  "  sum  of  the  arguments  "  of  the  epistle  the  writer  at 
the  very  beginning  compresses  into  these  three  verses  : 

"  God,  having  of  old  time  spoken  unto  the  fathers  in  the  prophets  by 
divers  portions  and  in  divers  manners,  hath  at  the  end  of  these  days 
spoken  unto  us  in  a  Son,  whom  he  appointed  heir  of  all  things,  through 
whom  also  he  made  the  ages ;  who  being  the  effulgence  of  his  glory 
and  the  impress  of  his  substance,  and  upholding  all  things  by  the  word 
of  his  power,  when  he  had  made  purification  of  sins,  sat  down  on  the 
right  hand  of  the  Majesty  on  high." 


THE  INVOCATION.— LE  Roux.— Roman  mother  offering  prayer  and  burning  incense 
before  the  grated  window  of  the  Larwrium,  or  Household  Shrine,  within  which  was  placed 
the  Lar  Familiaris,  an  image  personifying  the  Family,  and  before  which  family  worship  was 
offered  daily,  and  on  festival  days.  " 


ORPHEUS  ATSTD  EURYDICE.— LEIGHTON.— The  playing  of  Orpheus  on  the  lyre 
was  so  divine  that  when  he  went  down  into  the  underworld  to  seek  his  dead  wife,  Eurydice, 
the  stern  keeper  of  the  dead  granted  that  she  should  follow  him  back  to  life  provided  that 
he  gave  her  no  look  as  be  went  forward. 


CHRISTIAN  SCRIPTURES.  225 

The  epistle  of  James  is  assigned  by  Rev.  Dr.  Maclear  to 
the  James  who  is  mentioned  in  Matthew  as  one  of  four 
brothers  of  Jesus,  "  James,  Joses,  Simon,  and  Judas,"  and 
who  appears  as  the  presiding  Elder  of  the  Christians  in 
Jerusalem  during  the  apostolic  period,  until  his  death  by 
stoning  in  A.D.  62,  when  a  high  priest  of  extreme  Jewish 
antagonism  to  even  Jewish  Christians  took  advantage 
of  the  suspension  of  Roman  authority  by  the  death 
of  Festus.  The  epistle  was  written  from  Jerusalem, 
addressed  to  Christians  of  Jewish  birth,  and  making  no 
allusion  to  any  other.  This  is  "probably  a  proof  of 
the  very  early  date  of  the  epistle."  Its  apparent  refer- 
ence to  Paul's  writings  (implying  a  later  date)  probably 
means  reference  to  such  matters  as  "  justification,"  "  faith," 
and  the  u  example  of  Abraham,"  as  they  had  been  "  dis- 
cussed before  Paul's  time,  in  the  Jewish  school."  What 
seems  to  be  very  explicit  pointing  at  things  said  by  Paul, 
was  in  fact  aimed  at  the  Rabbinic  teaching  of  these  things 
before  Paul.  Luther  described  the  epistle  as  "  an  epistle  of 
straw,"  because  it  seemed  to  contradict  the  Pauline  doctrine 
of  justification  by  faith  and  to  give  righteousness  to  doing 
of  works. 

"  The  tone  of  the  whole  epistle  is  practical.  There  is  little  of  dis- 
tinctively Christian  doctrine.  The  Gospel  is  not  named.  We  are  re- 
minded throughout  of  the  teaching  of  Christ  as  recorded  in  the  first 
three  gospels  ,  rather  than  of  that  side  of  it  which  is  recorded  in  John, 
or  the  truths,  revealed  after  Pentecost  [notahly  Paul's  teaching]. 
Among  the  quotations  from  the  Old  Testament,  '  Thou  shalt  love  thy 
neighbor  as  thyself,'  is  distinguished  by  the  title  of  the  Royal  Law,  in 
consequence,  no  doubt,  of  the  prominence  given  to  it  by  Christ.  The 
book  of  Proverbs  is  twice  quoted ;  and  it  is  thought  that  James  used 
the  kindred  teaching  of  the  [apocryphal]  book  of  Ecclesiasticus.  In  re- 
gard to  the  New  Testament,  tbe  echoes  of  Christ's  teaching,  and  par- 
ticularly of  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  are  numerous.  The  language, 
contrary  to  what  might  have  been  expected,  is  a  very  pure  specimen  of 
Hellenistic  Greek.  The  epistle  culminates  in  the  thoughts  belonging  to 
the  second  advent ;  the  abrupt  way  in  which  the  epistle  ends  showing 
the  pressure  of  the  expectation  under  which  the  appeal  is  made  to  save 
a  brother  while  there  is  time." 

It  appears  from  the  gospels  that  the  brethren  of  Jesus 


226  CHRISTIAN  SCRIPTURES. 

were  not  his  disciples  during  his  life.  James  remained  a 
Jew  in  observances  after  he  became  the  head  of  the  Chris- 
tians at  Jerusalem.  The  flight  to  Pella  [on  the  east  side  of 
the  Jordan,  nearly  opposite  Galilee]  in  anticipation  of  the 
destruction  of  Jerusalem,  and  Jewish  persecution,  finally 
left  but  a  remnant,  whose  tradition  lasted  for  some  time  as 
Ebionitism. 

The  precise  date,  says  Dr.  Maclear,  of  the  first  epistle  of 
Peter  cannot  be  fixed.  It  may  have  been  A.D.  67  or  68. 
Peter  .wrote  from  Babylon,  but  whether  as  a  visitor  so  far 
to  the  East  or  as  a  resident,  does  not  appear.  "  The  whole 
form  of  the  epistle  has  a  great  likeness  to  the  epistles  of 
Paul.  The  phraseology  is  frequently  that  of  Paul,  and 
there  can  be  little  doubt  that  some  passages  are  quotations 
from  his  writings  or  influenced  by  a  recollection  of  them, 
particularly  Romans.  The  familiarity  shown  by  Peter  with 
the  thoughts  and  words  of  Paul  comes  on  us  as  a  surprise. 
But  we  must  remember  that  Paul  was  the  great  letter- writer 
as  well  as  the  great  teacher.  In  the  enforcing  of  what  was 
contained  in  his  gospel,  as  he  termed  it  ["  according  to  my 
gospel,"  Rom.  ii.  16  and  xvi.  25 ;  "  the  gospel  which  I 
preach  among  the  Gentiles,"  Gal.  ii  2],  he  moulded  to  a 
great  degree  the  language  of  the  church  while  directing  its 
thought.  His  doctrinal  teaching  is  much  fuller  than  James's, 
as  we  might  expect  from  his  position  midway  between  him 
and  Paul.  Paul's  characteristic  teaching  about  justification 
does  not  occur.  In  antiquity  it  was  among  the  books  uni- 
versally received.  In  modern  times  its  authenticity  has 
been  called  in  question,  on  the  ground  of  its  want  of  origi- 
nality, its  use  of  the  writings  of  others,  and  the  absence  of 
such  a  distinct  individuality  as  would  befit  Peter.  The 
theory  of  the  objectors  is  that  it  was  written  by  an  adherent 
of  Paul,  who  had  also  a  leaning  towards  Peter,  or  perhaps 
by  one  of  Peter's  school  who  wished  to  recommend  himself 
by  adoption  of  much  of  Paul's  doctrine." 

The  second  epistle  of  Peter,  Dr.  Maclear  attaches  to  Peter 
as  author  without  attempting  to  fix  the  date.  It  has  a 
more  literary  and  Greek  style  than  the  first.  It  seems  to 


CHRISTIAN  SCRIPTURES.  227 

have  borrowed  from  the  epistle  of  Jucle.  Paul's  writings 
are  referred  to  as  on  a  level  with  the  scriptures  of  the  Old 
Testament.  The  consent  of  the  church  is  the  firm  ground 
on  which  it  is  accepted  as  an  epistle  of  Peter. 

The  epistle  of  Jude,  the  brother  of  James,  and  of  Jesus, 
may  be  dated,  Dr.  Maclear  thinks,  sometime  between  A.D.  60 
and  70.  It  is  by  a  Jew  writing  in  Greek.  The  style  is  im- 
petuous and  intensely  earnest.  It  uses  as  authority  for 
sacred  history  sources  not  in  the  Old  Testiment,  such  as  a 
legend  found  in  the  Rabbinical  traditions ;  and  it  quotes 
the  Book  of  Enoch,  "  an  important  early  work  (about  B.C. 
100)  of  the  apocalyptic  class,  modeled  on  the  style  of  the 
latter  part  of  Daniel,  which  was  used  by  the  early  Fathers, 
Justin  Martyr,  Irenseus,  Clement  of  Alexandria,  Origen, 
Tertullian,  and  Augustine — though  Tertullian  alone  regarded 
it  as  canonical." 

The  three  epistles  ascribed  to  John,  in  addition  to  the 
Apocalypse  or  Revelation  and  the  Fourth  gospel,  made  him 
the  author  of  five  books  of  the  New  Testament.  The  first 
epistle  was  undisputed  in  the  early  church,  and  internal 
evidence  shows  identity  of  authorship  for  the  epistle  and  the 
gospel.  The  two  minor  epistles,  though  not  similarly 
known  to  the  early  church,  are  not  less  certainly  shown  by 
internal  evidence  to  have  come  from  the  pen  of  the  author 
of  the  gospel. 

The  Apocalypse  or  Revelation  of  John,  Dr.  Wm.  Milligan 
calls  "  the  enigma  of  the  Church."  He  does  not  give  it  a 
date  further  than  "  prior  to  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem," 
A.D.  70.  It  was  written  then  to  "  show  unto  God's  servants 
the  things  that  must  shortly  come  to  pass."  The  seven 
epistles  of  chapters  2  and  3  "  contain  an  abstract  of  all  that 
is  afterwards  unfolded  in  the  book,"  under  the  seven  times 
repeated  cry,  "He  that  hath  an  ear  let  him  hear  what  the 
Spirit  saith  to  the  churches."  "  Everything,"  says  Dr. 
Milligan,"  is  to  be  understood  symbolically  and  spiritually." 
He  considers  the  book  "  simply  an  expansion  of  the  great 
discourse  of  Matt.  xxiv.  and  xxv.  (and  parellels)."  "The 
great  truths  of  that  discourse  took  shape  in  the  figures 


228  CHRISTIAN  SCRIPTURES. 

which  the  Old  Testament  and  his  Jewish  training  had  made 
familiar  to  him  ;  and  the  Apocalypse  was  the  result."  The 
book  is  not  predictive,  and  we  are  not  to  seek  in  history, 
earlier  or  later,  for  fulfilment  of  proposed  predictions.  It 
is  "  mainly  occupied  with  the  enunciation  of  the  great  prin- 
ciples which  guide  the  action  of  the  Church's  Lord  until  the 
time  of  His  return.  The  whole  book  is  the  action  of  Jesus, 
though  of  Jesus  glorified  ";  and  "  the  action  of  the  book 
covers  the  whole  Christian  era  from  its  beginning  to  its 
end."  Although  we  have  "  in  the  visions  of  the  Seer  repre- 
sentations only  of  events  contemporaneous  with  himself," 
he  looked  forward  indefinitely  from  them,  taking  them  as 
illustrations  of  what  would  be,  all  the  way  on  to  the  very 
last  end,  "  the  final  manifestation  of  the  Lord,  the  final 
judgment  of  the  wicked,  and  the  casting  of  death  and 
Hades  into  the  lake  of  fire." 

In  regard  to  objections  to  the  book,  Dr.  Milligan  says : 

"It  is  impossible  not  to  sympathize  with  those  in  every  age  who 
have  found  difficulty  in  accepting  it  as  a  divinely  inspired  and  canon- 
ical book.  In  its  contents  and  in  its  style  it  is  so  entirely  different 
from  all  the  other  books  of  the  New  Testament.  All  is  dark  and  per- 
plexing—and extravagance  of  figure  such  as  was  never  before  wit- 
nessed; and  an  irregularity  of  language  such  as  has  no  parallel  in  any 
ancient  writing  either  sacred  or  profane." 


LOST  IN  THE  CATACOMBS.— ADOLPH  GRASS.— An  effective  picture  of  an  incident 
of  the  time  when  the  Roman  Catacombs,  a  vast  labyrinth  of  underground  passages,  were 
used  as  Christian  cemeteries,  by  excavating  in  their  sides  recesses  like  berths  in  a  ship  m 
which  the  corpses  were  interred. 


Apocryphal  G°sPel» 


AMONG  curiosities  of  Scripture,  which  show  most  re- 
markably what  could  be  written  and  believed  in  the 
earlier  days  of  Christian  development,  there  are  several 
gospels  which  were  put  aside  by  the  sober  judgment  of  the 
early  church  as  apocryphal.  One  of  the  most  striking  of 
these  is  the  "  Arabic  Gospel  of  the  Infancy,"  the  story  of  a 
part  of  which,  from  the  time  that  Jesus  was  seven  years  of 
age,  well  illustrates  the  general  character  of  these  Gospel 
Apocrypha. 

The  story  tells  how,  Jesus  being  at  play  with  other  boys 
of  the  same  age  and  making  figures  of  animals  with  clay, 
"  the  Lord  Jesus  said,  the  figures  which  I  have  made  I  will 
command  to  walk."  The  boys  asked  him  "  whether  then  he 
was  the  Son  of  the  Creator,"  and  Jesus  answered  by  doing 
as  he  had  said.  "  He  had  made  figures  of  birds  and  spar- 
rows, which  flew  when  he  bade  them  fly,  and  ate  and  drank 
when  he  offered  them  food  and  drink."  One  day  "as  the 
Lord  Jesus  was  running  about  and  playing  with  the  boys," 
he  came  to  the  shop  of  a  dyer  who  had  many  cloths  to  be 
dyed  various  colors.  "  The  Lord  Jesus  took  all  these  and 
cast  them  into  a  vessel  full  of  Indian  blue."  Upon  the  dyer 
crying  out  upon  him  for  this  act  of  mischief,  "the  Lord 
Jesus  began  at  once  to  take  the  cloths  out  of  the  vessel, 
each  of  them  dyed  the  color  which  the  dyer  desired." 

The  story  makes  Joseph  to  have  been  a  poor  carpenter, 
who  had  no  need  to  do  anything  with  his  own  hand,  be- 
cause, "  as  often  as  Joseph  had  to  make  any  of  his  work  a 
cubit  or  a  span  longer  or  shorter,  the  Lord  Jesus  used  to 

(229) 


230  APOCRYPHAL  GOSPEL. 

stretch  out  his  hand  towards  it,  and  it  became  such  as 
Joseph  wished."  When  Joseph  had  taken  two  years  to 
make  a  throne,  and  had  got  it  two  spans  shorter  on  each 
side  than  the  proper  measure, "  the  Lord  Jesus  said  to  him, 
take  thou  one  side  and  I  will  take  the  other,  to  set  it  right. 
And  when  each  had  pulled  on  his  own  side  the  throne  was 
made  right.  They  who  were  present  were  amazed,  and 
praised  God." 

Another  time  "  the  Lord  Jesus  seeing  some  boys  who  had 
met  to  play,  followed  them,  but  the  boys  hid  themselves 
from  him,"  and  when  he  asked  for  them  in  their  hiding- 
place  of  some  women,  they  told  him  that  there  were  only 
kids  there.  Whereupon  "  the  Lord  Jesus  cried  aloud  and 
said,  Come  out,  O  kids,  to  your  shepherd.  Then  the  boys 
came  out,  having  the  form  of  kids,  and  began  to  skip  about 
him."  The  women  were  seized  with  fear  and  besought  and 
prayed  him  to  restore  the  boys.  "  The  Lord  Jesus  therefore 
said,  Come,  boys,  let  us  go  and  play;  and  immediately, 
while  the  women  stood  there,  the  kids  were  changed  into 
boys."  At  one  time  "Jesus  assembled  the  boys  as  if  he 
were  their  king,"  and  in  the  play  it  chanced  that  the  boys 
compelling  every  one  to  go  and  adore  their  king,  brought 
certain  who  were  carrying  home  almost  dead  a  boy  whom  a 
deadly  serpent  had  bitten.  Jesus  said  that  they  would  go 
and  kill  the  serpent,  and  coming  to  the  place  Jesus  called 
to  the  serpent  to  come  forth  at  once,  and  he  did  so. 

"And  he  said,  Go  and  suck  out  all  the  venom  which  thou  hast 
infused  into  this  hoy.  The  serpent  therefore  crawled  to  the  hoy  and 
sucked  out  all  the  venom.  Then  the  Lord  Jesus  cursed  him ;  where- 
upon he  was  instantly  rent  asunder,  hut  the  boy,  being  stroked  by  the 
hand  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  became  well  again.  And  when  he  began  to 
weep,  the  Lord  Jesus  said  to  him,  Weep  not,  for  hereafter  thou  shalt 
be  my  disciple.  And  this  was  Simon  the  Canaanite,  of  whom  mention 
is  made  in  the  Gospel." 

On  another  day,  Jesus  went  along  as  companion  while  his 
brother  James  gathered  wood,  and  James  had  his  hand 
bitten  by  a  noxious  viper.  Then  "  the  Lord  Jesus  breathed 
on  the  place ;  whereupon  he  was  instantly  healed."  On  a 


APOCRYPHAL  GOSPEL.  231 

day  "  when  the  Lord  Jesus  was  again  among  the  boys  who 
were  playing  on  a  housetop,  one  of  the  boys  fell  from  above 
and  immediately  died."  The  other  boys  ran  away,  and  the 
dead  boy's  kindred  coming  accused  Jesus  of  pushing  him 
off. 

"  Then  the  Lord  Jesus  came  down,  and  standing  over  him  that  was 
dead,  he  said  in  a  loud  voice,  Zeno,  Zeno,  who  cast  thee  down  from 
the  housetop  ?  Then  he  that  was  dead  answered,  saying,  Lord,  thou 
didst  not  cast  me  down;  but  such  a  one  pushed  me  off.  Then  all  who 
were  present  praised  God  for  this  miracle." 

One  day  "my  lady,  Lady  Mary,  commanded  the  Lord 
Jesus  to  go  and  fetch  her  some  water  from  the  well.  But 
his  ^vater-pot,  already  filled,  was  shattered  and  broken. 
But  the  Lord  Jesus,  spreading  out  his  garment,  took  the 
water  he  had  drawn  to  his  mother,  who  marvelled  at  the 
act.  But  she  laid  up  and  stored  in  her  heart  all  that  she 
saw." 

"  Another  day  the  Lord  Jesus  was  at  the  water-side  with  some  hoys, 
and  they  made  little  pools.  Now  the  Lord  Jesus  had  made  twelve 
sparrows  and  ranged  them  three  on  each  side  about  his  pool;  and  it 
was  the  Sabbath  day.  So  the  son  of  Ananias,  a  Jew,  coming  up  and 
seeing  them  doing  such  things  was  angry  and  indignant.  Do  you, 
then,  said  he,  make  figures  of  clay  on  the  Sabbath  day  ?  and,  running 
up  in  haste,  he  destroyed  their  pools.  Now  when  the  Lord  Jesus  had 
clapped  his  hands  over  the  sparrows  he  had  made,  they  flew  away 
chirping.  Then  the  son  of  Ananias  came  also  to  the  pool  of  Jesus, 
and  kicking  it  down  with  his  shoes,  spilled  the  water  from  it.  And  the 
Lord  Jesus  said  to  him,  As  that  water  hath  disappeared,  so  also  thy 
life  shall  disappear;  and  immediately  the  boy  withered  away.  At 
another  time  when  the  Lord  Jesus  was  returning  home  with  Joseph  in 
the  evening,  he  met  a  boy,  who  ran  and  thrust  him  so  violently  that 
he  fell  down.  The  Lord  Jesus  said  to  him,  As  thou  hast  thrown  me 
down,  so  shalt  thou  fall  and  not  rise;  and  the  same  hour  the  boy  fell 
down  and  breathed  his  last." 

Zacchreus,  a  teacher  of  boys,  said  to  Joseph,  "  Why  dost 
thou  not  bring  me  Jesus  to  learn  letters  ? "  He  was  sent  to 
Zacchseus,  and  having  said  one  letter,  demanded  to  know  its 
meaning  before  he  would  say  another.  The  teacher  was 
about  to  flog  him.  when  he  began  and  explained  all  about 


232  APOCRYPHAL  GOSPEL. 

A  and  B,  and  then  told  all  the  letters,  besides  telling  and 
explaining  "  many  things  which  the  master  himself  had 
never  heard,  nor  had  read  in  any  book."  At  this  the  master 
wondering  said,  "  I  think  this  boy  was  born  before  Noah  ; 
thou  hast  brought  to  me  to  be  taught  a  boy  that  is  wiser 
than  all  teachers.  There  is  no  need  of  instruction  for  this 
thy  son."  Upon  this  "they  brought  him  to  another  and 
more  learned  master,"  and  when  he  had  lifted  up  his  hand 
and  struck  Jesus  because  he  would  not  say  a  second  letter 
unless  he  was  told  what  was  the  meaning  of  the  first,  the 
master's  hand  "  immediately  withered,  and  he  died.  Then 
Joseph  said  to  Lady  Mary,  Henceforth  we  will  not  let  him 
go  out  of  the  house,  for  whoever  opposeth  him  is  punished 
with  death." 

When  taken  at  twelve  years  of  age  to  Jerusalem,  he  not 
only  "  remained  in  the  temple  among  the  doctors  and  elders 
and  learned  men,  and  asked  them  sundry  questions  about 
the  sciences,"  but  "  he  explained  the  Scriptures  and  the 
law  and  the  precepts,  and  the  statutes  and  the  mysteries 
which  are  contained  in  the  books  of  the  prophets — things 
which  the  understanding  of  no  creature  attains  unto." 
Mysteries  of  astronomy  also  he  explained,  "and  other 
things  which  reason  does  not  attain  unto."  And  to  one 
"excellently  skilled  in  the  handling  of  natural  things," 
who  "  asked  the  Lord  Jesus  whether  he  had  studied  medi- 
cine," he  "explained  physics  and  metaphysics,  hyper- 
physics  and  hypophysics,"  and  many  other  things,  including 
"the  operation  of  the  soul  upon  the  body,"  and,  "finally, 
conjunction  and  disjunction,  and  other  things  which  the 
intellect  of  no  creature  attains  unto." 


THE  MOTHER  OF  OUR  LORD.— GOODALL.— One  of  the  most  recent  attempts  of 
art  to  make  an  ideal  presentment  of  the  mother  of  Christ.  She  appears  bringing  an  offering 
after  the  birth  of  her  son— "a  pair  of  turtle-doves."  Luke  ii.  24. 


LIGHT   OF  THE   WORLD.— HOLMAN   HUNT.— A.  study  by  an  eminent 
English  painter  of  the  figure  of  Christ  and  his  office  as  the  Light  of  the  World. 


of  tfye 

World. 


0E 

Tlie  Denominations  in  tf\e  United  States, 

PRECEDED  BT  AN  ACCOUNT  OP 

*he   Jews   Believe. 


THE  national  existence  of  the  Jews  may  be  considered 
as  having  terminated"  with  the  destruction  of  Jerusa- 
lem by  Titus  A.D.  70.  Although  widely  scattered  over  the 
earth,  and  constituting  a  portion  of  almost  every  nation, 
they  present  the  singular  phenomenon  of  a  people  subsisting 
for  ages,  without  their  civil  and  religious  policy,  and  thus 
surviving  even  their  political  existence.  Unlike  other  con- 
quered nations,  they  have  never  mingled  with  the  conquer- 
ors, and  lost  their  separate  name  and  character,  but  they 
invariably  constitute  a  distinct  people  in  every  country  in 
which  they  live. 

In  the  present  sketch  will  be  found  an  account  of  the  re- 
ligious beliefs  and  practices  of  this  truly  wonderful  race. 

ARTICLES   OF  THE  JEWISH   CREED. 

The  religious  customs  of  the  Jews  are  not  all  of  equal  au- 
thority ;  neither  are  they  observed  by  all  alike  ;  for  this  rea- 
son they  are  divided  into  three  classes.  The  first  contains 
the  injunctions  of  the  written  law,  viz.:  those  included  in 
the  Pentateuch,  or  five  books  of  Moses.  The  second  class 
relates  to  the  oral  law,  or  that  which  was  delivered  by 
word  of  mouth.  It  comprehends  those  comments  which  the 
rabbis  and  doctors  made  in  their  days  upon  the  Pentateuch, 
and  an  infinite  variety  of  ordinances.  These  were  collected 

(233) 


234  THE  JEWS. 

into  one  large  volume,  called  the  Talmud.  The  third  class 
includes  such  things  as  custom  has  sanctioned  in  different 
times  and  places,  or  which  have  been  lately  introduced  among 
them.  These  are  properly  termed  customs.  Of  these  three 
classes  the  first  and  second  are  received  by  all  Jews,  where- 
soever dispersed ;  but  in  regard  to  the  third,  they  differ 
greatly  from  each  other ;  because  sojourning  in  various  parts 
of  the  world,  many  of  them  have  adopted  the  names  and 
fallen  into  the  manners  of  the  nations  among  whom  they 
dwell.  In  this  respect  the  greatest  difference  lies  between 
the  Eastern,  German,  and  Italian  Jews. 

The  Jewish  creed  consists  of  thirteen  articles,  from  which 
none  are  permitted  to  swerve.     They  are  as  follows : 

I.  I  believe,  with  a  strong  and  lively  faith,  that  there  is 
one  God,  the  Creator  of  all  things,  and  first  principle  of  all 
beings,  who  is  self-sufficient  and  independent,  and  without 
whom  no  created  being  can  subsist. 

II.  I  believe,  etc.,  that  God  is  one  and  indivisible,  but  of 
an  unity  peculiar  to  himself  alone ;  that  he  has  been,  is,  and 
shall  forever  be,  the  only  God,  blessed  for  evermore. 

III.  I  believe,  etc.,  that  God  is  an  incorporeal  being;  he 
has  no  bodily  quality  of  any  kind  whatever,  which  either  is 
possible,  or  can  any  ways  be  imagined. 

IV.  I  believe,  etc.,  that  God  is  eternal,  and  all  beings,  ex- 
cept himself,  had  once  a  beginning ;  for  God  is  the  begin- 
ning and  end  of  all  things. 

V.  I  believe,  etc.,  that  none  but  God  is  the  object  of  di- 
vine adoration ;  and  no  created  being  ought  to  be  worshipped 
as  a  mediator  or  intercessor. 

VI.  I  believe,  etc.,  that  whatever  is  written  in  the  books 
of  the  prophets  is  true  ;  for  there  have  been,  and  still  may 
be,  prophets  qualified  to  receive  the  inspirations  of  the  Su- 
preme Being. 

VII.  I  believe,  etc.,  in  the  truth  of  the  prophecies  of  our 
master  Moses  (peace  be  with  him) ;  for  Moses  was  a  prophet 
superior  to  all  others ;  and  God  Almighty  honored  him  with 
a  peculiar  gift  of  prophecy  which  was  never  granted  to  any 
of  the  rest. 


ARTICLES  OF  THE  JEWISH  CREED.  235 

VIII.  I  believe,  etc.,  that  the  law  left  by  Moses  (peace  be 
with  him)  was  the  pure  dictate  of  God  himself  ;  and  conse- 
quently the  explication  of  those  commandments,  which  were 
handed  down  by  tradition,  came  entirely  from  the  mouth  of 
God,  who  delivered  it  to  our  master  Moses,  as  we  have  it  at 
the  present  day. 

IX.  I  believe,  etc.,  that  this  law  is  unchangeable,  and  that 
God  will  never  give  another ;  nor  can  there  be  the  least  ad- 
dition to,  or  diminution  from  k. 

X.  I  believe,  etc.,  that  God  perfectly  knows  the  most  se- 
cret thoughts,  and  governs  all  the  actions  of  mankind. 

XI.  I  believe,  etc.,  that  God  will  reward  those  who  observe 
this  law,  and  will  severely  punish  such  as  are  guilty  of  the 
least  violation  of  it.     Eternal  life  is  the  best  and  greatest 
reward,  and  damnation  of  the  soul  the  most  severe  pun- 
ishment. 

XII.  I  believe,  etc.,  that  a  Messiah  shall  come  more  de- 
serving than  all  the  kings  that  have  ever  lived.    Although 
he  thinks  proper  to  delay  his  coming,  no  one  ought  on  that 
account  to  question  the  truth  of  it,  or  set  an  appointed  time 
for  it,  much  less  produce  Scripture  for  the  proof  of  it ;  since 
Israel  will  never  have  any  king  to  rule  over  it  but  one  that 
shall  be  of  the  line  of  David  and  Solomon. 

XIII.  I  believe,  etc.,  that  God  will  raise  the  dead ;  and 
although  I  know  not  when,  yet  it  will  be  when  he  sees  most 
convenient.    Hallowed  be  his  name  forever  and  ever.    Amen. 

The  Jews  go  to  prayers  three  times  every  day  in  their  syn- 
agogues ;  and  when  they  enter  they  bow  towards  the  Hechal, 
or  Ark,  repeating  some  verses  from  the  Psalms  in  an  humble 
tone.  The  first  four  hours  after  sunrise  are  appointed  for 
the  morning  service,  which  is  called  Shachrith.  The  second 
service  is  in  the  afternoon,  and  called  Mincha.  The  third 
at  the  close  of  the  evening,  which  they  call  Arbith.  But  in 
several  places,  on  such  days  as  are  not  festivals,  the  after- 
noon and  evening  prayers,  for  convenience  sake,  are  said  to- 
gether at  sunset. 


236  THE  JEWS. 


PEAYEES  IN  THE  SYNAGOGUE. 

At  their  first  entrance  into  the  synagogue,  having  put  on 
a  devout  and  humble  demeanor,  they  cover  themselves  with 
a  white  embroidered  linen  cloth,  of  an  oblong  figure,  called 
the  Talith,  and  then  pronounce  the  benediction  contained  in 
Numbers,  chapter  x. :  "  Blessed  be  thou,"  etc.  Some  Jews 
only  cover  their  heads  with  the  Talith,  but  others  bring  it 
close  about  their  necks,  that  no  object  may  divert  their 
thoughts,  and  that  their  attention  to  the  prayers  may  in  no 
way  be  interrupted.  In  the  next  place  they  put  on  the 
armlets  and  forehead-pieces,  called  Tefillin,  meaning  that 
which  is  worn  during  the  time  of  prayer.  The  Tefillin  are 
made  as  follows :  They  take  two  slips  of  parchment,  and 
write  on  them  with  great  accuracy,  and  with  ink  made  for 
that  particular  purpose,  these  four  passages,  in  square  let- 
ters, from  Exodus,  chapter  xiii.  1-3,  5-6,  8-10,  11-13. 

These  two  slips  of  parchment  are  rolled  up  together,  and 
wrapped  in  a  piece  of  black  calf -skin :  after  which,  the  lat- 
ter is  fixed  upon  a  thick  square  piece  of  the  same  skin,  leav- 
ing a  slip  thereof  fastened  to  it,  of  about  a  finger's  breadth, 
and  nearly  a  cubit  and  a  half  long.  One  of  these  Tefillin 
is  placed  on  the  bending  of  the  left  arm;  and  after  they 
have  made  a  small  knot  in  the  slip,  they  wind  it  round  the 
arm  in  a  spiral  line,  till  the  end  thereof  reaches  the  end  of  the 
middle  finger  ;  as  for  the  head  Tefillin,  they  write  the  four 
passages  before  mentioned,  upon  four  distinct  pieces  of  vel- 
lum, which,  when  stitched  together,  make  a  square.  Upon 
this  they  write  the  letter  Scin,  and  over  it  they  put  a  square 
piece  of  hard  calf -skin,  as  thick  as  the  other,  from  which  pro- 
ceed two  slips  of  the  same  length  and  breadth  as  the  former. 
They  put  this  square  piece  upon  the  middle  of  their  fore- 
head. The  slips  going  round  their  heads,  form  a  knot 
behind,  in  the  shape  of  the  letter  Daleth,  and  then  hang 
down  before  upon  the  breast.  The  forehead-pieces  are 
usually  put  on  in  the  morning  only,  with  the  Talith.  Some, 
indeed,  wear  them  at  their  noon  prayers  too  ;  but  there  are 


THE  PENTATEUCH.  237 

very  few  who  wear  even  the  Talith  at  those  prayers,  except- 
ing the  Reader. 

God  is  said  to  enter  the  synagogue  as  soon  as  the  door  is 
opened,  and  when  ten  are  assembled  together,  and  each  of 
them  thirteen  years  and  a  day  old,  at  least  (for  otherwise 
certain  prayers  cannot  be  sung  after  a  solemn  manner),  then 
he  is  said  to  be  in  the  midst  of  them,  and  the  Chazan,  or 
Reader,  goes  np  to  the  table,  or  altar,  or  stands  before  the 
ark,  and  begins  to  sing  prayers  aloud,  in  which  the  rest  of 
the  congregation  join,  but  in  a  softer  and  less  audible  voice. 
The  form  and  mode  of  prayer  is  not  uniform  among  the 
Jewish  congregations.  The  Germans  sing  in  a  louder  tone 
than  the  rest.  The  Eastern  and  Spanish  Jews  sing  much 
after  the  same  manner  as  the  Turks ;  and  the  Italians  soft 
and  slow.  Their  prayers  are  longer  or  shorter,  according  as 
the  days  are,  or  are  not,  festival.  In  this  particular,  too,  the 
several  branches  differ  greatly. 

The  rabbis  have  divided  the  five  books  of  Moses  into  fifty- 
two  lessons,  called  Parushioth,  or  divisions ;  and  one  of 
them  is  read  every  week  in  their  synagogues  ;  so  that  in  the 
compass  of  a  year  every  Jew,  be  he  where  he  may,  is  expected 
to  read  the  whole  book  through.  On  Mondays  and  Thurs- 
days, after  having  said  their  penitential  prayers,  they  take 
the  Sefer  Tora,  or  book  of  the  law,  out  of  the  ark,  and  while 
that  verse  of  the  34th  Psalm,  "  O  praise  the  Lord  with  me," 
etc.,  and  some  others  are  repeating,  they  place  it  on  the 
desk  ;  where,  being  opened  and  unrolled,  they  desire  three 
persons  to  read  the  beginning  of  the  Parascia,  which  means 
section  or  chapter,  in  the  same  place  with  them.  And  the 
whole  congregation  repeat  some  words  of  it,  which  are  pre- 
ceded and  followed  with  a  blessing.  After  this,  the  Reader 
gives  them  his  benediction,  and  they  all  promise  either  to 
bestow  something  on  the  poor,  or  to  contribute  towards  the 
necessities  of  the  synagogue.  Then  the  Sefer  Tora  is  held 
up  wide  open,  and  the  Reader,  showing  the  writing  thereof, 
says  to  the  congregation,  according  to  Deuteronomy,  chapter 
iv.,  verse  44,  "This  is  the  law  which  Moses  set  before,"  etc. 
After  this  declaration,  the  book  is  rolled  up  and  covered, 


238  THE  JEWS. 

and  then  shut  up  in  the  ark.     Besides  this,  no  day  must 
pass  without  reading  some  portion  of  the  law  at  home. 

An  epitome  of  the  tenets,  ordinances,  and  traditions  of  all 
the  rabbis  up  to  the  time  of  Rabbi  Juda,  about  120  years 
after  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  called  the  Mishna,  was 
divided  into  six  parts ;  the  first  treats  of  agriculture ;  the 
second  of  festivals ;  the  third  of  marriages,  and  everything 
relating  to  women ;  the  fourth  of  law-suits,  and  of  the  dis- 
putes which  arise  from  loss  or  interest,  and  of  all  manner  of 
civil  affairs  ;  the  fifth,  of  sacrifices ;  and  the  sixth,  of  things 
clean  and  unclean.  This  being  very  concise,  occasioned 
various  disputes  ;  a  circumstance  which  prompted  two  rab- 
bis of  Babylon  to  the  compilation  of  all  the  interpreta- 
tions, controversies,  and  additions  which  had  been  written 
upon  the  Mishna,  together  with  other  supplementary  matter. 
Thus  they  placed  the  Mishna  as  the  text,  and  the  rest  as  an 
exposition  ;  the  whole  forming  the  book  called  the  Talmud 
Babli,  the  Talmud  of  Babylon,  or  Ghemara,  which  signifies 
the  book  of  completion. 


POLISH  JEWS  IN  SYNAGOGUE.— The  Jews  of  Poland,  numbering  about  800,000,  are 
of  an  extreme  type  in  the  intense  conservatism  of  their  devotion  to  Talmudical  observances  and 
in  their  preservatinn  of  a  peculiar  type  of  person  and  dress  almost  unknown  in  lands  where 


LaWs    and    Ceremonies 


THE     JEWS 


SLAVEEY  UNDER  THE  MOSAIC   LAW. 

THE  law  delivered  by  Moses  to  the  Jews  contained  not 
only  directions  for  the  manner  in  which  sacrifices  were 
to  be  offered,  and,  indeed,  the  whole  service,  first  of  the  tab- 
ernacle and  then  of  the  temple,  but,  likewise,  a  system  of 
moral  precepts.  The  distinctions  of  persons,  according  to 
the  different  ranks  in  life,  were  pointed  out.  Women  were 
not  permitted  to  wear  the  same  habit  as  the  men.  Young 
persons  were  commanded  to  stand  up  in  a  reverent  manner 
before  the  aged,  and  to  treat  them  with  every  mark  of  re- 
spect. The  same  justice  was  to  be  done  to  strangers  as  to 
free-born  subjects.  No  stranger  was  to  be  chosen  king  over 
them ;  for,  as  they  were  surrounded  by  heathen  nations,  a 
stranger,  having  the  civil  power  in  his  hands,  might  have 
led  them  into  idolatry.  They  were  commanded  not  to  abhor, 
nor  to  treat  with  contempt,  the  Edomites ;  because  they  were 
the  descendants  of  Esau,  the  elder  brother  of  Jacob ;  nor 
were  they  to  treat  the  Egyptians  with  cruelty. 

Slavery  was  permitted  by  the  law  of  Moses,  but  slaves  or 
bondmen  were  not  to  be  treated  with  cruelty ;  and  the  reason 
assigned  was,  that  the  children  of  Israel  had  themselves  been 
slaves  in  the  land  of  Egypt.  The  Jewish  slavery  was  two- 
fold, and  arose  from  a  variety  of  circumstances.  When  men 
were  reduced  to  poverty,  it  was  in  the  power  of  their  credit- 


240  THE  JEWS. 

ors  to  sell  them :  but  they  were  not  to  be  treated  as  stran- 
gers ;  they  were  to  be  treated  in  the  same  manner  as  hired 
servants  ;  and  when  the  year  of  jubilee  took  place,  they,  and 
their  wives,  with  their  children,  were  to  be  set  at  liberty,  and 
they  were  to  return  to  the  possessions  of  their  ancestors. 
Those  persons  who  were  purchased,  or,  in  other  words,  taken 
into  a  state  of  servitude,  were  not  to  be  sold  by  their  mas- 
ters, nor  were  they  to  be  treated  with  any  sort  of  severity. 
When  a  servant  was  discharged,  his  master  was  to  give  him 
as  much  corn,  wine,  oil,  and  other  necessaries,  as  he  and  his 
wife  and  children  could  carry  home  to  their  houses. 

In  the  patriarchal  age,  the  power  of  masters  over  their 
servants  was  unlimited,  for  they  had  a  right  to  put  them  to 
death  whenever  they  pleased ;  but  after  the  children  of  Israel 
had  returned  from  Egypt,  this  power  was  confined  within 
proper  bounds.  Such  as  engaged  for  a  limited  time  were  to 
have  leave  to  go  out  at  the  expiration  of  it ;  and  if  a  man 
was  married  when  he  entered  into  servitude,  his  wife  and 
children  were  to  be  set  at  liberty;  but  if  his  master  gave 
him  a  wife,  both  she  and  the  children  were  to  remain  the^ 
property  of  the  master.  This  circumstance,  however,  seldom 
took  place,  for  the  law  had  provided  a  remedy.  It  fre- 
quently happened,  that  when  the  term  of  servitude  expired, 
the  servant,  having  no  prospect  of  procuring  a  subsistence, 
and,  at  the  same  time,  unwilling  to  part  with  his  wife  and 
children,  told  his  master  that  he  would  serve  him  during  the 
remainder  of  his  life.  In  such  cases  the  master  took  him 
before  the  elders,  or  judges,  and  in  their  presence  an  awl  was 
bored  through  his  ear  and' fixed  to  a  post  in  the  gate  of  the 
city ;  signifying  that  he  and  his  wife  and  children  were  to 
serve  the  master  till  death.  It  was  the  same  with  women 
servants,  who  were  bound  by  the  same  obligations.  With 
respect  to  strangers,  they  were,  at  all  times,  permitted  to  re- 
deem themselves,  and  this  was  to  be  done  in  an  equitable 
manner  before  the  judges.  All  the  arrears  due  to  them  were 
to  be  paid ;  and  if  the  time  of  their  servitude  was  not  ex- 
pired, then  they  were  to  make  a  proper  deduction,  so  that 
*toa  master  should  not  receive  the  least  injury. 


LAWS  RESPECTING  MARRIAGE.  241 

LAWS   RESPECTING  MARRIAGE. 

Many  of  the  heathen  nations  lived  in  an  incestuous  man- 
ner ;  but  this  practice  was  not  tolerated  under  the  law  of 
Moses.  The  degrees  of  consanguinity  were  so  strictly  at- 
tended to,  that  no  person  was  to  break  through  them  ;  and 
a  table  of  those  degrees  has  always  been  affixed  to  the  Eng- 
lish translation  of  the  Bible.  A  man  was  not  to  marry  two 
sisters,  lest  it  should  create  family  dissensions.  If  a  man 
died  without  having  children,  and  if  he  had  a  brother  alive 
unmarried,  then  the  bachelor  was  to  espouse  the  wide  w ; 
that  by  descendants  the  name  of  the  family  might  be  kept 
up ;  but  the  first-born  child  was  to  succeed  to  the  name  and 
estate  of  the  first  husband.  As  nothing  was  more  odious 
among  the  Jews,  than  for  men  or  women  to  live  unmarried, 
so  if  the  brother-in-law  refused  to  marry  the  sister-in-law,  to 
preserve  the  name  of  his  family,  the  widow  was  to  go  before 
the  judges  in  the  gate  of  the  city,  and  there  exhibit  her  com- 
plaint. This  being  done,  the  brother-in-law  was  called  be- 
fore the  judges,  and  examined  concerning  the  nature  of  his 
objections  ;  and  when  it  was  found  that  he  absolutely  re- 
fused to  marry  the  woman,  then  she  was  called  in,  and  the 
refusal  intimated  to  her.  The  judges  then  were  to  tell  her 
to  act  according  as  the  law  of  Moses  directed ;  and  she, 
stooping  down,  unloosened  the  shoe  from  off  his  right  foot, 
and,  spitting  in  his  face,  declared  her  abhorrence  of  the  man 
who  refused  to  perpetuate  the  name  of  his  family,  and  the 
name  of  his  brother ;  and  from  that  time  forward  he  was 
called  "  The  man  whose  shoe  was  loosed  in  Israel." 

A  woman  was  not  to  marry  into  any  tribe  but  that  to  which 
her  father  belonged.  This  seems  to  have  been  done  to  keep 
up  the  grand  distinctions  among  the  twelve  tribes,  especially 
that  of  Judah ;  from  whom  the  Messiah  was  to  be  descended. 
Moses  permitted  a  man  to  put  away  his  wife,  and  both  par- 
ties were  allowed  to  marry  again.  But  if  a  husband  divorced 
his  wife,  and  she  married  a  second  husband,  who  afterwards 
died,  then  the  first  husband  was  not  to  take  the  woman 
again.  This  was  done  to  discourage  divorces.  Every  man 


242  THE  JEWS. 

was  exempted  from  going  to  war,  and  from  all  public  busi- 
ness, during  the  first  year  of  his  marriage ;  and  the  reason 
was,  that  there  might  not  be  too  many  young  widows  or 
fatherless  children  among  them.  Every  widow  and  orphan 
were  to  be  considered  as  objects  of  compassion ;  and  those 
who  treated  them  with  cruelty  were  to  be  considered  as  ob- 
jects of  the  Divine  displeasure.  Nay,  it  was  further  threat- 
ened in  this  law,  that  those  who  oppressed  the  widow  and 
the  fatherless  should  die  an  ignominious  death  ;  that  their 
widows  should  be  exposed  to  want,  and  their  children  sub- 
jected to  hardships. 

As  polygamy  was  permitted  among  the  Jews,  great  care 
was  taken  that  no  abuses  should  happen,  in  consequence  of 
partiality  in  favor  of  the  children  of  the  second  or  third  wife, 
in  preference  to  those  of  the  first.  It  was  ordered,  that 
although  the  first  wife  should  be  despised,  or  even  hated  by 
her  husband,  yet  her  first-born  son  should  succeed  to  the  in- 
heritance ;  and  the  judges  were  under  the  most  solemn  obli- 
gations to  see  this  part  of  the  law  properly  executed.  Pro- 
vision, however,  was  made  for  the  rest  of  the  children,  and 
amongst  them  the  personal  estate  was  divided  without  any 
partial  respect ;  but  if  there  was  no  personal  estate,  then  two- 
thirds  of  the  real  estate  were  given  to  the  first-born,  and  the 
third  divided  equally  among  the  rest. 

In  military  affairs,  the  law  of  Moses  was  well  calculated  to 
promote  the  interests  of  the  commonwealth,  and  was  alto- 
gether suitable  to  the  genius,  times,  and  circumstances  of  the 
people.  Every  family  was  obliged  to  return  to  the  chiefs  of 
the  tribes  a  list  of  all  the  males  upwards  of  twenty  years  of 
age,  fit  to  carry  arms.  When  the  return  was  made,  the  males 
of  each  tribe  were  called  together,  and  the  following  ques- 
tions were  asked  them,  one  by  one  :  "  Has  any  man  built  a 
house,  and  has  not  had  time  to  dedicate  it  ?  Has  any  man 
planted  a  vineyard,  and  not  yet  eaten  of  the  fruit  of  it  ?  Has 
any  man  betrothed  a  wife,  and  not  yet  married  her  ?  Is  any 
man  fearful  or  faint-hearted  to  go  against  the  enemy  ?  Then 
let  all  those  return  home,  and  attend  to  their  domestic 
duties." 


CIVIL  JEWISH  LAWS.  243 

According  to  the  Jewish  law,  when  they  attacked  a  city 
they  were  to  offer  terms  of  peace  to  the  inhabitants,  upon 
condition  of  surrendering  themselves  up  prisoners  of  war, 
and  submitting  to  the  will  of  the  conqueror ;  which  was,  that 
they  should  pay  a  certain  tribute.  But  if  the  citizens  refused 
to  accept  of  the  proffered  terms,  then  the  place  was  to  be 
attacked,  and  if  taken,  all  the  males  were  to  be  put  to  the 
sword.  The  women  and  children  were  to  be  sold  as  slaves  ; 
the  cattle,  and  all  the  goods  were  to  be  taken  and  distributed 
equally  among  the  soldiers,  after  which  the  city  was  to  be 
reduced  to  ashes. 

Wilful  murder  was  to  be  punished  with  death ;  for  thus 
it  was  written  in  the  Mosaic  law : 

"  And  if  he  smite  him  with  an  instrument  of  iron  (so  that  he 
die),  he  is  a  murderer.  The  murderer  shall  surely  be  put  to 
death.  And  if  he  smite  him  with  throwing  a  stone  (where- 
with he  may  die),  and  he  die,  he  is  a  murderer."  In  the  same 
manner,  if  he  smote  him  with  an  instrument  of  wood,  so  that 
he  died,  he  was  a  murderer ;  but  still  no  crime  could  be  called 
murder,  unless  there  was  malice  in  the  offending  party.  In 
all  such  cases,  the  nearest  of  kin  had  a  right  to  put  the  mur- 
derer to  death  with  his  own  hands.  The  difference  between 
murder  and  manslaughter  was  pointed  out,  and  a  straight 
line  of  distinction  drawn.  Thus,  if  there  had  been  no  malice 
between  the  contending  parties,  and  it  happened  that  one  of 
them  killed  the  other  suddenly,  then  the  aggressor  was  to 
flee  to  the  city  of  refuge,  where  he  was  kept  in  a  state  of 
safety,  until  the  judges  had  inquired  into  the  affair.  This 
was  done  in  a  very  solemn  manner,  and,  what  is  remarkable, 
the  evidence  was  delivered  in  the  hearing  of  all  those  who 
lived  in  the  district  where  the  affair  happened. 

When  a  solemn  inquiry  was  made,  and  it  was  found  that 
the  aggressor  entertained  malice  against  the  deceased,  then 
he  was  delivered  up  to  the  avenger  of  blood  to  be  put  to 
death.  But  if  it  was  found  that  no  malice  had  existed  be- 
tween the  parties,  then  the  judges  were  to  see  the  offender 
safely  conducted  to  the  city  of  refuge,  where  he  was  to  remain 
as  an  inhabitant  till  the  death  of  the  high-priest.  During 


244  THE  JEWS. 

that  time,  if  he  ventured  to  go  out  of  the  city  of  refuge,  the 
avenger  of  blood  had  a  right  to  put  him  to  death  ;  but  when 
the  high-priest  died,  he  was  restored  to  the  peaceable  enjoy- 
ment of  his  temporal  possessions.  When  it  happened  that 
a  pregnant  woman  was  injured  so  as  to  occasion  her  mis- 
carrying, then  the  husband  was  to  demand  a  line  from  the 
offending  party,  and  the  judges  were  to  determine  how  much 
was  equitable.  It  was  common  in  the  Eastern  countries  to 
steal  children,  and  sell  them  to  be  brought  up  as  slaves  ;  but 
the  law  of  Moses  absolutely  prohibited  this  practice,  and  the 
offender  was  to  be  put  to  death. 

In  some  cases,  offenders  were  permitted  to  take  shelter  on 
the  horns  of  the  altar,  the  place  to  which  the  victim  was 
bound ;  but  if  he  was  a  murderer,  and  found  guilty  by  the 
judges,  then  the  executioners  had  a  right  to  drag  him  from 
the  altar  and  put  him  to  death. 


BETROTHALS   AND   MARRIAGE. 

Every  Jew  is  under  an  indispensable  obligation  to  marry, 
the  time  appointed  for  it  by  their  rabbis  being  at  eighteen 
years  of  age ;  and  he  who  lives  single  till  he  is  twenty  is 
reckoned  to  live  in  the  actual  commission  of  a  known  sin. 

They  are  allowed  to  marry  their  nieces,  that  is,  their  broth- 
er's or  sister's  daughters,  and  likewise  their  first  cousins  ;  but 
a  nephew  must  not  intermarry  with  his  aunt,  that  the  law  of 
nature  may  not  be  reversed :  for  when  the  uncle  marries  his 
niece,  the  same  person  remains  as  the  head  who  was  so  be- 
fore ;  but  when  the  nephew  marries  his  aunt,  he  becomes,  as 
it  were,  her  head,  and  she  must  pay  homage  to  him  ;  by 
which  means  the  law  is  reversed.  The  other  degrees  of  con- 
sanguinity which  are  forbidden,  may  be  seen  in  the  18th 
chapter  of  Leviticus.  A  widow,  or  a  woman  divorced  from 
her  husband,  cannot  marry  again  till  ninety  days  after  the 
death  of  the  one,  or  separation  of  the  other,  that  it  may  there- 
by be  certainly  known  whether  the  first  husband  is  father  of 
the  child  which  may  afterwards  be  born.  If  a  man  dies  and 
leaves  behind  him  an  infant  that  suckles,  the  widow  cannot 


MARRIAGE  CUSTOMS.  245 

marry  again  till  the  child  be  two  years  old ;  the  rabbis  hav* 
ing  limited  that  time,  for  the  better  maintenance  and  educa- 
tion of  the  orphan.  The  Jews  often  marry  their  children 
very  young,  fchough  the  marriage  is  not  consummated  till 
they  are  of  a  proper  age ;  therefore,  when  a  child  who  is 
under  ten  years  of  age  (whether  her  father  be  alive  or  dead) 
becomes  a  widow,  and  afterwards  marries  with  the  consent 
of  her  mother,  or  brothers,  a  man  whom  she  does  not  approve 
of,  she  may  have  a  divorce  at  any  time  till  she  attains  the 
age  of  twelve  years  and  one  day,  at  which  period  she  is 
deemed  a  woman.  If  she  declares  that  she  will  not  have 
such  a  man,  it  is  sufficient ;  and  when  she  has  taken  two 
witnesses  to  set  down  her  refusal  in  writing,  she  may  obtain 
a  divorce,  and  marry  again  with  whom  she  pleases. 

When  the  Jews  have  settled  the  terms  of  accommodation 
the  marriage  articles  are  signed  by  the  husband  and  the  re- 
lations of  the  wife ;  after  which  the  former  pays  a  formal 
visit  to  the  latter,  and,  before  witnesses,  takes  her  by  the 
hand,  saying :  "  Be  thou  my  spouse."  On  the  wedding-day 
the  bride  and  bridegroom  dress  in  all  the  grandeur  and  mag- 
nificence their  circumstances  will  admit  of,  and  the  bride  is 
conducted  in  pomp  to  the  house  intended  for  the  celebration 
of  the  nuptials  by  several  married  women  and  maidens,  who 
are  her  friends  and  acquaintances.  She  is  first  bareheaded, 
and  her  hair  all  loose  and  in  disorder.  After  this  she  is  seated 
between  two  venerable  matrons,  and  her  friends  flock  round 
about  her,  comb  her  head,  curl  her  hair,  dress  her,  and  put 
on  her  veil,  for  virgin  modesty  forbids  her  to  look  her  in- 
tended husband  in  the  face.  In  this  she  imitates  the  chaste 
Eebecca,  who  covered  her  face  when  Isaac  cast  his  eyes  upon 
her.  For  the  solemnization  of  the  marriage  the  lovers  who 
are  betrothed  meet,  at  an  hour  appointed  for  that  purpose, 
in  a  kind  of  state-room.  The  bridegroom  is  conducted  thither 
by  the  bridemen,  friends,  etc.,  and  the  bride  by  her  train—- 
the whole  company  crying  out :  "  Blessed  be  the  man  that 
cometh."  They  now  sit  on  a  nuptial-throne,  under  a  canopy, 
whilst  a  select  band  of  music  plays  before  them  ;  or  whilst 
children,  as  is  the  custom  in  some  places,  move  in  solemn 


246  THE  JEWS. 

order  round  them,  having  torches  in  their  hands  and  singing 
some  appropriate  words.  All  those  who  are  of  their  syna- 
gogue being  assembled  (that  is,  ten  men  at  least,  else  the 
marriage  is  null  and  void),  a  Talith  is  put  upon  the  heads  of 
the  bridegroom  and  bride.  It  has  the  tufts  hanging  down 
at  the  corners,  in  imitation  of  Boaz,  who  threw  the  skirts  of 
his  robe  over  Ruth.  After  this  the  rabbi  of  the  place,  or 
the  reader  of  the  synagogue,  or  some  near  relation,  takes  a 
glass  or  any  other  vessel  filled  with  wine,  and  having  blessed 
God  for  the  creation  of  man  and  woman  and  the  institution 
of  matrimony,  says :  "  Blessed  art  thou,  O  Lord,  our  God ! 
king  of  the  universe,  the  creator  of  the  fruit  of  the  vine. 
Blessed  art  thou,  O  Lord,  our  God,  king  of  the  universe,  who 
hath  sanctified  us  with  his  commandments,  and  hath  forbid 
us  fornication,  and  hath  prohibited  unto  us  the  betrothed, 
but  hath  allowed  unto  us  those  that  are  married  unto  us  by 
the  means  of  the  canopy  and  the  wedding-ring.  Blessed  art 
thou,  O  Lord !  the  sanctifier  of  his  people  Israel,  by  the  means 
of  the  canopy  and  wedlock." 

Then  the  bridegroom  and  bride  drink  of  the  wine.  The 
bride  now  walks  three  times  round  the  bridegroom,  and  he 
does  the  same  twice  round  her.  This  ceremony  is  said  to  be 
grounded  on  Jeremiah,  chapter  xxxi.,  verse  22:  "A  woman 
shall  compass  a  man,"  etc.  Then  the  bridegroom,  putting  a 
ring  upon  the  finger  of  his  bride,  who  stands  on  his  right 
hand,  before  two  or  more  credible  witnesses,  who  are  com- 
monly rabbis,  says :  "  Thou  art  my  wife,  according  to  the 
ceremonies  of  Moses  and  Israel."  After  this  the  marriage 
articles  are  read,  wherein  the  bridegroom  acknowledges  the 
receipt  of  the  consideration  money,  the  obligation  he  is  un- 
der to  make  his  wife  a  jointure,  and  to  maintain,  honor,  and 
cherish  her,  and  live  peaceably  with  her  all  the  days  of  his 
life.  For  the  due  performance  of  all  the  articles  above  men- 
tioned he  gives  a  duplicate  to  his  wife's  relations.  After 
this,  more  wine  is  brought  in  a  new  vessel ;  and  having  sung 
more  benedictions,  the  bride  and  bridegroom  drink  a  second 
time,  and  the  residue  of  the  wine  is  thrown  upon  the  ground 
as  a  declaration  of  their  joy.  The  glass  or  vessel  being  empty. 


FUNERAL  CEREMONIES.  247 

the  bridegroom  throws  it  on  the  ground  and  breaks  it  to 
pieces.  In  the  meantime  all  persons  present  cry  out,  Mazal 
tou,  "  May  it  prove  propitious,"  and  then  withdraw. 

On  the  Sabbath-day  morning,  after  the  consummation  of 
their  marriage,  the  bridegroom  and  the  bride  go  to  the  syn- 
agogue together.  The  bride  is  attended  by  all  the  women 
that  were  present  at  the  wedding.  At  the  lessons  of  the  Pen- 
tateuch the  bridegroom  is  desired  to  read.  He  then  promises 
to  give  liberally  to  the  poor,  and  all  who  come  with  him  fol- 
low his  example.  When  prayers  are  over  the  men  wait  on 
the  bridegroom  home,  and  the  women  on  the  bride ;  after 
which  they  part,  with  abundance  of  courtesy  and  complai- 
sance. The  bridegroom,  in  some  places,  lives  during  the  first 
week  with  his  wife's  relations,  where  he  amuses  himself,  and 
entertains  his  friends  and  acquaintance. 

These  are  the  general  practices  in  all  Jewish  weddings, 
though  there  are  some  little  variations  observed  according 
to  the  various  countries  in  which  they  live. 

FUNERAL   CEREMONIES. 

'Mi:    , 

When  the  person  who  is  ill  is  in  danger  of  death,  or  just 
expiring,  they  never  leave  him  alone,  but  watch  with  him 
day  and  night.  They  salute  him,  and  take  their  last  fare- 
well, just  at  the  moment  when  the  soul  is  separating  from  the 
body.  To  be  present  at  the  separation  of  the  soul  from  the 
body,  especially  if  the  person  be  a  learned  or  pious  man, 
in  their  opinion,  is  not  only  a  laudable,  but  a  meritorious 
action.  The  person  who  is  present  when  the  sick  man  gives 
up  the  ghost,  according  to  ancient  custom,  tears  some  part 
of  his  own  garments.  This  rent  is  generally  made  on  the 
right  side  of  the  forepart  of  the  clothes,  and  must  be  the 
eighth  of  a  yard  in  length.  When  they  mourn  for  a  father 
or  mother,  all  the  clothes  must  be  rent  on  the  right  side ; 
Whereas  the  left  side  of  the  outward  garment  only  is  torn, 
if  it  be  for  a  distant  relation.  The  rent  is  always  from  top 
to  bottom ;  whereas  that  of  the  ancient  priests  was,  former- 
ly, from  bottom  to  top.  As  soon  as  any  one  is  dead,  his 


248  THE  JEWS. 

eyes  and  mouth  are  closed,  his  body  is  laid  upon  the  ground 
in  a  sheet,  his  face  is  covered,  and  a  lighted  taper  is  set  by 
his  head.  After  this,  the  corpse  is  thoroughly  washed  with 
warm  water,  in  which  camomile  and  dried  roses  have  been 
boiled.  In  the  next  place,  a  shirt  and  drawers  are  put  on, 
and  over  them  some  put  a  kind  of  surplice  of  fine  linen,  a 
Talith,  or  square  cloak,  and  a  white  cap  on  the  head.  They 
now  bend  his  thumb  close  to  the  palm  of  the  hand,  and  tie  it 
with  the  strings  of  his  Talith  ;  for  he  goes  to  the  other  world 
with  his  veil  on.  The  thumb  thus  bent  stands  in  the  form 
of  Shaddai,  which  is  one  of  God's  attributes.  The  deceased, 
in  all  other  respects,  has  his  hand  open,  as  a  testimony  that 
he  relinquishes  all  his  worldly  goods. 

When  dressea,  the  deceased  is  laid  on  his  back  in  a  coffin 
made  on  purpose,  with  one  linen  cloth  under,  and  another 
over  him.  If  the  party  deceased  be  a  person  of  consider- 
able note,  his  coffin  is  made  in  some  places  with  a  pointed 
top ;  and  if  a  rabbi,  a  considerable  number  of  books  are  laid 
upon  it.  Then  the  coffin  is  covered  with  black,  and  a  small 
bag  of  earth  is  deposited  under  the  head  of  the  dead.  The 
coffin  is  now  nailed  up,  and  conveyed  to  a  grave  as  near  the 
place  as  possible  where  the  family  of  the  deceased  are  in- 
terred. All  the  people  now  crowd  round  about  it;  and 
since  the  attendance  on  a  corpse,  and  the  conveyance  of  it  to 
the  grave,  is  looked  upon  as  a  very  meritorious  action,  they 
all  carry  it  upon  their  shoulders  by  turns  some  part  of  the 
way.  In  some  places  the  mourners  follow  the  corpse  with 
lighted  flambeaux  in  their  hands,  singing  some  melancholy 
anthem  as  they  march  along.  In  others,  this  ceremony  is 
omitted.  The  relations,  however,  who  are  in  mourning,  ac- 
company the  corpse  in  tears  to  the  grave.  In  this  solemn 
manner  the  dead  are  carried  to  the  burial-place,  which  is 
most  commonly  a  field  set  apart  for  that  purpose,  called 
Beth  Hachaim,  or  "House  of  the  living":  the  dead  being 
looked  upon  as  living,  on  account  of  their  immortal  souls. 
When  the  deceased  is  laid  in  his  grave,  if  he  has  been  a 
person  of  any  extraordinary  merit,  there  is  generally  a 
proper  person  present,  who  makes  his  funeral  oration.  As 


THE  SANHEDRIN.  249 

soon  as  this  eulogium  is  over,  they  repeat  the  prayer  called 
Zidduc  Haddin,  "the  justice  of  the  judgment,"  which  be- 
gins with  these  words  of  Deuteronomy,  chapter  xxxii.,  verse 
4,  "  He  is  the  rock,  his  work  is  perfect ;  for  all  his  ways  are 
judgment,"  etc.  At  their  departure  from  the  grave,  every  one 
tears  up  two  or  three  handf  uls  of  grass,  and  throws  it  behind 
him,  repeating,  at  the  same  time,  these  words  of  the  72d 
Psalm,  verse  6,  "They  of  the  city  shall  nourish  like  the 
grass  of  the  earth."  This  they  do  by  way  of  acknowledg- 
ment of  the  resurrection.  They  then  wash  their  hands,  sit 
down,  and  rise  again  nine  times  successively,  repeating  the 
91st  Psalm,  "He  that  dwelleth  in  the  secret  place  of  the 
Most  High."  After  this,  they  return  to  their  respective 
places  of  abode. 

After  the  expiration  of  the  ten  days,  they  leave  the  house, 
and  go  to  the  synagogue,  where  several  of  them  order  lamps 
to  be  lighted  on  each  side  of  the  Hechal  or  Ark,  procure 
prayers  to  be  said,  and  offer  charitable  contributions  for  the 
soul  of  the  deceased.  This  ceremony  is  repeated  at  the  close 
of  each  month,  and  likewise  of  the  year.  And  if  the  per- 
son who  is  dead  be  a  rabbi,  or  a  man  of  worth  and  distinc- 
tion, they  make  his  Esped  upon  those  days ;  that  is,  a 
funeral  discourse  in  commendation  of  his  virtues.  A  son 
goes  daily  to  the  synagogue,  morning  and  night,  and  there 
repeats  the  prayer  called  Cadish,  that  is  Holy,  for  the  soul 
of  his  mother  or  father,  for  eleven  months  successively ;  and 
some  of  them  fast  annually  on  the  day  of  the  death  of  their 
respective  relatives. 

THE  SANHEDRIM. 

The  Sanhedrin,  the  supreme  judicial  authority,  formerly 
existing  among  the  Jews,  was  instituted  in  the  time  of  the 
Maccabees  (some  ascribe  to  it  an  earlier  origin),  and  was 
composed  of  seventy -two  members.  The  high-priest  generally 
sustained  the  office  of  president  in  this  tribunal.  The  next 
officers  in  authority  were  the  first  and  second  vice-presidents. 
The  members  who  were  admitted  to  a  seat  in  the  Sanhedrin 
were  as  follows :— 1.  Chief  priests,  who  are  often  mentioned 


250  THE  JEWS. 

in  the  New  Testament  and  in  Josephus,  as  if  they  were  many 
in  number.  They  consisted  partly  of  priests  who  had  pre- 
viously exercised  the  high-priesthood,  and  partly  of  the 
heads  of  the  twenty-four  classes  of  priests,  who  were  called 
in  an  honorary  way,  high  or  chief  priests.  2.  Elders,  that  is 
to  say,  the  princes  of  the  tribes,  and  the  heads  of  family  asso- 
ciations. 3.  The  Scribes,  or  learned  men.  Not  all  the  scribes 
and  elders  were  members,  but  only  those  who  were  chosen  or 
nominated  by  the  proper  authority. 

The  Sanhedrin  was  the  great  court  of  judicature.  It 
judged  of  all  capital  offences  against  the  law.  It  had  the 
power  of  inflicting  punishment  by  scourging  and  by  death. 
Its  power  had  been  limited  in  the  time  of  Christ,  by  the  in- 
terference of  the  Romans,  and  the  consistory  itself  terminated 
its  functions  upon  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem.  They  were 
never  able  to  re-establish  themselves  since,  nor  is  anything 
related  of  them  in  the  history  of  our  own  times,  except  the 
council  which  the  Jews  held  in  Hungary  in  the  seventeenth 
century,  and  the  convocation  held  at  Paris,  under  the  aus- 
pices of  Napoleon,  in  1806,  already  mentioned. 


WOKSHIP  IN  THE  SYNAGOGUE. 

The  worship  in  the  synagogue,  with  its  appendant  school 
or  law-court,  where  lectures  were  given,  and  knotty  points 
of  the  law  debated,  became  the  great  bond  of  national  union, 
and  has  continued,  though  the  monarchical  centre  of  unity 
in  Tiberias  disappeared  in  a  few  centuries,  to  hold  together 
the  scattered  nation  in  the  closest  uniformity.  This  was 
extremely  simple.  Wherever  ten  Jews  were  found,  there  a 
synagogue  ought  to  be  formed.  It  was  a  custom,  therefore, 
in  some  of  the  more  numerous  communities,  to  appoint  ten 
"  men  of  leisure,"  whose  business  it  was  to  form  a  congrega- 
tion. In  the  arrangement  of  the  synagogue  some  remote  re- 
semblance to  the  fallen  temple  was  kept  up.  The  entrance 
was  from  the  east ;  and  in  the  centre  stood  an  elevated  tri- 
bune or  rostrum,  from  which  prayer  was  constantly  offered, 
and  the  book  of  the  Law  read.  At  the  west  end  stood  a 


WORSHIP  IN  THE  SYNAGOGUE.  251 

chest,  in  which  the  book  was  laid  up,  making  the  place,  as 
it  were,  the  humble  Holy  of  Holies,  though  now  no  longer 
separated  by  a  veil,  nor  protected  by  the  Cherubim  and 
Mercy-Seat.  Particular  seats,  usually  galleries,  were  railed 
off  for  the  women. 

The  chief  religious  functionary  ascended  the  tribune,  re- 
peated or  chanted  the  prayers,  his  head  during  the  cere- 
mony being  covered  with  a  veil.  He  called  the  reader  from 
his  place,  opened  the  book  before  him,  pointed  out  the  pas- 
sage and  overlooked  him  that  he  read  correctly.  The  read- 
ers, who  were  three  in  number  on  the  ordinary  days,  seven 
on  the  morning  of  the  Sabbath,  five  on  festivals,  were  se- 
lected from  the  body  of  the  people.  The  Law  of  course  was 
read,  and  the  prayers  likewise  repeated,  in  the  Hebrew  lan- 
guage. The  days  of  public  service  in  the  synagogue  were 
the  Sabbath,  the  second  and  fifth  days  of  the  week,  Monday 
and  Thursday.  There  was  an  officer  in  the  synagogues  out 
of  Palestine,  and  probably  even  within  its  borders,  called  an 
interpreter,  who  translated  the  law  into  the  vernacular 
tongue,  usually  Greek  in  the  first  case,  or  Syro-Chaldaic  in 
the  latter.  The  rabbis,  besides  the  privilege  of  preaching, 
and  instructing  their  pupils,  have  that  of  binding  and  loos- 
ing, that  is,  of  determining  whether  a  thing  be  forbidden  or 
allowed.  When  thJs  power  is  conferred  upon  them,  they  have 
the  five  books  of  Moses,  and  a  Tcey,  put  into  their  hands. 
They  create  new  doctors,  and  ordain  them  by  imposition  of 
hands,  as  Moses,  just  before  his  death,  laid  his  hands  on 
Joshua,  his  successor,  and  gave  him  his  benediction;  but 
they  limit  and  restrain  their  power  as  they  see  most  con- 
venient ;  one  being  confined  to  interpret  the  law,  or  such 
questions  only  as  relate  thereunto  ;  and  another  to  judge  of 
controversies  arising  upon  those  questions. 


Jewisft  Festivats 

and   Hofijdajjs, 


THE  JEWISH  SABBATH. 

THERE  is  no  festival  which  the  Jews  have  so  great  a 
veneration  for  as  the  Sabbath  day ;  because  they  say 
it  was  instituted  immediately  after  the  creation  of  the  world, 
and  is  mentioned  in  various  places  and  at  sundry  times  in 
their  sacred  writings ;  particularly  in  the  decalogue,  where- 
in the  performance  of  the  least  thing  upon  that  day  is  for- 
bidden, and  a  general  rest  from  all  labors  is  commanded. 

They  must  not  either  kindle  fire,  nor  extinguish  it,  upon 
this  day ;  in  compliance  with  what  is  written  in  the  35th 
chapter  of  Exodus,  verse  3 :  "Ye  shall  kindle  no  fire  through- 
out your  habitations  upon  the  Sabbath  day."  Nay,  they  are 
not  allowed  to  touch  it ;  not  even  to  stir  it  up.  They  are  not 
suffered  even  to  light  up  or  extinguish  a  lamp ;  they  may 
employ,  however,  any  servant  that  is  not  a  Jew  to  kindle 
their  fire ;  if  they  do  not,  they  either  dispose  it  so  that  it 
lights  of  itself,  or  else  they  sit  in  the  cold. 

They  dress  no  meat  upon  the  Sabbath ;  neither  are  they 
allowed  to  taste  anything  that  has  been  dressed,  or  that  grew, 
or  was  gathered  on  that  day.  They  are  not  allowed  to  carry 
any  burden  on  that  day ;  so  that  they  wear  no  more  clothes 


THE  JEWISH  SABBATH.  253 

than  what  is  absolutely  necessary  to  cover  them.  Their  ex- 
actness extends  even  to  the  garb  of  their  women,  children, 
and  servants,  and  to  the  loading  of  their  beasts.  They  are 
forbidden  on  this  day  to  talk  of  any  worldly  affairs ;  to  make 
any  bargain  with  respect  to  buying  and  selling  ;  or,  to  give 
or  take  anything  by  way  of  payment.  Neither  must  they 
handle  or  touch  any  of  the  tools  of  their  trade,  or  any  other 
things,  the  use  whereof  is  prohibited  on  the  Sabbath  day. 
They  never  engage  in  any  work  on  the  Friday,  but  what 
they  can  accomplish  with  ease  before  the  evening ;  and  what- 
ever is  necessary  for  the  Sabbath  is  prepared  beforehand. 
About  an  hour  before  sunset,  they  take  the  provision  which 
is  intended  for  the  next  day,  and  deposit  it  in  a  warm  place ; 
after  which  all  manner  of  work  is  over.  In  some  towns,  a 
man  is  appointed  on  purpose  to  give  notice  about  half  an 
hour  before  the  Sabbath  begins,  that  every  one  may  cease 
from  his  labors  in  convenient  and  due  time. 

The  Jewish  Sabbath  begins  half  an  hour  before  sunset,  and, 
consequently,  from  that  instant  all  prohibitions  are  strictly 
observed.  For  this  reason  the  women,  even  the  most  neces- 
sitous, are  obliged,  previously,  to  light  up  a  lamp,  which  has 
seven  lights,  emblematical  of  the  seven  days  of  the  week. 
This  lamp  burns  the  greatest  part  of  the  night.  In  order  to 
begin  the  Sabbath  well,  many  of  them  put  on  clean  linen, 
wash  their  hands  and  face,  and  go  to  the  synagogue,  where 
they  say  the  92d  Psalm,  "  It  is  a  good  thing  to  give  thanks 
to  the  Lord,"  etc.,  with  their  common  prayers.  They  also 
thank  God  that,  by  his  separation  of  them  from  the  rest  of 
mankind,  he  has  reserved  and  chosen  their  nation  from  all 
others,  as  his  only  favorite.  To  these  prayers  and  thanks- 
givings, they  add  a  commemoration  of  the  Sabbath  in  these 
words,  from  the  2d  Genesis,  "Thus  the  heavens  were  fin- 
ished," etc. — "  And  God  blessed  the  seventh  day,"  etc. 

They  go  directly  home  from  the  synagogue ;  and  their 
usual  salutation  to  each  other  afterwards,  is,  "  a  good  Sab- 
bath to  you,"  and  not  "good-evening,"  or  "good-morning." 
Moreover,  the  fathers  bless  their  children,  and  the  doctors 
their  pupils,  on  that  day ;  others  add  to  these  benedictions 


254  THE  JEWS. 

several  portions  of  their  sacred  writings,  in  commemoration 
of  the  Sabbath  ;  some  before  meat,  and  some  after,  according 
to  the  custom  of  the  place  where  they  sojourn. 

When  the  whole  family  is  seated  at  supper,  the  master  of 
the  house  holds  a  glass  of  wine  in  his  hand,  and  pronounces 
these  words,  out  of  the  2d  of  Genesis,  "Thus  the  heavens 
were  finished,"  etc.  He  then  returns  God  thanks  for  having 
instituted  and  appointed  the  strict  observance  of  the  Sab- 
bath, and  blesses  the  wine.  He  then  drinks  some  part  of  it 
himself,  looking  steadfastly  on  the  Sabbath  lamps,  and  then 
gives  a  small  quantity  to  such  as  sit  at  the  table  with  him. 
After  this,  he  repeats  the  23d  Psalm,  "  The  Lord  is  my  shep- 
herd," etc.  Then  he  blesses  the  bread,  holding  it  up  on  high 
with  both  his  hands  whilst  he  pronounces  the  name  of  the 
Lord.  He  now  distributes  it  all  round,  and  the  family  eat 
and  amuse  themselves  that  evening  and  the  next  day  as 
agreeably  as  they  can.  Supper  being  over  they  wash  their 
hands,  and  some  Jews,  after  they  have  eaten,  repeat  the  104th 
Psalm,  "  Bless  the  Lord,  0  my  soul,"  etc. 

In  the  evening  they  go  to  the  synagogue  again,  and  join 
the  remembrance  of  the  Sabbath  with  their  common  prayers ; 
and  three  persons  read  out  of  the  Pentateuch  the  beginning 
of  the  section  for  the  week  following.  They  have  likewise  a 
commemoration  of  the  dead,  and  sometimes  a  prayer  for  them 
on  the  Sabbath,  after  which  those  who  can  afford  it  are  very 
charitable  and  beneficent  to  the  poor.  They  usually  make 
three  meals  in  the  twenty-four  hours  of  the  Sabbath ;  the 
first  is  on  the  Friday,  after  evening  service ;  the  other  two 
on  the  day  following.  The  cloth  is  never  removed  during  the 
whole  time. 

As  soon  as  night  comes  on,  and  they  can  discover  three 
stars  in  the  heavens  of  any  considerable  magnitude,  the  Sab- 
bath is  over,  and  they  are  allowed  to  go  to  work ;  because  the 
evening  prayer,  which  they  rather  delay  than  hasten,  is  then 
begun.  To  the  usual  prayer  for  the  evening,  they  add  a  re- 
membrance of  the  Sabbath,  which  is  distinguished  from  the 
other  days  of  the  week ;  also  the  91st  Psalm,  "  He  that  dwell- 
eth  in  the  secret  place  of  the  Most  High,"  etc.  To  this,  sev- 


JEWISH  FESTIVALS.  255 

eral  portions  of  their  scripture,  and  several  benedictions  and 
good  wishes,  are  likewise  added. 

JEWISH  FESTIVALS. 

The  new  moon  is  a  festival,  because  it  is  instituted  and 
appointed  in  the  Book  of  Numbers ;  and  because  there  was 
a  new  and  grand  sacrifice  offered  on  that  day.  This  festival 
is  sometimes  part  of  two  several  days,  that  is,  the  end  of  one 
day  and  the  beginning  of  another.  They  are  not  debarred 
from  working  or  trading  upon  this  day ;  the  women  only, 
who  are  exempted  from  all  labor  during  the  festival,  lay 
aside  their  work,  and  they  all  indulge  themselves  a  little 
more  than  usual  in  the  way  of  living.  The  Jews  say  that 
the  new  moon  is  in  a  peculiar  manner  the  women's  festival, 
in  commemoration  of  their  liberality  in  parting  with  their 
most  valuable  jewels,  to  contribute  to  the  magnificence  of 
divine  service.  In  their  prayers  they  make  mention  of  the 
first  day  of  the  month,  and  repeat  from  the  113th  to  the 
118th  Psalm,  on  that  day.  They  bring  out  the  Pentateuch, 
and  four  persons  read  it,  to  which  is  added  the  prayer  called 
Mussaf,  or  addition.  They  also  read  the  institution  of  the 
sacrifice  which  was  formerly  offered  on  this  day. 

The  Talmudists  do  not  agree  in  fixing  the  time  when  the 
world  began.  Some  insist  that  it  was  in  the  spring,  that  is, 
in  the  month  Nisan,  which  is  our  March ;  others,  that  it  was 
in  autumn,  that  is,  in  the  month  Tisri,  which  answers  to  our 
September.  This  last  notion  has  so  far  prevailed,  that  they 
begin  their  year  from  that  time.  And  notwithstanding  it  is 
written  in  the  12th  chapter  of  Exodus,  of  the  month  Nisan, 
"  This  month  shall  be  unto  you  the  beginning  of  months," 
yet  afterwards  they  altered  it,  and  began  their  year  with  the 
month  Tisri,  or  September.  From  thence  came  the  feast 
Roch  Hasana,  or  New- Year's  Day,  which  is  kept  on  the  first 
two  days  of  Tisri ;  for,  in  Leviticus,  chapter  xxiii.,  verse  24, 
it  is  written,  "  In  the  seventh  month,  in  the  seventh  day  of 
the  month,  shall  ye  have  a  Sabbath,"  etc.  During  this  fes- 
tival all  manual  operations  and  transactions  in  trade  are  en- 
tirely laid  aside. 


256  THE  JEWS. 

They  hold,  from  tradition,  that  on  this  day  particularly 
God  Almighty  judges  the  actions  of  the  past  year,  and  orders 
all  things  that  shall  happen  for  the  year  to  come.  From  the 
first  day  of  the  month  Elul,  or  August,  therefore,  they  begin 
their  penance,  which  consists  in  plunging  themselves  into 
<x>ld  water,  and  in  confessing  themselves.  In  some  places, 
they  wash  themselves  before  it  is  day,  say  their  prayers,  and 
acknowledge  their  manifold  sins  and  iniquities,  and  repeat 
some  penitential  psalms.  There  are  many  who  give  alms 
without  ceasing  until  the  day  of  absolution.  This  they  con- 
tinue forty  days,  and  sound  a  horn  on  the  beginning  of  the 
month  Elul.  On  New- Year's  Eve  they  say  all  their  prayers 
fasting. 

After  these  two  holy  days  are  over,  the  Jews  still  continue 
to  rise  before  day  to  say  their  prayers,  fast,  and  do  penance, 
until  the  10th  of  the  month  Tisri,  which  is  the  fast,  or  day 
of  expiation,  and  called  Jom  Hachipnr ;  for  they  consider 
that  the  Supreme  Being  is  employed  in  examining  the  ac- 
tions of  mankind  during  the  first  nine  days,  and  that  he 
pronounces  sentence  on  the  tenth.  In  the  23d  chapter  of 
Leviticus  it  is  said,  "  On  the  tenth  of  the  seventh  month, 
there  shall  be  a  day  of  atonement,"  etc.,  and  during  that  day 
all  manner  of  work  is  laid  aside,  as  on  the  Sabbath.  They 
observe  this  fast  with  such  strictness,  that  they  neither  eat 
nor  drink  anything  ;  thinking,  by  this  abstinence,  that  their 
names  will  be  enrolled  in  the  Book  of  Life,  and  blotted  out 
of  the  Book  of  Death,  wherein  they  would  assuredly  be 
found  without  due  repentance.  Two  or  three  hours  before 
the  sun  sets  they  go  to  prayers,  and  then  to  supper ;  but  all 
must  be  over  before  sunset.  They  now  dress  themselves  in 
new  robes,  or  put  on  their  funeral  clothes,  and  thus  attired, 
each  with  a  taper  in  his  hand,  they  go  without  their  shoes 
to  the  synagogue,  which,  on  this  night,  is  splendidly  illu- 
minated with  lamps  and  candles.  There  each  man  lights  his 
taper,  and  repeats  several  prayers  and  confessions  in  a  loud, 
but  melancholy  tone,  as  a  demonstration  of  the  sincerity  of 
his  repentance. 

The  next  morning,  such  as  went  home  repair  again  by 


FEAST  OF  TABERNACLES.  257 

.daybreak  to  the  synagogue,  dressed  as  before,  and  there  stay 
till  night,  standing  all  the  time,  saying  their  prayers  without 
intermission,  repeating  psalms  and  confessions,  and  beseech- 
ing God  to  pardon  all  their  transgressions.  In  the  course  of 
the  service,  various  portions  of  Scripture  are  read,  particu- 
larly part  of  Leviticus,  chapter  xxvi.,  Numbers,  chapter 
xxix.,  and  Isaiah,  chapter  Mi.  They  mention  in  their 
prayers  the  additional  sacrifice  of  the  day,  and.  entreat  God 
to  build  their  sanctuary,  to  gather  their  dispersions  among 
the  Gentiles,  and  conduct  them  to  Jerusalem,  where  they 
may  offer  the  sacrifice  of  atonement,  agreeably  to  the  Mosaic 
law.  In  the  afternoon  service,  besides  portions  of  the  law 
and  prophets,  the  greatest  part  of  the  book  of  Jonah  is  read. 

On  the  fifteenth  day  of  the  same  month,  Tisri,  is  the  Feast 
of  Tents,  Tabernacles,  or  Booths ;  which  is  called  Succoth, 
in  commemoration  of  their  encampment  in  the  wilderness, 
when  they  departed  out  of  Egypt ;  and  under  which  they 
were  preserved  as  a  nation  for  forty  years  together,  in  the 
midst  of  frightful  and  barren  deserts.  In  the  23d  chapter  of 
Leviticus  it  is  written,  "  In  the  fifteenth  day  of  the  seventh 
month,  when  ye  have  gathered  in  the  fruit  of  the  land,  ye 
shall  keep  a  feast  to  the  Lord  seven  days ;  on  the  first  day 
shall  be  a  Sabbath,  and  on  the  eighth  day  shall  be  a  Sabbath. 
And  ye  shall  take  you  on  the  first  day  the  boughs  of  goodly 
trees,  branches  of  palm-trees,  and  the  boughs  of  thick  trees, 
and  willows  of  the  brook ;  and  ye  shall  rejoice  before  the 
Lord  your  God  seven  days.  Ye  shall  dwell  in  booths  seven 
days  ;  all  that  are  Israelites  born  shall  dwell  in  booths :  that 
your  generations  may  know  that  I  made  the  children  of 
Israel  to  dwell  in  booths,  when  I  brought  them  out  of  the 
land  of  Egypt." 

Every  one,  therefore,  makes  a  booth,  or  tent,  in  some  place 
near  his  house,  which  he  covers  with  leaves  and  adorns  in 
the  best  manner  that  he  can.  The  rabbis  have  been  very 
punctual  as  to  the  fashion  and  nature  of  these  booths,  as 
well  as  their  dimensions.  No  tent  must  be  more  than  twenty 
cubits  high,  nor  less  than  ten  spans.  Such  as  are  rich  adorn 
them  with  tapestry,  over  which  they  hang  boughs  of  trees 


258  THE  JEWS. 

laden  with  fruit — as  oranges,  lemons,  and  grapes.  These 
tents  must  be  neither  set  up  under  a  house  nor  tree  They 
eat  and  drink  in  these  tents,  and  some  lie  all  night  in  them, 
or  at  least  spend  in  them  so  much  time  of  the  night  and  day 
as  they  used  to  pass  at  home,  during  the  eight  days  that  the 
festival  lasts.  It  continues  nine  days  in  reality,  although 
the  law  instituted  and  commanded  seven  ;  but  ancient  cus- 
tom has  added  one  ;  and  another  day  was  ordained  over  and 
above  for  the  solemn  assembly  in  Numbers,  chap,  xxix., 
verse  35.  The  first  two  and  the  last  two  days  of  this  festi- 
val, like  those  of  the  Passover,  are  very  solemn ;  but  the 
other  five  are  not  so  strictly  observed.  This  festival  of  Tents, 
or  Tabernacles,  begins  at  home,  with  some  particular  bene- 
dictions, and  is  succeeded  by  a  supper.  Private  devotion 
now  succeeds  the  public,  and  the  father  of  the  family  never 
begins  to  consecrate  the  festival  till  he  has  been  first  at 
prayers  in  the  synagogue  till  night.  They  leave  their  tents 
at  the  end  of  the  eighth  day,  as  soon  as  night  draws  on. 

On  the  fourteenth  of  the  month  Adar,  the  feast  of  Purim 
is  observed,  in  commemoration  of  Esther,  who  upon  that  day 
preserved  the  people  of  Israel  from  a  total  extirpation  by 
the  conspiracy  of  Haman,  who  was  hanged,  with  all  his  chil- 
dren. This  feast  was  called  Purim,  because  it  was  written 
in  the  9th  chapter  of  Esther :  "  Therefore  they  called  those 
days  Purim,"  etc. ;  the  word  signifying  Lots  or  Chances ;  for 
Haman,  their  enemy,  had  cast  lots  to  destroy  them  on  those 
two  days.  The  first  only,  however,  is  strictly  and  solemnly 
observed.  They  fast  on  the  eve,  but  during  these  two  days 
they  may  traffic,  or  do  any  manner  of  work ;  yet  on  the  first 
day,  though  under  no  obligation,  they  voluntarily  abstain 
from  both. 

On  the  first  night  they  go  to  the  synagogue,  where,  after 
their  ordinary  prayers,  they  commemorate  their  happy  de- 
liverance from  that  fatal  conspiracy,  and  the  Chazan  reads 
and  explains -the  whole  book  of  Esther,  which  is  written  on 
vellum  and  rolled  up  like  the  Pentateuch.  The  Chazan  is 
allowed  to  sit  at  this  lesson,  whereas  he  must  stand  while  he 
reads  the  law.  After  he  has  unrolled  the  volume  he  pro- 


THE  PASSOVER.  359 

nounces  three  prayers,  and  returns  thanks  to  Almighty  God 
for  calling  them  together  to  share  this  ceremony,  and  for  de- 
livering them  out  of  the  merciless  hands  of  Haman.  He  then 
reads  the  history  of  Haman  and  Esther.  The  Jews  observe 
similar  ceremonies  in  the  service  of  the  next  morning,  and 
read  on  this  day  out  of  the  Pentateuch  the  17th  chapter  of 
Exodus,  verse  8:  "Then  came  Amalek,"  etc.  They  have, 
likewise,  particular  prayers  and  blessings  for  this  happy 
occasion. 

The  fifteenth  day  of  the  month  Msan  is  the  first  day  of 
the  Passover,  which  is  called  Pesach,  or  the  passage  over,  in 
commemoration  of  the  departure  of  the  Jews  from  Egypt. 
It  continues  a  whole  week ;  but  such  as  live  out  of  Jerusa- 
lem and  its  territories  make  it  hold  eight  days,  according  to 
the  ancient  custom,  when  the  new  moon,  by  the  Sanhedrin's 
order,  was  proclaimed  without  any  computation.  This  festi- 
val is  ordained  in  the  12th  chapter  of  Exodus,  and  in  several 
other  parts  of  the  Bible.  The  Sabbath  which  precedes  the 
Passover  is  called  the  Grand  Sabbath,  on  which  day  the  rab- 
bis preach  a  sermon  on  the  Paschal  Lamb.  The  first  two 
and  last  two  days  of  the  Passover  are  solemn  festivals,  on 
which  no  person  is  permitted  either  to  work,  or  do  any  man- 
ner of  business  ;  nay,  they  keep  them  as  strictly  as  the  Sab- 
bath, only  that  they  make  a  fire,  dress  their  meat,  and  carry 
what  things  they  want  from  place  to  place.  On  the  four 
middle  days  they  are  only  obliged  to  refrain  from  work,  but 
are  permitted  to  touch  money.  During  these  eight  days 
they  must  neither  eat,  nor  have,  any  leavened  bread,  or  any 
leaven  in  their  houses,  nor  even  in  their  custody ;  so  that 
they  eat  none  but  unleavened  bread  all  that  time :  according 
to  Exodus,  chapter  xii.,  verses  15, 16, 17.  This  bread  they 
call  Matzos. 

The  Jews  make  a  great  difference  between  the  ancient  and 
modern  way  of  celebrating  the  Passover.  Formerly  they 
used  to  eat  the  lamb  roasted  whole ;  but  ever  since  their  sac- 
rifices have  been  abolished,  which  could  be  offered  nowhere 
but  at  Jerusalem,  they  roast  one  part  of  it  and  boil  another ; 
nay,  sometimes  cut  it  in  pieces,  which  is  enough  to  prevent 


260  THE  JEWS. 

its  being  sacrificed.  The  want  of  their  sacrifices,  likewise, 
obliges  them  at  present  to  suppress  several  hymns  which  re- 
late to  the  Paschal  Lamb ;  and  their  dispersion  obliges  them, 
also,  to  beg  of  God  to  re-establish  Jerusalem,  the  temple,  and 
its  sacrifices,  and  to  deliver  them  at  this  day,  as  he  formerly 
did  their  forefathers,  from  the  tyranny  of  the  Egyptians. 
The  modern  Jews  conclude  their  meal  with  the  unleavened 
bread,  but  in  former  times  they  ended  it  with  the  lamb ;  and 
they  now  omit  girding  their  loins,  taking  a  staff  in  their 
hands,  and  pulling  off  their  shoes  when  they  eat  the  lamb : 
all  which  was  practiced  under  the  ancient  law ;  but  they 
take  care,  however,  to  preserve  that  humility  and  attention 
which  are  due  to  this  religious  ceremony.  They  incline 
their  heads  all  the  time  they  are  eating ;  and  such  Jews  as 
are  eminent  for  their  piety  put  nothing  inta  their  mouths 
without  meditating  on  the  several  mysteries  with  the  utmost 
respect  and  veneration.  From  the  day  after  the  Passover 
to  the  thirty-third  day  following  they  spend  their  time  in  a 
kind  of  mourning ;  they  neither  marry  nor  dress  themselves 
in  any  new  clothes ;  neither  do  they  cut  their  hair,  nor  show 
any  demonstrations  of  public  joy,  because  at  that  time — that 
is,  from  the  day  after  the  Passover  until  the  thirty-third  day 
after — there  was  once  a  great  mortality  amongst  the  pupils 
of  Rabbi  Hachiba,  who  was  one  of  their  most  celebrated  doc- 
tors. After  the  death  of  some  thousands  the  sickness  ceased 
on  the  thirty-third  day  of  the  Homer.  This  day  is  therefore 
kept  with  general  rejoicings,  and  puts  an  end  to  all  appear- 
ance of  sorrow  or  concern. 

The  Jews  call  the  fifty  days  which  intervene  between  the 
Passover  and  the  feast  of  Pentecost,  Homer-days.  On  the 
fiftieth  day  of  the  Homer,  which  is  the  sixth  of  Sivan,  is 
celebrated  the  festival  Shavuoth,  or  of  Weeks ;  which  is  so 
named,  because  it  is  kept  at  the  end  of  the  seven  weeks, 
which  they  compute  from  the  Passover.  Two  days  are  ob- 
served almost  as  strictly  as  the  Passover  holidays ;  for  no 
work  is  allowed  to  be  done  upon  them,  neither  can  the  Jews 
transact  any  business,  nor,  in  short,  do  anything  more  than 
on  the  Sabbath ;  excepting  that  they  are  allowed  to  kindle 


PENTECOST.  261 

their  fire,  dress  their  victuals,  and  carry  whatever  they  want 
from  place  to  place. 

At  the  feast  of  Pentecost  five  persons  read  the  sacrifice  of 
the  day,  and  likewise  the  history  of  Ruth,  because  frequent 
mention  is  made  there  of  the  harvest.  At  this  time  they 
regale  themselves  with  all  sorts  of  dainties  made  of  milk, 
which,  in  their  opinion,  is  a  symbol  of  the  law,  both  on  ac- 
count of  its  sweetness  and  its  whiteness ;  and  as  the  Jews 
take  a  pride  in  having,  as  far  as  possible,  the  most  express 
and  lively  images  of  the  most  remarkable  circumstances  that 
occurred  at  the  birth  of  their  religion,  they  never  forget  to 
serve  up  at  table  on  this  day  a  cake  made  moderately  thick, 
which  they  call  the  Cake  of  Sinai.  This  is  to  remind  them 
of  Mount  Sinai,  on  which  God  gave  them  the  law. 

The  Jews  formerly  called  Pentecost  the  feast  of  the  Har- 
vest, and  day  of  First  Fruits,  because  the  first  of  their  corn 
and  fruit  was  at  that  time  oifered  in  the  temple,  which  was 
the  close  of  this  solemnity ;  but  this  can  never  be  in  Europe, 
harvest  falling  always  much  later  than  Whitsuntide.  It 
might,  however,  bear  this  name  in  the  land  of  Canaan, 
Arabia,  and  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  Red  Sea.  Upon  this 
day  their  tradition  assures  us  that  the  law  was  given  on 
Mount  Sinai ;  for  which  reason  they  adorn  their  synagogues, 
the  Hechal,  or  ark,  the  reading-desk ;  also  their  lamps  and 
candlesticks,  and  even  their  houses,  with  roses  and  other 
gay  and  odoriferous  flowers  and  herbs,  beautifully  wreathed 
in  the  form  of  crowns  and  festoons.  Of  these  decorations 
they  are  very  profuse.  Their  prayers  are  adapted  to  the 
feast,  and  they  read  the  account  of  the  sacrifice  made  on 
that  day  out  of  the  Pentateuch  ;  also  the  Aftara,  out  of  the 
Prophets.  In  the  afternoon  there  is  a  sermon  preached,  in 
commemoration  of  the  law.  When  the  second  day  of  the 
feast  is  over,  the  ceremony  of  the  Habdalla  is  performed  in 
the  evening,  as  at  the  close  of  the  Passover,  to  denote  that 
the  feast  is  concluded. 


262  THE  JEWS. 

MODERN  HISTORY   OF  THE  JEWS. 

In  the  Old  World  the  Jews  have  been  the  subjects  of  fre- 
quent and  important  legislation  since  the  fall  of  the  First 
Napoleon,  rendered  imperative  by  race  difficulties  which,  in 
the  main,  sprang  from  the  commercial  competition  of  the 
Jews  with  their  neighbors.  Ordinances  admitting  them  to 
civil  rights,  exempting  them  from  oppressive  taxation,  and 
opening  to  them  various  trades  and  professions,  were  issued 
by  the  Grand  Duke  of  Baden,  in  1809  ;  the  king  of  Prussia, 
in  1812  ;  the  Duke  of  Mecklenburgh-Schwerin,  the  same 
year ;  and  the  king  of  Bavaria,  in  1813 ;  while  the  act  for 
the  federative  constitution  of  Germany,  passed  at  the  con- 
gress of  Vienna  in  1815,  pledged  the  Diet  to  turn  its  atten- 
tion to  the  amelioration  of  the  civil  state  of  the  Jews 
throughout  the  empire.  England  has  legislated  liberally  for 
them,  and  they  now  enjoy  throughout  the  entire  kingdom 
equal  rights  with  British  subjects  in  all  instances,  excepting 
where  the  particular  character  of  their  religion  forms  a  bar- 
rier. 

Beyond  all  this,  however,  the  history  of  none  of  our  later 
years  has  been  exempt  from  narratives  of  suffering,  persecu- 
tion, and  bloodshed  endured  by  them.  In  Eoumania,  Mo- 
rocco, Tunis,  Persia,  Asia  Minor,  Italy,  the  provinces  of  East 
Prussia  and  West  Eussia,  and  even  Palestine  itself,  they 
have  been  the  subject  of  assaults  which  the  strongest  arm  of 
the  law  was  not  always  able  to  suppress.  More  recently  the 
anti-Semitic  feeling  led  to  rioting  in  the  Danubian  princi- 
palities, in  Servia,  in  Austro-Hungary  (1882)  and  in  Eussia 
(1883),  which  required  the  national  troops  to  quell.  The 
prejudice  against  the  Jews  throughout  the  Old  World  had 
spread  so  rapidly  and  so  far,  by  the  year  1875,  that  the  most 
prominent  of  the  faith  in  favored  countries  united  in  the  es- 
tablishment of  the  Alliance  Israelite  Universel,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  elevating  and  benefiting  their  co-religionists  wher- 
ever in  suffering.  This  body,  by  a  hearty  co-operation  of  all 
its  branches,  soon  made  itself  a  power  in  the  political  affairs 
of  the  Old  World ;  and  by  adhering  strictly  to  the  letter  of 


EMINENT  JEWS  OF  MODERN  TIMES.  263 

its  organization,  it  has  frequently  been  permitted  to  raise  its 
voice  in  behalf  of  its  brethren  within  the  closest  precincts  of 
European  diplomacy. 

No  account  of  the  Jews  of  modern  times  would  be  com- 
plete without  an  appreciative  mention  of  the  eminence  at- 
tained by  them  in  the  intellectual  callings  of  life.  Among 
the  scientists  of  high  repute  must  be  placed  the  names  of 
Zunz,  Geiger,  Munk,  Rappoport,  and  Luzzato.  Philosophy 
claims  Mendelssohn,  Maimon,  Herz,  Bendavid,  and  Frank. 
In  political  economy  Ricardo  and  Lasalle  achieved  distinc- 
tion among  the  most  distinguished.  The  pages  of  literature 
were  brightened  and  intensified  by  Borne,  Heine,  Auerbach, 
Grace  Aguilar,  Jules  Janin,  and  Bernstein.  Music  numbers 
among  her  most  talented  expositors  Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, 
Meyerbeer,  Halevy.  To  statecraft  were  given  Disraeli,  Cre- 
mieux,  and  Lasker ;  to  the  profundities  of  mathematics, 
Mtzarhausen,  Sklow,  Cassel,  and  Hirsch ;  and  to  philan- 
thropy, the  grand  old  Montefiore.  Religious  reform  has  had 
for  sturdy,  consistent  advocates,  Chorin,  Holdheim,  Lilien- 
thal,  Hess,  Stern,  Creizenach,  and  Einhorn ;  while  among 
the  conservative  theologians  of  the  world  none  have  stood 
higher  than  Plessner,  Johlsohn,  Steinheim,  and  Hirsch. 
Jewish  names  are  plentifully  scattered  over  the  great  roster 
of  the  quiet,  busy  devotees  of  historical  research,  among 
which  the  following  stand  out  as  "  bright,  particular  stars  in 
the  firmament":  Jost,  Furst,  Philippson,  Salvador,  Herz- 
feld,  Frankel,  Sachs>  Saalschutz,  Steinschu  3ider,  Neubauer, 
Raphael,  Leeser,  and  Wise. 


The  Jews  of 
the  United  States. 


first  settlement  of  Jews  in  the  United  States  was 
JL  made  at  Newport,  R.  I.  On  February  28, 1677,  a  deed 
was  recorded,  describing  the  purchase  of  a  tract  of  land 
there  for  a  burial-place  for  them.  A  synagogue  was  erected 
in  1762,  and  dedicated  the  following  year.  A  settlement  was 
made  in  New  York  City  in  1729  ;  in  Savannah,  Ga.,  in  1733  ; 
in  Charleston,  S.  C.,  in  1765 ;  in  Philadelphia,  in  1782 ;  in 
Baltimore,  Md.,  in  1823;  and  in  New  Orleans,  La.,  about 
the  same  time. 

There  are  no  ecclesiastical  authorities  in  the  United  States, 
other  than  the  congregations  themselves.  Each  congrega- 
tion makes  its  own  rules  for  its  own  government,  and  elects 
its  own  minister,  who  is  appointed  without  any  ordination, 
induction  in  office  being  made  through  his  election,  which 
is  made  either  for  a  term  of  years  or  during  good  behavior, 
as  it  may  meet  the  wish  of  the  majority. 

In  the  preceding  pages,  the  name  of  Spanish  and  Portu- 
guese, in  contradistinction  to  that  of  German  Jews,  has  been 
mentioned.  The  reader  may  feel  curious  to  know  in  what 
they  differ.  With  regard  to  the  tenets  of  their  faith,  they 
hold  precisely  the  same  views.  They  both  accept  the  thirteen 

(264) 


THE  JEWS  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES.  265 

articles  of  the  creed  laid  down  by  Maimonides,  and  conform 
likewise  to  the  traditional  rules  embodied  in  the  Talmud. 
The  long  dispersion,  however,  and  the  interruption  of  com- 
munication consequent  thereupon,  caused  a  notable  diversity 
in  the  liturgy,  but  especially  in  the  pronunciation  of  the 
Hebrew  language.  Those  whose  ancestors  dwelt,  previous 
to  the  expulsion  of  1492  by  the  edict  of  Ferdinand  and  Isa- 
bella, in  the  Iberian  land,  give  to  it  a  softer  sound  than  their 
co-religionists  who  are  of  Teutonic  origin.  It  would  be  im- 
possible at  this  distance  of  time,  and  since  the  language  has 
ceased  to  be  spoken  as  a  distinct  language,  to  ascertain  which 
accent  is  the  most  correct.  Grammarians  appear  to  favor, 
if  not  wholly,  partly  at  least,  that  of  the  Spanish  and 
Portuguese  Jews.  With  respect  to  the  liturgy,  that  of  the 
Germans,  for  ordinary  occasions,  contains  the  traditional 
prayers  in  a  more  condensed  form.  But  for  the  festivals 
and  fast  days  it  abounds  in  poetical  compositions  of  deep 
meaning.  This  fact  has  furnished  the  ground  for  the  intro- 
duction of  radical  changes  in  the  synagogue.  It  was  argued 
that  to  detain  the  congregation  with  the  recital  of  that 
which  requires  a  comment  to  understand,  would  be  to  es- 
trange them  from  the  worship.  That  the  absence  of  mind 
exhibited  by  many,  during  the  reading  of  that  portion  of 
the  "ritual,  was  detracting  from  the  sanctity  of  the  service. 
And  that  unless  it  be  expunged  the  rising  generation  would 
join  religious  communions  more  congenial  to  their  feelings. 
Heretofore  simplicity  had  characterized  the  Jewish  wor- 
ship. A  Reader,  chosen  by  the  congregation,  chanted  the 
established  prayers,  and  the  audience  made  the  responses. 
Either  that  individual,  or  another  possessed  of  the  requisite 
knowledge,  delivered  an  occasional  lecture  explanatory  of 
the  Biblical  lesson  of  the  week,  or  instructive  of  the  duties 
connected  with  some  approaching  holiday.  But  that  sys- 
tem was  declared  by  Jews  of  the  modern  school  incompatible 
with  the  wants  of  the  age.  First  vocal  music  was  introduced, 
and  soon  after  instrumental  music  echoed  in  the  synagogue. 
Hymns  in  English  and  German  superseded  Hebrew  psalmo- 
dies ;  and  preaching,  which  had  been,  however  welcome, 


266  Tx*>  JEWS. 

a  mere  adjunct,  became  the  most  indispensable  part  of  the 
service.  These  innovations,  to  which  many  Israelites  object, 
because  they  divest  the  synagogue  of  the  venerable  appear- 
ance which  antiquity  gives  it,  and  because  they  dress  it  in  a 
garb  foreign  thereto,  would  nevertheless  have  been  tolerated, 
as  not  encroaching  absolutely  upon  the  tenets  of  Judaism  ; 
but  when  the  innovators  went  further,  and  erased  from  the 
ritual  every  mention  of  the  restoration  of  their  people  to 
Palestine,  every  allusion  to  the  resurrection  of  the  dead,  and 
taught  in  their  sermons  the  abrogation  of  the  dietary  laws, 
then  a  schism  divided  the  Jews  into  two  schools  ;  so  that  at 
present  they  are  distinguished  in  almost  all  cities  by  the 
name  of  orthodox  and  reformers. 


THE  REFORM  MOVEMENT  OF  1885. 

But  the  most  radical  innovation  of  all  was  the  "  platform  " 
adopted  at  the  national  Rabbinical  Convention  of  the  Re- 
formed Hebrew  Church,  held  in  Pittsburgh,  Pa.,  Nov.  17, 
18,  1885.  The  following  are  the  leading  professions  : 

"  We  hold  that  Judaism  presents  the  highest  conception 
of  the  God  idea  as  taught  in  our  holy  Scriptures  and  devel- 
oped and  spiritualized  by  Jewish  teachers.  We  maintain 
that  Judaism  preserved  and  defended  amid  continual  strug- 
gles and  trials  this  God  idea  as  the  central  religious  truth 
for  the  human  race. 

"  We  recognize  in  the  Bible  the  record  of  the  consecration 
of  the  Jewish  people  to  its  mission  as  priest  of  the  one  God, 
and  value  it  as  the  most  potent  instrument  of  religious  and 
moral  instruction.  We  hold  that  the  modern  discoveries  of 
scientific  researches  in  the  domains  of  nature  and  history  are 
not  antagonistic  to  the  doctrines  of  Judaism,  the  Bible  re- 
flecting the  primitive  ideas  of  its  own  age,  and  at  times  cloth- 
ing its  conception  of  divine  providence  and  justice  dealing 
with  man  in  miraculous  narratives. 

"  We  recognize  in  the  Mosaic  legislation  a  system  of  train- 
ing the  Jewish  people  for  its  mission  during  its  natural  life 
in  Palestine,  and  to-day  we  accept  as  binding  only  the  moral 


THE  REFORM  MOVEMENT  OF  1885.  267 

laws,  and  maintain  only  such  ceremonies  as  elevate  and  sanc- 
tify our  lives,  but  reject  all  such  as  are  not  adapted  to  the 
views  and  habits  of  modern  civilization. 

"  We  hold  that  all  such  Mosaic  and  Rabbinical  laws  as  reg- 
ulate diet,  priestly  purity,  and  dress  originated  in  ages  and 
under  the  influence  of  ideas  altogether  foreign  to  our  present 
mental  and  spiritual  state.  They  fail  to  impress  the  modern 
Jew  with  a  spirit  of  priestly  holiness  ;  their  observance  in 
our  days  is  apt  rather  to  obstruct  than  to  further  modern 
spiritual  elevation. 

"  We  consider  ourselves  no  longer  a  nation,  but  a  religious 
community,  and  therefore  expect  neither  a  return  to  Pales- 
tine nor  a  sacrificial  worship  under  the  sons  of  Aaron,  nor 
the  restoration  of  any  of  the  laws  concerning  the  Jewish 
State. 

:<  Christianity  and  Islam  being  daughter  religions  of  Juda- 
ism, we  appreciate  their  providential  mission  to  and  in  the 
spreading  of  monotheistic  and  moral  truth.  We  acknowl- 
edge that  the  spirit  of  broad  humanity  of  our  age  is  our  ally 
and  the  fulfilment  of  our  mission,  and  therefore  we  extend 
the  hand  of  fellowship  to  all  who  operate  with  us  in  'the  es- 
tablishment of  the  reign  of  truth  and  righteousness  among 
men. 

"  We  reassert  the  doctrine  of  Judaism  that  the  soul  of 
man  is  immortal.  We  reject,  as  ideas  not  rooted  in  Juda- 
ism, the  beliefs  both  in  bodily  resurrection  and  in  gehenna 
and  Eden  (hell  and  Paradise)  as  abodes  for  everlasting  pun- 
ishment or  reward." 

The  subject  of  Sabbath  observance  was  discussed  at  some 
length,  and  a  resolution  was  unanimously  adopted  declaring 
that  there  is  nothing  in  the  spirit  of  Judaism  or  its  laws 
to  prevent  the  introduction  of  Sunday  services  in  localities 
where  the  necessity  for  such  services  appears  or  is  felt.  In 
the  preamble  to  the  resolution  the  importance  of  maintain- 
ing the  historical  Sabbath  as  a  bond  with  the  past  and  as 
a  symbol  of  the  unity  of  Judaism  the  world  over  is  recog- 
nized. 


268  THE  JEWS. 

BENEVOLENT   SOCIETIES. 

Notwithstanding  all  the  diversities  of  opinion,  the  Jews 
in  the  United  States  generally  unite  in  objects  of  benevo- 
lence. It  is  the  acknowledged  merit  of  Israelites  that  they 
are  very  solicitous  for  the  welfare  of  their  needy  brethren. 
They  will  never  suffer  the  destitute  to  be  an  incubus  upon 
society  at  large.  Rarely  is  any  of  their  faith  an  inmate  of  the 
almshouse,  and  more  rarely  is  any  arrested  as  a  vagrant  or 
an  outlaw.  Charitable  associations  supplying  food,  gar- 
ments, fuel,  and  house-rent ;  loan  societies,  to  encourage  the 
industrious ;  hospitals,  orphan  asylums ;  foster-houses,  and 
homes  for  the  invalid  and  the  decrepit,  are  supported  wher- 
ever a  Jewish  community  exists. 

Our  Jewish  citizens,  as  a  class,  are  exceedingly  fond  of  the 
great  secret  orders  and  societies  that  are  established  all  over 
the  country,  and  it  would  be  difficult  to  mention  one  of  a 
fraternal  or  benevolent  character,  with  which  they  have  not 
affiliated.  They  have  done  much  to  extend  such  orders  as 
Freemasonry  and  Odd  Fellowship  by  uniting  among  them- 
selves and  forming  new  lodges  with  a  pronounced  Hebrew 
membership.  At  the  same  time  they  have  established  a  num- 
ber of  distinct  Orders  among  themselves  to  which  none  but 
Jews  are  eligible.  The  strongest  of  these  are :  the  Independ- 
ent Order  of  B'nai  B'rith  ;  the  Independent  Order  Free  Sons 
of  Israel ;  the  Improved  <  )rder  Free  Sons  of  Israel ;  the  Sons 
of  the  Covenant ;  the  Independent  Sons  of  Benjamin  ;  the  In- 
dependent Sons  of  Abraham  ;  the  Order  of  the  Iron  Band  ; 
and  the  Order  Kesher  Shel  Barzel.  All  these  pay  weekly  sick 
benefits,  usually  $5,  and  a  very  liberal  death  benefit,  besides 
taking  care  of  the  widows  and  orphans  of  deceased  members. 
The  aggregate  of  membership  in  the  United  States  on  Janu- 
ary 1,  1886,  was  150,000. 

The  first  attempt  to  collate  and  publish  a  directory  of  re- 
lief organizations  was  made  by  the  Associated  Hebrew  Chari- 
ties of  the  United  States,  the  results  appearing  in  December, 
1885.  Although  acknowledged  as  incomplete  from  the  fail- 
ure of  many  officers  to  report,  the  effort  made  a  grand  show- 


CHARITABLE  INSTITUTIONS.  269 

ing.  There  were  then  84  distinctively  Ladies'  Hebrew  Be- 
nevolent Associations  ;  87  Hebrew  Relief,  Aid,  or  Benevolent 
Societies  ;  fifty -nine  congregations  having  special  relief  fea- 
tures, and  276  organizations,  the  names  of  whose  presidents 
were  ascertained.  These  societies  by  no  means  represented 
the  total  in  the  United  States,  but  those  merely  which  were 
operating  under  the  auspices  of  the  Associated  Hebrew 
Charities,  and  unfortunately  what  was  known  to  be  but  a 
small  portion  of  them. 

CHARITABLE  INSTITUTIONS. 

No  more  practical  evidence  of  individual  liberality  and 
hearty  sympathy  with  suffering  and  misfortune  in  all  their 
forms  could  be  expressed  by  any  people  than  the  grand  in- 
stitutions which  the  Jews  have  erected  and  are  nobly  main- 
taining in  this  country.  The  record  is  one  that  invests  them 
with  the  highest  honor,  and  lends  additional  glory  to  the 
humanity  of  American  citizenship.  The  most  noted  of  these 
institulions  are  Mount  Sinai  Hospital,  New  York  ;  the  Jew- 
ish Hospital,  Philadelphia ;  the  Hebrew  Hospital,  Baltimore ; 
the  Jewish  Hospital,  Cincinnati ;  and  the  Touro  Infirmary, 
New  Orleans ;  the  Hebrew  Benevolent  and  Orphan  Asylum, 
New  York ;  the  Foster  Home  and  Orphan  Asylum,  Phila- 
delphia ;  the  B'nai  B'rith  Orphan  Asylum,  Cleveland ;  the 
Jewish  Orphan  Asylum,  Baltimore ;  the  Pacific  Orphan  Asy- 
lum, San  Francisco ;  the  Home  for  the  Aged  and  Infirm, 
Philadelphia  ;  the  Home  for  Aged  and  Infirm  Hebrews,  New 
York  ;  the  Home  for  Widows  and  Orphans,  New  Orleans  ;  the 
Familien  Waisen  Verein,  Philadelphia;  Deborah  Nursery 
and  Child's  Protectory,  New  York ;  and  the  Sheltering 
Guardian  Society,  New  York. 

It  is  a  singular  fact  that  a  people  so  enterprising  in  busi- 
ness and  so  active  in  public  affairs  have  never  taken  practi- 
cal steps  to  measure  their  own  strength  in  the  United  States. 
The  first  attempt  to  do  so  resulted  in  1880  in  statistics  that 
were  manifestly  very  far  below  the  actual  condition.  These 
showed  that  at  the  close  of  1878  there  were  less  than  300  con- 


270  THE  JEWS. 

gregations,  less  than  15,000  congregation  members,  less  than 
13,000  children  attending  schools,  and  only  270,500  Jews  in 
the  country.  New  York  City  was  credited  with  60,000,  and 
the  entire  State  with  only  85,000.  Between  those  dates  and 
January  1,  1886,  the  Jewish  population  was  greatly  aug- 
mented, particularly  in  the  large  Eastern  cities,  while  the  popu- 
lation of  interior  towns  was  also  largely  increased  by  reason 
of  the  settlement  of  refugees  and  immigrants  from  Germany 
Austria,  Russia,  and  other  countries.  The  absence  of  defi- 
nite statistics  is  as  much  a  subject  of  surprise  to  the  Jews 
themselves  as  it  is  to  others.  Some  of  the  most  intelligent 
estimated  the  total  Jewish  population  on  January  1, 1886,  at 
500,000  ;  the  number  of  congregations  at  7,500  ;  of  congrega- 
tion members,  250,000 ;  of  children  at  religious  and  day 
schools,  215,000;  value  of  synagogue  buildings,  $800,000; 
and  of  charitable  and  benevolent  institutions,  $5,000,000. 


THE  PKOPOSED  JEWISH   SEMINAEY. 

In  January,  1886,  a  movement  was  inaugurated  by  some 
of  the  most  prominent  Jews  of  New  York  City,  having  in 
view  the  erection  and  endowment  of  a  seminary  for  the  in- 
struction of  Hebrew  rabbis  and  teachers.  The  intention  of 
the  promoters  was  clearly  expressed  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Kohut, 
as  follows : 

"  We  imperiously  need  a  seminary  which  shall  have  no 
other  ambition,  no  other  title  than  to  be  purely  and  truly 
Jewish.  We  do  not  desire  it  to  be  destined  for  a  sect,  whether 
reform,  conservative,  or  orthodox ;  we  would  have  it  be  a 
Jewish  theological  seminary,  like  that  of  Breslau,  for  exam- 
ple. I  will  not  rashly  assert  that  our  seminary  will  also 
equal  at  present  the  above  named  in  importance  and  thor- 
oughness. All  we  want  now  is  a  beginning.  We  desire  that 
not  the  hewn  and  broken  remnants  of  religious  belief  be 
taught  in  its  halls.  We  desire  that  every  rabbi  candidate 
be  enabled,  at  a  later  period  of  life — besides  obtaining  a  large 
fund  of  knowledge — to  form  an  objective  and  impartial 
judgment  of  true  Judaism,  and  that  he  be  not  beset  by  the 


THE  PROPOSED  JEWISH  SEMINARY.  271 

gnawing  worm  of  doubt  in  the  beginning  of  his  studies 
through  the  one-sided,  prejudicial,  and  subjective  instruc- 
tions of  his  teachers.  Such  a  Jewish  seminary,  vivified  by 
the  proper  spirit  and  tended  with  the  proper  love,  is  des- 
tined to  introduce  a  new  era  in  American  Judaism.  We 
would  lead  back  to  the  pure  fountains  of  truth  and  faith. 
Every  step  made  in  this  direction  is  a  step  forward  towards 
light,  forward  towards  knowledge  and  faith." 

The  plan  proposed  the  location  of  the  seminary  in  New 
York  City.  The  ministers  prominent  in  the  matter  were 
the  Rev.  Drs.  A.  Kohut,  H.  Pereira  Mendes,  and  F.  de  Sola 
Mendes,  of  New  York ;  the  Rev.  S.  Morais,  of  Philadelphia ; 
the  Rev.  A.  P.  Mendes,  of  Newport ;  the  Rev.  Dr.  B.  Drach- 
man,  of  Newark ;  and  the  Rev.  H.  W.  Schnuberger,  of  Bal- 
timore. 

According  to  the  census  of  1890  there  were  in  the  United 
States  316  organizations  of  Orthodox  Jews,  who  had  122 
synagogues  and  1 93  halls  used  for  religious  services,  57,597 
church  members,  and  church  property  valued  at  $2,802,050  ; 
and  217  organizations  of  Reformed  Jews,  with  179  syna- 
gogues and  38  halls,  72,899  members,  and  church  property 
valued  at  $6,952,225 ;  making  together  533  organizations, 
301  synagogues,  231  halls,  130,496  members,  and  $9,754,275 
invested  in  church  property. 

The  census  office  also  compiled  a  very  detailed  report  on 
the  vital  statistics  of  the  Jews  in  the  United  States.  The 
results  show  that  special  inquiries  were  made  of  10,618  fam- 
ilies, representing  60,630  persons.  During  the  five  years 
from  January  1,  1885,  to  December  31, 1889,  these  families 
had  2,148  marriages,  6,038  births,  and  2,062  deaths,  the 
annual  death  rate  being  only  7.11  per  1,000  persons.  Of 
the  total  18,115  males  reported  as  having  a  definite  occupa- 
tion, 14,527  were  wholesale  or  retail  dealers,  bankers,  book- 
keepers, clerks,  etc.,  while  only  84  were  reported  as  being 
laborers  and  383  as  being  engaged  in  agricultural  pursuits. 

Neither  of  these  reports  must  be  considered  as  showing 
an  actual  census  of  the  Jewish  population,  for  both  deal 
with  selected  classes. 


The  Roman 

Catholic  Church. 


THE  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CHUECH. 

THE  Roman  Catholic  Church,  for  the  purpose  of  the 
present  description,  may  be  denned  as  the  community 
of  the  faithful  united  to  their  lawful  pastors,  in  communion 
with  the  See  of  Rome  or  with  the  Pope,  the  successor  of  St. 
Peter  and  Vicar  of  Christ  on  earth.  The  government  of  the 
Catholic  Church  may  be  considered  monarchical,  inasmuch  as 
the  Pope  is  held  in  it  to  be  the  ruler  over  the  entire  Church, 
and  the  most  distant  bishop  holds  his  appointment  from 
him,  and  receives  from  him  his  authority.  The  dignity  or 
office  of  Pope  is  held  to  be  inherent  in  the  occupant  of  the 
See  of  Rome,  as  successor  of  St.  Peter,  by  virtue  of  the 
commission  given  to  St.  Peter,  not  as  his  own  personal  pre- 
rogative, but  as  a  part  of  the  constitution  of  the  Church,  for 
its  advantage,  and  therefore  intended  to  descend  to  his  suc- 
cessors, as  the  episcopal  power  .did  from  the  apostles  to  those 
who  succeeded  them  in  their  respective  Sees.  The  election 
of  the  Pope  is  made  by  the  six  suburban  bishops  of  Sees  in 
the  immediate  vicinity  of  Rome,  namely,  those  of  Ostia  and 
Velletri,  Porto  and  Santa  Rufina,  Albano,  Palestrina,  Sabina, 
Frascati,  who  are  always  Cardinal  bishops ;  and  by  the  Car- 
(272) 


M.  ANGELO  AT  WORK  ON  HIS  MOSES.— A.  TORRI^I.— Michael  Angelo,  an 
artist  of  indomitable  will  and  superhuman  energy,  the  last  and  most  famous  of  the  great 
Florentine  masters,  after  executing  his  vast  and  magnificent  design  for  the  decoration  of 
the  Sixtine  chapel,  produced  in  his  Moses  one  of  the  greatest  works  of  the  sculptor's  art. 


GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CHURCH.  273 

dinal  priests  and  deacons  of  the  ancient  churches  of  Rome, 
wno  form  the  bodies  of  Cardinal  priests  and  deacons.  These 
Cardinal  priests  may  hold  dignities  in  other  countries  as 
archbishop  or  bishop,  but  in  the  Cardinalship  they  are 
simply  Cardinal  priests. 

The  Catholic  Church  being  essentially  episcopal,  is  gov- 
erned by  bishops,  who  are  of  two  kinds :  bishops  in  ordin- 
ary, governing  dioceses,  who  bear  the  name  of  the  See  over 
which  they  rule,  and  titular  bishops  bearing  the  title  of  some 
ancient  See,  who  govern  temporary  districts  as  vicars-apos- 
tolic, or  assist  otherwise  in  the  government  of  the  Church. 
The  powers  of  bishops,  and  the  manner  of  exercising  their 
authority,  are  regulated  by  the  canon  law  ;  their  jurisdiction 
on  every  point  is  clear  and  definite,  and  leaves  little  room  for 
arbitrary  enactments  or  oppressive  measures. 

Each  diocese  is  generally,  when  fully  established,  divided 
into  parishes,  each  provided  with  a  parochus  or  parish 
priest.  The  appointment  to  a  parish  is  vested  in  the  bishop, 
and  a  parish  priest  holds  for  life,  unless  he  is  removed  for 
just  cause  after  a  trial.  Where  canon  law  is  not  fully  es- 
tablished the  clergy  corresponding  to  the  parish  priests  have 
missions  or  local  districts  with  variable  limits  placed  under 
their  care,  but  are  dependent  upon  the  will  of  their  ecclesi- 
astical superiors.  The  parish  priests  are  assisted  by  curates, 
who  are  removable.  A  great  number  of  clergy  are  devoted 
to  the  conduct  of  education,  either  in  universities  or  semi- 
naries ;  some  occupy  themselves  exclusively  with  preaching, 
others  with  instructing  the  poor,  or  attending  charitable 
institutions. 

The  parochial  and  other  priests  directly  subject  to  the 
bishops  form  the  secular  clergy.  Besides  these  there  are 
numbers  of  priests  belonging  to  religious  orders,  who  form 
the  regular  clergy,  that  is,  priests  living  under  a  regula,  or 
rule.  These  are  the  monks,  such  as  the  Benedictines,  Car- 
thusians, Cistercians,  etc. ;  the  Mendicant  Friars,  the  Fran- 
ciscans, Dominicans,  Augustinians,  and  Carmelites;  the 
Regular  Clerks,  such  as  the  Jesuits,  Redemptorists,  Passion- 
ists,  Lazarists,  etc.  These  are  immediately  subject  to  their 
18 


274  THE  xtOMAN  CATHOLIC  CHURCH. 

own  Superiors,  and  the  Bishop  acts  on  the  regular  clergy 
through  these  Superiors. 

The  most  solemn  senate  in  the  Roman  Catholic  Church 
is  a  general  council,  that  is,  an  assembly  of  all  the  bishops  of 
the  Church,  who  may  attend  either  in  person  or  by  deputy, 
under  the  presidency  of  the  Pope.  When  once  a  decree  has 
passed  such  an  assembly  and  received  the  approbation  of  the 
Holy  See,  there  is  no  further  appeal.  A  distinction,  however, 
must  be  made  between  doctrinal  and  disciplinary  decrees. 
When  a  general  council  cannot  be  summoned,  or  when  it  is 
not  deemed  necessary,  the  government  of  the  Church  is  con- 
ducted by  the  Pope,  whose  decisions  in  matters  of  discipline 
are  considered  paramount.  The  discipline  of  smaller  divis- 
ions is  maintained  by  plenary  councils,  provincial  or  diocesan 
synods.  The  first,  embracing  the  archbishops  and  bishops  of 
a  country,  or  separate  province,  as  the  United  States  or  Aus- 
tralia, consist  of  the  bishops  of  a  province  under  their  metro- 
politan ;  the  latter  of  the  parochial  and  other  clergy  under 
the  superintendence  of  the  bishop. 


THE  DOCTRINAL   CODE   OF  THE   CHUECH. 

The  formulary  of  faith  is  the  creed  of  Pius  IV.,  issued 
after  the  Council  of  Trent,  with  some  additions  after  that  of 
the  Vatican.  It  is  as  follows : 

"I,  N.  N.,  with  a  firm  faith  believe  and  profess  all  and 
every  one  of  those  things  which  are  contained  in  that  creed, 
which  the  holy  Roman  Church  maketh  use  of." 

Then  follows  the  Nicene  creed  : 

"I  most  steadfastly  admit  and  embrace  apostolical  and 
ecclesiastical  traditions,  and  all  other  observances  and  con- 
stitutions of  the  same  Church. 

"  I  also  admit  the  holy  Scriptures,  according  to  that  sense 
which  our  holy  mother  the  Church  has  held  and  does  hold, 
to  which  it  belongs  to  judge  of  the  true  sense  and  interpreta- 
tion of  the  Scriptures  ;  neither  will  I  ever  take  and  interpret 
them  otherwise  than  according  to  the  unanimous  consent  of 
the  fathers. 


THE  NICENE  CREED.  275 

"I  also  profess  that  there  are  truly  and  properly  seven 
sacraments  of  the  new  law,  instituted  by  Jesus  Christ  our 
Lord,  and  necessary  for  the  salvation  of  mankind,  though 
not  all  for  every  one — to  wit :  baptism,  confirmation,  the 
eucharist,  penance,  extreme  unction,  holy  orders,  and  matri- 
mony ;  and  that  they  confer  grace ;  and  that  of  these,  bap- 
tism, confirmation,  and  orders  cannot  be  reiterated  without 
sacrilege.  I  also  receive  and  admit  the  received  and  approved 
ceremonies  of  the  Catholic  Church,  used  in  the  solemn  ad- 
ministration of  the  aforesaid  sacraments. 

"  I  embrace  and  receive  all  and  every  one  of  the  things 
which  have  been  defined  and  declared  in  the  holy  Council  of 
Trent,  concerning  original  sin  and  justification. 

"  I  profess,  like  wise,  that  in  the  mass  there  is  offered  to 
God  a  true,  proper,  and  propitiatory  sacrifice  for  the  living 
and  the  dead ;  and  that  in  the  most  holy  sacrament  of  the 
eucharist  there  is  truly,  really,  and  substantially  the  body 
and  blood,  together  with  the  soul  and  divinity,  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ ;  and  that  there  is  made  a  conversion  of  the 
whole  substance  of  the  bread  into  the  body,  and  of  the  whole 
substance  of  the  wine  into  the  blood,  which  conversion  the 
Catholic  Church  calls  transubstantiation.  I  also  confess 
that  under  each  kind  Christ  is  whole  and  entire,  and  a  true 
sacrament  is  received. 

"  I  firmly  hold  that  there  is  a  purgatory,  and  that  the  souls 
therein  detained  are  helped  by  the  suffrages  of  the  faithful. 

"  Likewise,  that  the  saints  reigning  with  Christ  are  to  be 
honored  and  invocated,  and  that  they  offer  up  prayers  to 
God  for  us ;  and  that  their  relics  ought  to  be  venerated. 

"  I  most  firmly  assert  that  the  images  of  Christ,  of  the 
Mother  of  God,  and  also  of  the  saints,  ought  to  be  had  and 
retained,  and  that  due  honor  and  veneration  are  to  be  given 
them. 

"  I  also  affirm  that  the  power  of  indulgences  was  left  by 
Christ  to  the  Church,  and  that  the  use  of  them  is  most  whole- 
some to  Christian  people. 

"  I  acknowledge  the  holy  Catholic  Apostolic  Roman  Church 
for  the  mother  and  mistress  of  all  churches  ;  and  I  promise 


276  THE  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CHURCH. 

true  obedience  to  the  Bishop  of  Rome,  successor  to  St.  Peter, 
prince  of  the  apostles  and  vicar  of  Jesus  Christ  on  earth. 

"  I  also  undoubtedly  receive  and  profess  all  other  things 
delivered,  denned,  and  declared  by  the  Sacred  Canons  and 
General  Councils,  and  particularly  by  the  Holy  Council  of 
Trent,  and  delivered,  defined,  and  declared  by  the  General 
Council  of  the  Vatican  ;  especially  concerning  the  Primacy 
of  the  Roman  Pontiff  and  his  infallible  teaching  authority ; 
and  I  also  condemn,  reject,  and  anathematize  all  things  con- 
trary thereto,  and  all  heresies  whatsoever  condemned,  re- 
jected, and  anathematized  by  the  Church. 

"  This  True  Catholic  Faith,  out  of  which  none  can  be  saved, 

I  now  truly  profess  and  truly  hold.  And  I,  N" ,  promise 

to  hold,  and  profess  the  same  whole  and  entire,  with  God's 
assistance,  to  the  end  of  my  life.  Amen." 


EXPLANATION   OF  TENETS. 

Concerning  the  adoration  which  is  due  to  God,  the  Catholic 
Church  teaches  that  it  principally  consists  in  adhering  to 
God  with  all  the  faculties  of  their  souls,  through  faith,  hope, 
and  charity,  as  being  the  sole  object  that  can  make  them 
happy  by  the  communication  of  that  sovereign  good,  which 
is  himself.  This  internal  adoration  is  attended  with  its  ex- 
ternal signs,  of  which  the  sacrifice  of  the  mass,  identical 
with  that  which  Christ  offered  on  the  Cross,  is  the  only 
Latria  of  the  New  Law,  the  only  public  act  ordained  by  God. 
It  can  be  offered  to  God  alone ;  because  sacrifice  was  ordained 
to  make  a  public  and  solemn  acknowledgment  of  God's  sov- 
ereignty over  us,  and  of  our  absolute  dependence  upon  him 
to  render  him  homage,  to  atone  for  sin  and  ask  for  blessings. 
The  idea  of  Latria  or  adoration  thus  held  is  peculiar  to  God, 
and  is  entirely  distinct  from  all  other  acts  and  rites. 

As  Latria  can  be  offered  to  God  alone,  honor  inferior  to  it 
can  be  rendered  to  others.  As  Christ  portrays  the  rich  man 
in  hell  praying  to  Abraham,  a  saint  with  God,  for  his  brother, 
the  Church,  in  asserting  that  it  is  beneficial  to  pray  to  the 
saints,  teaches  the  faithful  to  pray  to  them  in  that  spirit 


EXPLANATION  OF  TENETS.  277 

of  charity,  and  according  to  that  order  of  brotherly  love, 
which  inclines  them  to  request  the  assistance  of  their  breth- 
ren living  upon  earth  ;  and  the  catechism  of  the  Council  of 
Trent  concludes  from  this  doctrine,  that  if  the  quality  of  Me- 
diator, which  the  Holy  Scriptures  attribute  to  Jesus  Christ, 
received  the  least  prejudice  from  the  intercession  of  the  saints 
who  dwell  with  God,  it  would  receive  no  less  an  injury  from 
the  mediation  of  the  faithful  who  live  with  us  upon  earth. 

This  catechism  demonstrates  the  great  difference  there  is 
between  the  manner  of  imploring  God's  aid  and  assistance, 
and  that  of  the  saints ;  for  it  expressly  declares,  that  the 
Catholics  pray  to  God  either  to  bestow  on  them  some  bless- 
ing, or  to  deliver  them  from  some  misfortune ;  but  since  the 
saints  are  more  acceptable  in  his  sight  than  they  are,  they 
beg  of  them  to  be  their  advocates  only,  and  to  procure  for 
them  such  things  as  they  want.  For  which  reason,  the 
Catholics  make  use  of  two  forms  of  prayer  widely  different 
from  each  other,  for  when  they  make  their  applications  to 
God  himself,  they  say,  "Have  mercy  on  us,  hear  us ! "  Bat 
when  they  address  themselves  to  the  saints,  they  only  say, 
"  Pray  for  us ! "  In  all  cases,  whether  the  prayer  is  direct  or 
indirect,  the  favor  is  expected  from  God  alone. 

Considering,  however,  that  this  honor  which  the  Catholic 
Church  pays  to  the  saints  principally  appears  before  their 
images  and  sacred  relics,  it  will  be  proper  to  explain  the  be- 
lief of  the  Church  in  both  these  particulars.  In  regard  to 
images,  the  Catholics  are  expressly  forbidden  by  the  Council 
of  Trent  to  believe  there  is  any  virtue  in  them  of  so  heavenly 
a  nature  as  to  prove  an  inducement  to  pay  divine  adoration 
to  them ;  and  they  are  enjoined  to  ask  no  favors  of  them,  to 
put  no  trust  or  confidence  in  them,  but  to  reverence  them 
only  in  honor  of  the  originals  which  they  represent.  The 
respect  which  is  paid  to  relics,  in  imitation  of  the  primitive 
Church,  must  be  understood  in  the  same  manner.  They 
look  upon  the  bodies  of  the  saints  as  having  been  victims 
offered  up  to  God  by  martyrdom  or  penance,  without  in  any 
way  diminishing  that  duty  and  respect  which  they  owe  to 
God  himself. 


278  THE  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CHURCH. 

As  to  the  point  of  justification,  they  believe  that  their 
sins  are  freely  remitted  by  the  divine  mercy,  for  the  sake  of 
Jesus  Christ;  and  that  they  are  freely  justified,  because 
neither  faith  nor  good  works,  which  precede  their  justifica- 
tion, can  merit  that  favor.  As  to  the  merit  of  good  works, 
the  Catholic  Church  teaches,  that  eternal  life  ought  to  be 
proposed  to  the  children  of  God,  both  as  a  grace  mercifully 
promised  them  by  the  means  and  mercies  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  and  as  a  reward  faithfully  bestowed  on  them  for  their 
good  works  and  merits,  in  consequence  of  that  promise. 
These  are  the  express  terms  of  the  Council  of  Trent.  But 
that  the  pride  of  mankind  should  not  flatter  itself  with  the 
idea  of  a  presumptuous  merit,  the  same  Council  teaches,  that 
the  whole  worth  and  value  of  Christian  works  arise  from  a 
sanctifying  grace,  which  is  freely  granted  us  in  the  name  of 
Jesus  Christ,  and  is  the  result  of  that  constant  influence 
which  this  divine  Head  has  upon  his  members. 

Roman  Catholics  maintain  that  the  faithful  cannot  be  ac- 
ceptable to  God  but  in  and  through  Jesus  Christ ;  nor  do 
they  apprehend  how  any  other  sense  can  be  imputed  to  their 
belief.  They  place  all  the  hopes  of  their  salvation  so  per- 
fectly in  him  alone,  that  they  daily  direct  the  following  pe- 
tition to  God  in  the  sacrifice  of  the  mass :  Vouchsafe,  O  God ! 
to  grant  unto  us  sinners,  thy  servants  who  trust  in  the  mul- 
titude of  thy  mercies,  some  share  and  society  with  thy  blessed 
apostles  and  martyrs,  into  the  number  of  whom  we  beseech 
thee  to  receive  us,  not  in  view  of  any  merit  on  our  part ;  but 
pardoning  us  through  thy  grace  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ 
our  Lord. 

The  Catholics,  without  exception,  teach  that  Jesus  Christ 
only,  who  was  both  God  and  man,  was  able,  by  the  infinite 
dignity  of  his  person,  to  offer  up  a  sufficient  satisfaction  to 
God  for  sins  ;  but  having  made  an  abundant  recompense  for 
them,  he  had  power  to  apply  that  infinite  satisfaction  to  the 
faithful  in  two  several  ways  ;  either  by  an  absolute  remission, 
without  the  least  reserve  of  any  penalty,  or  by  exchanging 
a  greater  for  a  less,  that  is  to  say,  an  eternal  for  a  temporal 
punishment.  As  the  first  is  the  most  perfect  and  conform- 


CHARACTER  OF  INDULGENCES.  279 

able  to  his  divine  goodness,  he  makes  use  of  that,  first  of  all, 
in  the  sacrament  of  baptism.  They  believe  that  he  uses  the 
second  in  the  forgiveness  which  he  grants  to  those  who  after 
baptism  relapse  into  sin,  he  being  in  some  measure  compelled 
thereto,  through  the  ingratitude  of  those  who  have  abused 
his  first  favors ;  for  which  reason  they  are  to  suffer  some 
temporal  punishment,  though  the  eternal  be  taken  off.  In 
order  to  satisfy  the  duties  imposed  upon  them  by  their  re- 
ligion, the  Catholics  are  subject  to  certain  penances,  which 
ought  to  be  performed  on  their  parts  with  repentance  and 
humiliation ;  and  it  is  the  necessity  of  these  works  of  expia- 
tion, which  obliged  the  primitive  Church  to  inflict  those 
punishments  upon  penitents,  that  are  termed  canonical. 

When  the  Church,  therefore,  imposes  those  painful  and 
laborious  penances  upon  sinners,  and  they  undergo  them 
with  patience  and  humility,  it  is  called  satisfaction ;  and 
when  the  Church  shows  any  regard  either  to  the  ardent  de- 
votion of  the  penitents,  or  to  other  good  works  which  she 
prescribes,  and  remits  any  part  of  the  punishment  due  to 
them,  it  is  termed  indulgence.  The  Council  of  Trent  pro- 
posed nothing  more  relating  to  indulgences,  than  that  the 
Church  had  the  power  of  granting  them  from  Jesus  Christ, 
and  that  the  practice  of  them  is  wholesome.  Which  custom, 
that  Council  held,  ought  still  to  be  preserved,  though  with 
moderation,  lest  ecclesiastical  discipline  should  be  weakened 
by  too  great  a  toleration.  Whence  it  is  manifest  that  the 
articles  of  indulgences  only  regard  discipline.  The  authority 
of  the  Church  for  the  remission  of  temporal  punishment  is 
drawn  from  Matthew  xviii.  18,  19,  and  the  example  of  Paul 
in  2  Corinthians,  ii. 

It  is  the  belief  of  the  Catholics,  that  those  who  depart  this 
life  having  retained  their  baptismal  innocence,  or  been  re- 
stored to  God's  grace  through  the  sacrament  of  penance,  but 
who  are,  notwithstanding,  subject  to  those  temporal  punish- 
ments which  divine  justice  has  reserved  for  them,  must  suffer 
them  in  the  other  world ;  and  for  that  reason  the  whole 
Christian  Church  in  the  earliest  ages  offered  up  both  prayers, 
alms,  and  sacrifices  for  the  faithful  who  had  died  in  peace, 


280  THE  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CHURCH. 

and  in  the  communion  of  the  Church,  with  a  lively  hope  and 
expectation  of  their  being  relieved  by  those  acts  of  devotion. 
This  is  what  the  Council  of  Trent  proposed  that  the  Catholics 
should  believe  with  respect  to  souls  confined  in  purgatory, 
without  determining  either  the  nature  of  their  punishments, 
or  several  other  things  of  the  like  kind  ;  in  regard  to  which 
that  holy  council  exacts  considerable  precaution,  and  partic^ 
ularly  condemns  those  who  say  anything  that  is  uncertain 
and  precarious. 


Sacraments 

OF  THE 

Roman  Catholic   Ghurcfy. 


THE   SEVEN   SACKAMENTS. 

riTlHE  Roman  Catholic  Church  acknowledges  seven  sacra- 
1     ments,  which  number,  according  to  the  Catechism  of 
the  Council  of  Trent,  is  established  by  the  Scriptures,  by  the 
tradition  of  the  fathers,  and  the  authority  of  councils. 

The  sacrament  of  BAPTISM  is  defined  by  the  Church  as  one 
instituted  by  Jesus  Christ,  in  order  to  wash  away  original  sin, 
and  all  those  actual  ones  which  may  have  been  committed ; 
to  communicate  to  mankind  the  spiritual  regeneration  and 
grace  of  Jesus  Christ ;  and  to  unite  them  as  living  members 
to  their  head.  The  most  essential  part  of  the  ceremony  of 
baptism  in  the  Catholic  Church  is  as  follows :  At  the  church- 
door  the  priest  first  asks  the  godfather  and  godmother  what 
child  they  present  to  the  Church  ?  whether  or  no  they  are 
its  true  godfather  and  godmother?  if  they  be  resolved  to 
live  and  die  in  the  true  Catholic  and  Apostolic  faith  ?  and 
what  name  they  intend  to  give  it  ?  All  profane  names,  as 
those  of  the  heathens  and  their  gods,  must  be  rejected. 
After  the  usual  questions  have  been  asked,  the  priest  makes 
an  exhortation  to  the  godfather  and  godmother,  with  regard 
to  the  devotion  which  ought  to  accompany  the  whole  per- 
formance. The  exhortation  being  ended,  the  priest  con- 
tinues the  ceremony;  and  calling  the  child  by  the  name 

(281) 


282  THE  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CHURCH. 

that  is  to  be  given  it,  asks  it  as  follows : — What  dost  thou 
demand  of  the  church  ?  To  which  the  godfather  answers, 
Faith.  The  priest  adds,  What  is  the  fruit  of  faith  ?  The 
godfather  answers,  Eternal  life.  The  priest  continues,  If 
you  are  desirous  of  obtaining  eternal  life,  keep  God's  com- 
mandments :  Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy 
heart,  etc.  After  which  he  breathes  three  times  upon  the 
child's  face,  and  at  the  same  time  says,  Depart  from  this 
child,  thou  evil  spirit,  and  make  room  for  the  Holy  Ghost. 

This  being  done,  with  the  thumb  of  his  right  hand  he 
makes  a  cross  on  the  child's  forehead,  and  afterwards  an- 
other on  its  breast,  pronouncing  these  words :  Receive  the 
sign  of  the  cross  on  thy  forehead,  and  in  thine  heart. 
Whereupon  he  takes  off  his  cap,  repeats  a  short  prayer,  and 
laying  his  hand  gently  on  the  child's  head,  prays  for  him  a 
second  time.  This  second  prayer  being  ended,  the  priest 
blesses  the  salt  in  case  it  was  not  blessed  before ;  which 
being  done,  he  takes  a  little  of  it,  puts  it  into  the  child's 
mouth,  pronouncing  these  words :  Receive  the  salt  of  wis- 
dom. He  then  repeats  a  third  prayer  ;  after  which  he  puts 
on  his  cap,  and  exorcises  the  Prince  of  Darkness,  command- 
ing him  to  come  forth  out  of  him  who  is  going  to  be  bap- 
tized. At  the  end  of  the  exorcism  he  again  makes  the  sign 
of  the  cross  on  the  child's  forehead,  lays  his  hand  on  its 
head,  and  repeats  another  prayer. 

After  this  fourth  prayer,  the  priest  lays  the  end  of  the 
stole  upon  the  child,  and  admits  it  into  the  Church.  The 
godfather  and  godmother  enter  at  the  same  time,  and  repeat 
with  the  priest  the  Apostles'  Creed  and  the  Lord's  Prayer, 
as  they  advance  towards  the  font,  which  having  reached,  the 
priest  exorcises  the  devil  once  again,  and  after  the  exorcism, 
takes  saliva  from  his  mouth  with  the  thumb  of  his  right 
hand.  With  this  he  rubs  the  child's  ears  and  nostrils,  and, 
as  he  touches  his  right  ear,  repeats  a  Hebrew  word,  "  Eph- 
phetha,"  which  signifies  "Be  thou  opened";  the  same  which 
Jesus  Christ  said  to  the  man  who  was  born  deaf  and  dumb. 
The  priest  then  asks  whether  he  renounces  the  devil  and  all 
DOS  works,  the  pomps,  etc.  The  godfather  answers  in  the 


SACRAMENT  OF  PENANCE.  283 

affirmative.  The  priest  then  anoints  the  child  between  the 
shoulders,  in  the  form  of  a  cross,  and  after  that  lays  aside 
his  violet  stole,  and  puts  on  a  white  one ;  when  the  child  is 
again  questioned  with  respect  to  his  belief,  to  which  the 
godfather  makes  suitable  answers  in  his  name.  These  pre- 
liminaries being  ended,  the  priest  takes  some  of  the  bap- 
tismal water,  which  he  pours  thrice  on  the  child's  head  in 
the  form  of  a  cross,  and  as  he  pours  it,  says,  "  I  baptize 
thee,  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,"  taking  care  to  pour  the  water  at  the  same  time 
that  he  pronounces  the  words.  This  being  done,  he  anoints 
the  top  of  the  child's  head  with  the  chrism,  in  the  form  of  a 
cross,  lays  a  piece  of  white  linen  upon  its  head,  to  repre- 
sent the  white  garment  mentioned  in  Scripture,  and  puts  a 
lighted  taper  into  the  child's  hand,  or  into  that  of  the  god- 
father. The  form  for  baptizing  adults  is  longer  and  more 
imposing. 

The  sacrament  of  CONFIRMATION  can  be  conferred  only  by 
one  having  received  episcopal  consecration,  unless  in  special 
cases,  as  where  in  remote  districts  which  a  bishop  cannot 
visit.  Confirmation  is  defined  as  a  sacrament  in  which  men 
receive  the  Holy  Ghost  to  make  them  strong  and  perfect 
Christians,  and  soldiers  of  Jesus  Christ. 

The  order  for  conferring  the  sacrament  is  short.  The 
bishop  in  white  cope  and  a  mitre  recites  prayers  to  ask  the 
Holy  Ghost  to  descend  upon  those  to  be  confirmed.  He  then 
takes  his  seat  before  the  altar,  and  the  candidates  advance 
one  by  one,  each  attended  by  a  sponsor.  The  bishop  now 
asks  the  name  of  each,  and  has  it  registered,  after  which  he 
dips  his  right  thumb  into  the  chrism,  and  therewith  makes 
the  sign  of  the  cross  upon  the  forehead,  the  bishop  at  the 
same  time  saying  :  "  I  confirm  you  by  the  chrism  of  salvation, 
in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,"  giving  a  gentle  blow  on  the  cheek  to  the  person  con- 
firmed, and  saying,  "  Peace  be  with  you." 

The  sacrament  of  PENANCE  is  the  sole  means  through 
which  sins  committed  after  baptism  are  forgiven.  The 
preparation  for  the  reception  of  this  sacrament  on  the  part 


284:  THE  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CHURCH. 

of  the  faithful  must  be  made  with  care.  Two  great  parts  of 
the  sacrament  are  contrition  and  confession.  The  other  sac- 
raments are  administered  with  a  certain  pomp  and  solemnity 
of  ritual ;  but  this  one,  which  enters  so  largely  into  the  plan 
of  redemption,  and  is  the  great  means  of  salvation,  is  almost 
strikingly  devoid  of  all  external  rite.  The  priest,  in  his 
stole,  is  seated  in  the  confessional.  The  penitent  kneels  be- 
side him,  and  repeats  the  Confiteor ;  then  after  stating  the 
period  which  his  confession  is  to  cover,  the  time  when  he 
last  approached  the  sacraments,  he  lays  open  to  the  spiritual 
physician  and  judge  the  wounds  of  his  soul — the  offences  of 
which  he  arraigns  himself.  The  case  is  fully  before  the 
judge,  who  is  to  exercise  the  discretionary  power  vested  in 
him  by  Jesus  Christ.  He  is  to  bind  or  to  loose.  If  the  case 
requires  time  to  test  the  penitent's  sincerity,  or  a  reference  to 
a  higher  tribunal,  the  priest  binds  it  for  the  present.  If  the 
contrary  be  the  result  of  the  confession,  he  announces  that 
he  will  loose  him  from  his  sins.  He  then  assigns  the  satis- 
factory works  to  be  performed,  which  are  commonly  called 
the  penance,  and  generally  consist  of  a  few  prayers. 

Confession  being  ended,  the  confessor  recommends  him  or 
her  to  the  divine  mercy,  stretches  out  his  right  hand  towards 
the  penitent,  begging  God  to  remit  his  or  her  sins ;  after 
which  he  gives  the  absolution  in  the  name  of  Christ  Jesus, 
and  adds,  holding  his  right  hand  always  lifted  up  towards 
the  penitent,  that  he  absolves  him,  by  Christ's  authority,  in 
the  name  of  the  Father,  etc.  He  .then  prays  to  God  that 
"  Our  Saviour's  passion,  the  merits  of  the  Holy  Virgin  and 
of  all  the  saints,  may  concur  to  remit  the  penitent's  sins. "  The 
penance  is  enjoined  that  the  faithful  may  do  something  to  sat- 
isfy God  for  their  sins  ;  for,  it  is  held,  the  satisfaction  of  Christ 
does  not  relieve  from  the  obligation  of  penitential  works. 
Connected  with  the  doctrine  of  satisfaction  is  that  of  indul- 
gence. An  indulgence  is  not  a  remission  of  sins,  it  is  not 
the  forgiveness  of  future  sins  ;  but  it  is  the  remission  of  the 
whole  or  part  of  the  temporal  punishment  which  is  due  to 
the  justice  of  God  after  the  sin  and  eternal  punishment  are 
remitted.  The  indulgences,  in  their  present  form,  refer  to 


THE  MASS.  285 

the  canonical  penances  of  the  early  church.  An  indulgence 
for  a  specified  number  of  years,  is  a  remission  of  that  length 
of  canonical  penance  in  the  primitive  usage,  and  a  remission  of 
so  much  temporal  punishment  as  corresponds  thereto.  A  plen- 
ary indulgence  is  a  complete  remission  of  canonical  penance. 

The  HOLY  EUCHARIST  differs  from  the  other  sacraments 
in  its  permanent  character,  in  its  existence  apart  from  the 
ac  t  of  imparting  to  the  faithful.  The  bread  and  wine  are 
consecrated  in  the  Holy  Sacrifice  of  the  Mass.  This  sacrifice 
is  the  peculiar  act  of  divine  worship  in  the  Church.  The 
Holy  Eucharist  consecrated  in  the  mass  is  either  then,  or  at 
other  times,  given  to  the  faithful  as  a  sacrament.  Every 
child  of  the  Church  ought  to  be  present  at  mass  with  a  con- 
science void  of  offence ;  and  in  order  to  show  them  the  neces- 
sity of  such  internal  purity,  they  are  sprinkled  with  a  water 
sanctified  for  that  purpose  by  a  solemn  benediction. 

The  mass  consists  of  two  principal  parts,  viz. :  the  first  from 
the  beginning  to  the  offering,  which  was  formerly  called  the 
Mass  of  the  Catechumens ;  and  the  second  from  the  offering 
to  the  conclusion,  called  the  Mass  of  the  Faithful.  Every 
person,  without  any  distinction,  was  required  to  be  present 
at  it  until  the  offering ;  because,  in  this  first  part,  the  lessons 
from  Scripture  and  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel  were  in- 
cluded, from  which  none  were  to  be  excluded.  But  after 
the  sermon  none  were  permitted  to  have  a  share  in  the  sac- 
rifice but  those  of  the  faithful  who  were  duly  qualified  to 
partake  of  it.  The  catechumens  were  ordered  to  depart,  and 
the  penitents  were  not  only  shut  out  and  kept  from  the  com- 
munion, but  even  from  the  sight  of  the  mysteries,  for  which 
reason  the  deacon  cried  out :  "  Holy  things  are  for  such  as 
are  holy ;  let  the  profane  depart  hence ! " 

The  mass  is  now  generally  divided  into  the  Ordinary  and 
the  Canon.  The  framework  of  the  mass  is  the  same  for  all 
times,  but  certain  parts,  the  Introit,  Gradual,  Tract  or  Se- 
quence, Secret,  Communion,  and  Post-Communion,  are  dif- 
ferent according  to  the  day  and  the  season,  as  well  as  the 
Epistle,  a  selection  from  the  Old  Testament  or  the  New,  after 
the  four  Gospels,  and  the  Gospel,  which  is  always  from  one 


286  THE  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CHURCH. 

of  the  four  Gospels.  A  great  deal  of  the  mass  is  made  up  of 
Scriptural  extracts,  and  all  prayers  are  addressed  to  God  the 
Father.  The  missal  is  translated  into  English  and  other 
modern  languages,  but  is  rarely  used  by  the  people.  A  great 
variety  of  prayers  and  devotions  in  harmony  with  the  gen- 
eral idea  of  the  mass,  are  in  use,  each  one  following  any  one 
or  his  own  pious  thoughts,  as  he  prefers.  Not  one  Catholic 
in  a  thousand  ever  carries  a  missal  to  church. 

The  blessed  sacrament  is  administered  as  a  Viaticum,  or 
provision  for  a  journey,  to  those  whose  life  is  in  danger.  The 
sick  person  must  receive  it  fasting,  provided  he  can  do  so 
with  safety ;  and  if  he  be  not  able  to  swallow  the  whole  wafer, 
a  piece  of  it  may  be  given  him,  and  afterwards  some  liquid ; 
but  the  host  must  not  be  dipped  in  any  liquid  beforehand, 
on  pretence  that  the  sick  person  will  be  the  better  able  to 
swallow  it. 

EXTKEME  UNCTION  is  denned  as  a  sacrament  that  gives 
Christians  afflicted  with  dangerous  sickness  grace  to  suffer 
with  patience  the  pains  and  troubles  of  their  infirmities, 
endues  them  with  strength  to  die  a  happy  death,  and  restores 
them  to  health,  provided  it  be  for  the  good  of  their  souls. 
On  entering  into  the  sick  person's  apartment,  the  priest,  in 
surplice  and  violet  stole,  says,  Pax  Tiuic  domui,  et  omnibus 
Tiabitantibus  in  ea, — i.  e.,  "Peace  be  to  this  house,"  etc. 
After  having  placed  the  vessels  of  the  holy  oils  upon  the 
table,  he  gives  the  sick  person  the  cross  to  kiss,  and  then 
sprinkles  the  sick  person,  the  apartment,  and  the  bystanders, 
with  holy  water,  at  the  same  time  repeating  the  anthem, 
Asperges  me,  etc.  Confession  where  possible  precedes  Ex- 
treme Unction ;  but  in  case  the  person  be  speechless,  the 
sacrament  is  administered  to  him  conditionally — that  is, 
acting  on  the  probability  that  he  is  properly  disposed  to 
receive  it.  The  anointing  is  performed  in  this  manner :  The 
priest  dips  the  thumb  of  his  right  hand  in  the  holy  oil, 
and  anoints  the  sick  person  in  the  form  of  a  cross,  on  the 
eyes,  ears,  nostrils,  mouth,  hands,  and  feet,  saying  at  each 
anointing  an  appropriate  prayer.  When  the  last  supreme 
moment  approaches  the  rite  of  the  Commendation  of  the 


HOLY  ORDERS.  287 

Peparting  Soul  is  performed,  when  the  priest  in  surplice 
and  purple  stole,  after  sprinkling  the  dying  person,  and 
giving  him  a  crucifix  to  kiss,  repeats  a  number  of  prayers  as 
the  moments  grow  shorter,  and  after  the  last  breath  has  gone, 
utters  another,  beseeching  the  saints  to  meet  the  departed, 
and  the  angels  to  receive  his  soul  and  offer  it  in  the  sight  of 
the  Most  High. 

The  sacrament  of  HOLY  ORDERS  is  generally  administered 
during  the  Ember-days,  although  bishops  may  confer  them 
at  other  times.  In  the  very  early  Church  no  particular  days 
were  observed ;  ordinations  were  held  whenever  necessity  re- 
quired. In  the  Western  Church  it  became  customary  at  an 
early  period  to  have  only  one  solemn  ordination  in  the  year, 
namely,  in  December.  Subsequently  the  middle  of  Lent  and 
Holy  Saturday  were  appointed  for  this  purpose.  The  clerical 
orders  of  the  Church  are  divided  into  two  classes,  sacred  and 
minor  orders.  The  first  consists  of  subdeacons,  deacons,  and 
priests,  who  are  bound  to  celibacy,  and  the  daily  recitation  of 
the  breviary,  a  collection  of  psalms  and  prayers,  occupying  a 
considerable  time.  The  minor  orders  are  four  in  number, 
Ostiarius,  Lector,  Exorcist,  and  Acolyte,  and  are  preceded  by 
the  tonsure,  an  ecclesiastical  ceremony  in  which  the  hair  is 
shorn,  initiatory  to  the  ecclesiastical  state.  The  employ- 
ment of  the  door-keeper,  or  Ostiarius,  is  to  open  and  shut 
the  church-doors,  and  also  to  take  care  that  the  bells  be  rung 
in  due  time ;  that  of  the  Lector  or  Eeader,  to  read  aloud  the 
portions  appointed ;  that  of  the  Exorcist,  to  exorcise  persons 
possessed ;  that  of  the  Acolyte,  to  bring  in  the  tapers,  to  light 
them,  to  prepare  the  censer  and  the  wine  and  water  for  the 
sacrifice,  and  to  attend  upon  the  subdeacon,  the  deacon,  and  the 
priest.  The  minor  orders  are  conferred  by  a  bishop  only.  The 
major  or  sacred  orders  comprise  the  Subdeaconship,  the  Dea- 
conship,  and  the  Priesthood.  The  duties  of  a  Subdeacon  are  to 
aid  the  Deacon,  and  under  him  to  serve  in  the  functions  of  the 
ministry ;  to  sing  the  epistle  in  solemn  masses ;  to  take  care  of 
the  holy  vessels  and  linens  used  in  the  Holy  Sacrifice  ;  to  wash 
the  palls,  purificatories,  and  corporals ;  to  receive  the  offerings 
of  the  people ;  to  carry  the  cross  in  processions  ;  to  hold  the 


288  THE  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CHURCH. 

book  of  the  Gospels  while  the  deacon  chants  the  Gospel  of 
the  day,  and  to  present  it  to  the  bishop  or  priest  who  cele- 
brates, to  be  kissed  by  him.  The  Deacon  is  the  immediate 
assistant  of  the  priest  at  the  Holy  Sacrifice.  He  acquires  the 
power  of  preaching  by  the  express  permission  of  the  bishop, 
as  well  as  of  baptizing.  The  Priesthood  is  considered  "  the 
crown  of  the  orders,  as  in  it  the  Sacrament  of  Holy  Orders 
culminates."  By  his  ordination  the  priest  receives  all  the 
sacerdotal  powers  ;  but  to  exercise  them,  he  requires  faculties 
from  the  bishop  of  the  diocese.  These  are  conceded,  either  to 
say  mass,  preach,  and  hear  confessions,  or  for  the  first  of 
these  only. 

The  sacrament  of  MATRIMONY.  Independently  of  the  age 
requisite  for  marriage,  the  liberty  of  contracting  so  solemn 
an  engagement,  and  the  publication  of  the  banns,  the  church 
requires  further,  "  That  the  persons  to  be  joined  together  in 
matrimony  shall  be  sufficiently  instructed  in  the  Christian 
doctrine ;  that  they  should  know  the  nature  of  the  sacrament 
of  marriage,  its  ends  and  obligations ;  and  that  they  should 
first  confess,  and  receive  the  blessed  sacrament,  before  they 
join  themselves  together  forever." 

It  is  the  wish  of  the  Church  that  the  marriage  should  take 
place  during  mass,  and  a  special  form,  the  Missa  pro  Sponso 
et  Sponsa,  is  in  the  missal.  When  the  nuptial  mass  is  said 
the  bride  and  groom  receive  holy  communion,  and  are  then 
joined  in  wedlock  in  the  usual  form,  receiving  the  nuptial 
blessing.  When  the  marriage  is  not  with  the  mass,  the 
priest  in  surplice  and  white  stole  goes  to  the  altar ;  he  is 
preceded  by  attendants  ;  he  advances  towards  them,  the  man 
standing  on  the  epistle  and  the  woman  on  the  gospel  side,  so 
that  the  man  stands  at  the  woman's  right  hand.  Then  the 
priest  addresses  himself  to  the  man  and  woman  separately, 
calling  them  both  by  their  proper  names,  and  asks  the  man 
whether  he  will  have  such  a  one  for  his  wife  ?  and  the  woman 
whether  she  will  have  such  a  one  for  her  husband  \  After 
mutual  consent  has  been  given,  the  priest,  making  them 
join  hands,  says,  Ego  jungo  vos  in  matrimonium,  etc. ; 
that  is,  "  I  join  you  together  in  marriage,  in  the  name  of  the 


MATRIMONY.  289 

Father,''  etc.  At  the  same  time  he  makes  the  sign  of  the  cross 
upon  them,  and  then  sprinkles  them  with  holy  water.  This 
being  done,  he  blesses  the  wedding-ring,  and  sprinkles  it  also 
with  holy  water,  in  the  form  of  a  cross  ;  after  which  he  gives 
it  to  the  bridegroom,  who  puts  it  on  the  wedding-finger  of 
the  bride. 


ic  Gfiurcfiu 


THE   SACEAMENTALS   OF  THE   CHUECH. 

THE  sacramentals  include  the  prayers  of  the  church  and 
the  blessings  of  the  church.  All  the  prayers  of  the 
church  said  by  the  priest  in  the  mass,  the  psalms  sung  in 
the  divine  office,  the  forms  of  prayer  used  in  the  adminis- 
tration of  the  sacraments,  in  the  consecration  of  bishops,  the 
consecration  and  blessing  of  churches,  of  bells,  vestments, 
crosses,  rosaries,  and  of  pictures,  are  sacramentals.  The  books 
containing  these  official  prayers  are  : 

The  Missal,  or  Mass-Book,  contains  the  ordinary  of  the 
mass,  which  is  the  unalterable  portion,  and  also  the  introits, 
collects,  epistles,  tracts,  graduals,  sequences,  epistles  and  gos- 
pels, offertories,  secrets,  prefaces,  communicantes,  commun- 
ions and  post-communions,  for  the  various  feasts  and  ferine 
of  the  ecclesiastical  year;  with  a  variety  of  votive  masses 
which  may  be  said  at  option  on  certain  days,  the  mass  of 
marriage,  dedication  of  churches,  and  the  masses  of  requiem, 
or  masses  for  the  dead.  At  one  time  many  countries,  and 
even  parts  of  countries,  had  missals  varying  somewhat ;  but 
in  later  years  these  have  gradually  been  laid  aside,  and  the 
Roman  missal  is  now  in  almost  universal  use,  although  each 
country  has  one  of  its  own,  containing  services  for  special 
feasts  to  which  the  people  of  that  country  have  particular 


THE  SACRAMENTALS  OF  THE  CHURCH.         291 

devotion,  such  as  the  saints  who  have  flourished  in  the  coun- 
try, or  the  feasts  which  have  become  in  some  way  patronal. 

The  Breviary,  or  Office-Book  of  the  O'irch,  with  the  Di- 
urnal, contains  the  church  prayers  for  the  different  hours  of 
the  day,  according  to  the  ancient  division  and  the  custom  of 
the  East.  These  are  matins  ;  lauds  ;  prime,  so  called  from 
being  said  at  the  first  hour  ;  tierce,  said  at  the  third  hour ; 
sext,  at  the  sixth  ;  none,  at  the  ninth  ;  vespers,  or  the  even- 
ing service ;  and  compline,  or  the  concluding  service  of  the 
day.  Each  of  these  parts  contains  some  of  the  psalms  of 
David,  with  extracts  from  other  parts  of  the  Bible,  or  from 
the  Fathers,  or  an  account  of  the  feast  or  saint  honored  on 
the  day  ;  canticles  from  the  Scriptures,  hymns,  and  prayers. 
The  breviary  is  divided  into  four  parts,  corresponding  to  the 
seasons ;  a  division  evidently  of  Jewish  origin,  as  their 
prayer-books  to  this  day  are  similarly  divided. 

The  Ritual  is  a  book  containing  the  form  of  administer- 
ing many  of  the  sacraments,  the  funeral  service,  various  ben- 
edictions, and  minor  services ;  while  those  peculiar  to  bishops 
are  given  in  the  Pontifical.  The  Litanies  are  a  form  of 
united  prayer  by  alternate  sentences,  in  which  the  clergy 
lead  and  the  people  respond.  They  are  usually  of  a  peni- 
tential character.  By  the  name  Angelus  is  denoted  the  Cath- 
olic practice  of  honoring  God  at  morning,  noon,  and  evening, 
by  reciting  three  Hail  Mary's,  together  with  sentences  and  a 
collect,  to  express  the  Christian's  rejoicing  trust  in  the  mys- 
tery of  the  incarnation. 

Concerning  Blessed  Candles,  the  present  custom  of  the 
Church  requires  that  candles  should  be  lighted  on  the  altar 
from  the  beginning  to  the  end  of  mass.  The  candles  must 
be  of  pure  wax  and  of  white  color,  except  in  masses  for  the 
dead,  when  yellow  ones  are  used.  Six  candles  are  lighted 
at  High  Mass,  seven  at  the  mass  of  a  bishop,  twelve  at  least 
at  the  benediction  of  the  Blessed  Sacrament.  Candles  must 
also  be  lighted  when  communion  is  given,  and  one  lighted 
candle  is  required  in  the  administration  of  extreme  unction. 
Holy  Water  is  placed  at  the  door  of  the  church  in  order  that 
the  faithful  may  sprinkle  themselves  with  it  as  they  enter, 


292  THE  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CHURCH. 

accompanying  the  outward  rite  with  internal  acts  of  sorrow 
and  love.  Holy  water  is  also  employed  in  nearly  every 
blessing  which  the  Church  gives.  Holy  Ashes  are  obtained 
one  year  by  burning  the  palms  of  the  preceding  year.  The 
administration  of  the  ashes  was  originally  made  only  to 
public  penitents,  but  has  since  been  extended  to  the  whole 
congregation.  The  Chrism  consists  of  olive  oil  mixed  with 
balm,  is  blessed  by  the  bishop  and  used  by  the  Church  in 
confirmation  as  well  as  in  baptism,  ordination,  consecration 
of  altar-stones,  chalices,  churches,  and  in  the  blessing  of  bap- 
tismal water.  The  Holy  Oils  are  three  in  number,  and  are 
consecrated  by  the  bishop  on  Holy  Thursday.  They  are  the 
oil  of  catechumens,  the  chrism,  and  the  oil  of  the  sick,  which 
is  also  used  in  blessing  bells. 

DEVOTION  TO  THE  CROSS. 

The  sixth  (Ecumenical  Council,  held  at  Constantinople, 
about  the  close  of  the  seventh  century,  decreed  that  Jesus 
Christ  should  be  painted  in  a  human  form  upon  the  cross, 
in  order  to  represent  in  the  most  lively  manner  imaginable, 
to  all  Christians,  the  death  and  passion  of  the  Blessed  Saviour. 
But  emblematic  figures  of  Him  had  been  in  use  for  many  pre- 
ceding ages.  Christ  was  frequently  delineated  in  the  form 
of  a  lamb,  at  the  foot  of  the  cross,  and  the  Holy  Ghost  in 
that  of  a  dove. 

The  cross,  as  the  copy  of  that  on  which  our  Lord  died,  was 
an  object  of  reverence  from  the  first,  and  was  made  on  the 
person  with  the  words :  "  In  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of 
the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost."  The  crucifix,  a  cross  with 
the  effigy  of  our  Lord  nailed  to  it,  was  introduced  when 
idolatry  was  overthrown.  In  the  service  of  the  Church 
special  honor  is  paid  to  the  crucifix  on  Good  Friday.  She 
places  the  cross  on  the  spires,  which  show  that  she  looks  up 
to  heaven  ;  she  places  the  crucifix  above  her  altar  and  in  the 
hands  of  her  dying  children ;  she  makes  the  sign  of  the  cross 
at  all  times.  The  sign  of  the  cross,  which  begins  all  prayers 
and  devotions,  is  made  by  drawing  the  hand  from  the  fore- 


DEVOTION  TO  THE  CROSS.  293 

head  to  the  breast  and  then  from  the  left  to  the  right  shoul- 
der. How  old  the  usage  is  may  be  seen  in  Tertullian,  who, 
writing  in  the  second  century,  said :  "  At  every  step  and 
movement,  whenever  we  come  in  or  go  out,  when  we  dress 
and  put  on  our  shoes,  at  bath,  at  table,  when  lights  are 
brought  in,  on  lying  or  sitting  down, — whatever  employ- 
ment engages  our  attention,  we  make  the  sign  of  the  cross 
upon  our  foreheads."  The  Church  encourages  the  use  of 
crucifixes  by  indulgences  conferred  on  those  who  devoutly 
use  those  blessed  with  that  view. 

Connected  with  the  cross  are  two  feasts  of  the  Church : 
The  Invention  (i.e.,  Finding)  of  the  Holy  Cross,  celebrated 
on  the  3d  of  May,  to  commemorate  the  discovery  of  the 
cross  at  Jerusalem  by  the  Empress  Helena ;  and  the  Exalta- 
tion of  the  Holy  Cross,  celebrated  on  the  14th  of  September, 
to  commemorate  its  recovery  from  Chosroes;  king  of  Persia, 
by  the  Emperor  Heraclius,  and  its  solemn  restoration  and 
exaltation  on  Mount  Calvary. 

The  most  popular  devotion  connected  with  the  cross  is 
the  Stations,  or  Holy  Way  of  the  Cross.  It  is  a  devotional 
exercise,  not  properly  a  part  of  the  church  service,  in  which 
the  passion,  death,  and  sepulture  of  the  Son  of  God  pass 
before  us  in  a  series  of  fourteen  pictures,  and  in  which 
the  faithful  meditate  upon  them,  passing  from  station  to 
station,  in  memory  of  his  sad  and  bitter  passage  from  the 
tribunal  of  Pilate  to  the  tomb.  Constant  tradition  attests 
that,  from  the  very  first,  devotion  led  the  followers  of  our 
Lord  to  tread  that  path,  and  bedew  with  their  tears  and 
prayers  the  way  which  he  had  hallowed  with  his  precious 
blood.  As  the  Church  spread,  pilgrims  came  from  afar  to 
perform  the  same  devotion.  When  in  time  Jerusalem  fell 
into  the  hands  of  the  enemies  of  the  Church,  so  that  it  was 
unsafe  for  many  to  venture  thither,  the  Franciscan  Fathers, 
to  whom  especially  the  guardianship  of  the  holy  places  was 
assigned,  began  to  set  up  in  their  churches  in  Europe  four- 
teen crosses,  with  as  many  pictures,  representing  the  various 
stages  of  that  dolorous  way,  that  the  faithful,  meditating 
before  them,  might  in  spirit  accompany  the  pilgrims  to  Je- 


294  THE  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CHURCH. 

rusalem  on  their  way  to  Calvary.  This  devotion  is  often 
performed  in  the  penitential  times  of  Lent  and  Advent ;  and 
crosses  are  specially  blessed  to  enable  those  prevented  by 
illness  from  performing  the  devotion  before  stations  canon- 
ically  set  up,  to  obtain  the  same  spiritual  favors  by  going 
through  the  devotion  in  their  own  homes. 

Another  devotion  among  the  people  to  honor  Christ  as  the 
Lamb  slain  before  the  foundation  of  the  world  is  the  Agnus 
Dei.  The  Agnus  Dei  is  the  figure  of  a  lamb  stamped  on 
the  wax  which  remains  from  the  Paschal  candles,  and  sol- 
emnly blessed  by  the  Pope  on  the  Thursday  after  Easter,  in 
the  first  and  seventh  years  of  his  Pontificate. 

THE  ROSARY  AND   SCAPULAR. 

The  early  Christians  recited  daily  the  one  hundred  and 
fifty  psalms.  Those  who  could  not  learn  them  recited  the 
Lord  s  Prayer  one  hundred  and  fifty  times  ;  and  in  time  the 
Hail  Mary  was  substituted,  the  Lord's  Prayer  being  recited 
after  every  decade,  or  ten  Hail  Mary's.  In  reciting  these 
beads  were  used,  as  they  have  been  in  Asia  from  time  im- 
memorial, and  are  to  this  day  from  Syria  to  Japan.  St. 
Dominic,  founder  of  the  order  of  Friar  Preachers,  divided 
this  into  three  parts,  and  taught  the  people  to  meditate 
while  reciting  it,  on  some  mystery  of  redemption  connected 
with  the  life  and  passion  of  Christ,  and  of  His  Blessed 
Mother.  The  fifteen  mysteries  are  divided  into  three  parts : 
the  first  includes  the  fwe  joyful  mysteries  ;  the  next  five  are 
the  sorrowful;  and  the  last  five,  the  glorious,  as  being  des- 
tined to  his  resurrection,  ascension,  etc. 

The  devotion  of  the  scapular  of  Mount  Carmel  consists 
likewise  of  two  small  pieces  of  cloth,  three  or  four  inches 
square,  tied  together  with  two  ribands.  It  is  worn  as  a 
badge  of  fellowship  in  prayer  and  good  works,  with  the  re- 
ligious of  the  Carmelite  order.  It  is  evidently  derived  from 
the  Jews,  who  wear  a  similar  badge,  known  as  the  little 
taleth,  to  remind  them  of  their  duty  ever  to  pray.  Christ 
wore  the  taleth,  and  the  practice  has  therefore  Scriptural 
authority. 


VESTMENTS  OF  THE  PRIEST  AT  MASS.          295 


THE   SACRED  UTENSILS. 

For  the  celebration  of  the  mass  the  priest  has  a  Chalice, 
generally  of  silver  or  gold,  and  a  Paten  of  the  same  mate- 
rial. The  use  of  the  latter  is  to  hold  the  consecrated  host. 
These  utensils  are  solemnly  blessed  and  anointed  for  the 
use  of  the  altar,  and  are  kept  and  handled  with  the  great- 
est reverence.  The  Pyx,  or  Ciborium  as  it  is  now  called,  is 
the  vessel  in  which  the  Blessed  Sacrament  is  kept,  and  is 
usually  covered  with  a  silk  veil.  Pyx  is  the  name  given 
to  a  small  vessel,  or  box,  in  which  the  Blessed  Sacrament  is 
conveyed  by  the  priest  to  the  sick.  The  Ostensorium,  or 
Monstrance,  is  used  for  the  exposition  of  the  Holy  Sacrament 
at  the  benediction.  The  Censer  was  formerly  known  as  the 
Thurible,  and  the  part  that  holds  the  burning  incense  was 
called  the  navette,  but  is  now  termed  the  bowl  or  boat.  The 
Chrismale  is  the  receptacle  of  the  Holy  Chrism.  The  Cor- 
poral is  the  linen  cloth  on  which  the  host  is  laid.  It  is 
blessed  before  being  used,  either  by  a  bishop  or  by  a  priest 
with  special  faculties.  A  part  of  the  Corporal  at  one  time 
was  spread  over  the  chalice,  but  now  a  small  cloth  of  linen, 
stiffened  with  cardboard  and  having  an  upper  surface  of 
silk,  called  the  Palla,  is  used. 

VESTMENTS   OF  THE  PRIEST  AT  MASS. 

The  Amice  is  a  piece  of  fine  linen,  of  an  oblong-square 
form,  which  is  worn  on  the  shoulders  and  crossed  over  in 
front.  It  was  formerly  a  hood,  thrown  back  during  service, 
and  is  still  so  used  by  the  priests  of  some  orders.  The  Alb 
is  an  ample  linen  tunic,  so  called  from  the  Latin  word  alba, 
signifying  white.  This  ancient  linen  tunic,  once  the  general 
garb,  is  retained  by  the  Church  to  the  use  of  her  priests, 
deacons,  and  subdeacons  when  ministering  at  the  altars. 
The  lower  part  of  the  alb  was  formerly  ornamented  with 
scarlet  stripes,  or  fringed  with  gold.  The  alb  was  always 
girt  by  a  cincture,  and  the  Church  retains  it,  as  our  Lord 
and  his  apostles  make  a  spiritual  reference  to  the  custom. 


296  THE  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CHURCH. 

The  Maniple,  now  an  embroidered  vestment,  worn  on  the  left 
arm,  was  originally  a  linen  handkerchief.  The  Stole  was  a 
mark  of  honor,  and  has  its  antecedent  in  the  veil  worn  by 
the  Jews  at  prayer.  It  is  worn  around  the  neck,  the  ends  being 
crossed  on  the  breast ;  but  a  bishop  wears  it  hanging  down  on 
each  side.  The  Chasuble  is  placed  over  these  vestments.  It  was 
originally  a  square  or  round  cloth,  with  a  hole  in  the  centre 
for  the  head.  The  chasuble  now  worn  in  the  Greek  Church 
is  of  this  form ;  but  in  the  Latin  Church  the  sides  have  been 
cut  open  to  give  play  to  the  hands,  and  the  garment  grad- 
ually trimmed  to  its  present  shape.  It  bears  a  large  em- 
broidered cross  on  the  back.  The  Dalmatic  is  the  special 
vestment  of  the  deacon.  It  is  a  vestment,  open  on  each  side, 
and  differs  from  the  priest's  chasuble  by  having  a  species  of 
wide  sleeve,  and,  instead  of  being  marked  on  the  back  with 
the  cross,  is  ornamented  with  two  stripes  that  were  originally 
the  augustus  clavus,  worn  upon  their  garments  by  the  less 
dignified  of  the  Roman  people.  It  is  of  the  same  color  as 
the  priest's  vestments  of  the  day.  The  tunic  worn  by  the 
subdeacon  is  still  shorter,  and  without  sleeves.  It  corre- 
sponds in  color  with  the  chasuble.  The  vestments  are  cloth 
of  gold  for  solemnities ;  white,  for  confessors  and  virgins ; 
red,  for  feasts  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  the  Apostles,  and  Martyrs ; 
purple,  for  days  of  fasting ;  black,  for  masses  for  the  dead. 

THE  FUNERAL  SERVICE. 

In  its  full  rite  the  funeral  service  begins  at  the  house  of 
the  deceased.  The  priest,  in  surplice  and  black  stole,  before 
the  body  is  removed,  sprinkles  it,  and  intones  the  129th 
Psalm.  As  the  funeral  procession  enters  the  church  the 
chanters  intone  the  antiphon :  "  The  bones  that  are  humbled 
shall  rejoice."  The  melancholy  occasion  of  the  ceremony 
does  not  admit  of  any  pompous  decorations  on  the  altar. 
All  the  flowers,  festoons,  relics,  and  images  are  removed.  Six 
yellow  wax  lights,  and  a  cross  in  the  middle,  are  the  only 
ornaments.  The  corpse  is  placed  in  the  middle  of  the  church, 
with  the  feet  towards  the  altar,  if  a  layman ;  but  if  a  priest. 


THE  FUNERAL  SERVICE.  290 

with  his  head  towards  it.  Tapers  are  lighted  around  it. 
After  the  Funeral  Mass  is  said,  the  priest,  taking  off  his  chas- 
uble and  maniple,  moves  processionally  to  the  coffin,  the  sub- 
deacon,  if  one  is  present,  leading  with  the  cross,  and  taking 
his  position  at  the  head  of  the  deceased,  one  acolyte  on  either 
hand  bearing  tapers,  while  the  priest  stands  at  the  foot,  with 
attendants  bearing  a  censer  and  a  holy- water  vessel.  Then 
the  priest  begins :  Non  intres  in  judicium,  etc. — "  Enter  not 
into  judgment,"  etc.  The  celebrant  walks  round  the  coffin, 
sprinkling  it  with  holy  water,  and  afterwards  incensing  it  on 
all  sides,  bowing  as  he  passes  the  cross.  When  he  has  per- 
formed the  absolution  he  says  the  Pater,  and  thereupon 
turns  to  the  cross,  repeating  several  verses  and  prayers. 
Lastly,  he  makes  the  sign  of  the  cross  over  the  coffin,  and 
says,  Requiescat  in  pace,—"~Let  him  rest  in  peace."  After 
the  absolution  the  celebrant  and  his  attendants  return  in  the 
same  order  as  they  approached.  On  arriving  at  the  grave, 
opened  in  consecrated  ground,  the  corpse  is  placed  beside 
it;  the  priest  again  sprinkles  and  incenses  the  body  and 
the  grave,  and  recites  the  Canticle  of  Zachary,  followed  by 
the  antiphon:  "I  am  the  resurrection  and  the  life,"  etc. 
After  the  corpse  has  been  lowered  into  the  ground,  the  Kyrie 
again  resounds,  the  Lord's  Prayer  is  repeated,  and  then  the 
final  prayer. 


of 


BI3PP, 


THE   OFFICE  AND   DIGNITY    OF  BISHOPS. 

BISHOPS  are  considered  as  the  fathers  and  pastors  of 
the  faithful,  and  the  successors  of  the  apostles  ;  by 
virtue  of  which  superiority  they  are  allowed  the  chief  places 
in  the  choir,  in  chapters,  and  processions.  As  successors  to 
the  apostles,  they  claim  respect  and  homage  from  the  laity ; 
and  as  fathers  and  pastors,  they  are  obliged  to  preach  God's 
holy  word  to  the  faithful. 

Bishops  were  first  chosen  by  the  apostles.  After  the  elev- 
enth century  they  were  elected  by  the  clergy  of  the  cathe- 
dral church,  the  confirmation  resting  with  the  metropolitan. 
Gradually  this  privilege  passed  into  the  hands  of  the  Pope. 
The  mode  of  election  or  selection  varies  in  different  coun- 
tries. The  Pope  has  granted  the  right  to  the  sovereigns  of 
some  Catholic  countries,  and  even  the  Protestant  govern- 
ment of  Germany,  to  exclude  from  a  list  of  names  proposed 
for  the  high  office  such  as  may  be  deemed  locally  objection- 
able. The  right  of  confirmation,  however,  is  vested  abso- 
lutely in  the  Pope. 

The  appointments  to  the  Episcopate  are  from  time  to  time 
officially  proclaimed,  or,  as  it  is  called,  preconized  at  Home 
by  the  Pope  in  consistory.  An  official  letter  called  a  bull, 
from  the  round  seal  attached  to  it,  is  sent  to  the  bishop-elect, 


OFFICE  AND  DIGNITY  OF  BISHOPS.  299 

and  he  is  then  consecrated.  Three  bishops  are  required,  by 
the  ancient  canons,  and  by  the  general  practice  of  the  Church, 
for  the  consecration.  At  the  time  appointed  for  the  conse- 
cration, the  bishops,  with  the  elect,  go  in  procession  to  the 
church,  and  the  Consecrator  is  vested  in  full  pontificals,  as 
are  the  assistants  in  rochets,  stoles,  copes,  and  mitres ;  and 
the  bishop-elect  puts  on  the  amice,  alb,  cincture,  and  stole, 
crossed  on  his  breast  as  a  priest.  The  Consecrator  sits  at  the 
altar,  and  the  bishop-elect,  wearing  his  small  cap,  is  led  to 
him  by  the  assistant  bishops  ;  and  after  saluting  him,  they 
sit  down,  the  assistant  bishops  on  either  side  of  the  bishop- 
elect.  The  apostolic  commission  is  read,  an  oath  of  duty 
and  fidelity  is  administered  to  the  bishop-elect,  a  series  of 
questions  embracing  the  creed  and  profession  of  faith  are 
put  and  answered,  and  the  Consecrator,  laying  aside  his 
mitre,  begins  the  mass.  After  the  Litany  is  ended,  the  Con- 
secrator places  the  Book  of  the  Gospel  open  on  the  shoul- 
ders of  the  bishop-elect,  where  it  is  sustained  by  one  of  the 
chaplains  until  it  is  delivered  into  his  hands.  Next  follows 
the  imposition  of  hands,  accompanied  by  the  words :  "  Re- 
ceive thou  the  Holy  Ghost."  The  Consecrator,  again  assum- 
ing his  mitre,  makes  the  sign  of  the  cross  on  the  head  of  the 
bishop-elect  with  holy  chrism,  and  anoints  the  whole  ton- 
sure. The  hands  of  the  bishop-elect  are  then  thrice  anointed, 
the  crozier,  or  pastoral  staff,  is  blessed  and  given  him,  the 
ring  is  blessed  and  placed  on  the  right  hand,  the  gloves  are 
blessed  and  placed  on  his  hands,  and  he  is  then  ceremoni- 
ously placed  in  the  Episcopal  chair.  The  Gospel  of  St.  John 
then  closes  the  mass,  in  the  usual  way. 

The  Mitre  had  its  origin  in  the  metal  plate  worn  on  the 
forehead  by  the  Jewish  high-priest.  It  was  once  very  low, 
and  was  first  used  by  the  Roman  Pontiffs,  who  permitted  its 
use  to  bishops.  Gradually  it  was  made  higher,  until  it  at- 
tained its  present  form  about  the  sixteenth  century.  The 
Crosier,  or  pastoral  staff,  is  designed  to  signify  that  the  power 
and  grace  of  the  pastoral  office  must  be  derived  from  God, 
the  supporter  of  human  weakness.  The  Ring  was,  among 
the  ancients,  a  sign  of  authority,  and  was  early  adopted  by 


300  THE  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CHURCH. 

the  Church.  In  time  the  mitre  and  crosier  were  granted  to 
certain  abbots  ;  but  their  mitre  is  properly  of  the  second  or 
third  order,  and  the  crosier  has  a  veil  or  banner,  and  when 
used  has  the  crook  turned  towards  the  abbot,  not  towards  the 
people  as  a  bishop  holds  his. 


THE  ARCHIEPISCOPATE. 

The  consecration  of  an  archbishop  is  similar  to  that  of  a 
bishop,  but  he  is  not  fully  inducted  into  the  archiepiscopate 
until  he  receives  the  pallium,  which  is  the  special  mark  of 
that  dignity.  The  pallium  is  a  vestment  made  of  lamb's- 
wool,  dotted  with  purple  crosses.  It  is  worn  on  the  shoul- 
ders, with  a  lapel  hanging  down  the  breast  and  back.  On  the 
feast  of  St.  Agnes  the  abbot  of  St.  Peter's,  ad  mncula,  blesses 
two  lambs,  which  are  then  carried  to  the  Pope  and  blessed 
by  him.  The  lambs  are  next  sent  to  the  nuns  of  San  Lo- 
renzo, in  Panisperna,  or  the  Capuchin  nuns,  who  shear  them 
and  make  the  vestments.  These  are  laid  on  the  tomb  of  St. 
Peter  the  night  preceding  his  feast,  and  are  then  blessed  by 
the  Pope.  The  pallium  serves  to  put  the  prelate  in  mind 
that  he  is  bound  to  seek  out,  like  the  good  shepherd,  and 
carry  home  on  his  shoulders  the  strayed  sheep  of  his  flock. 
Every  particular  pallium  serves  for  the  use  of  that  archbishop 
only  to  whom  it  was  first  given ;  neither  can  he  make  any 
use  of  it  in  case  he  be  translated  from  one  archbishopric  to 
another,  nor  leave  it  to  his  successors.  When  an  archbishop 
dies  his  pallium  is  buried  with  him ;  and  if  he  be  buried  in 
his  own  diocese,  it  is  laid  upon  his  shoulders ;  but  if  out  of 
it,  under  his  head.  Archbishops  date  back  to  the  times  of 
the  apostles.  They  govern  their  own  dioceses  as  bishops ; 
but  have  a  certain  jurisdiction  over  a  number  of  their  dio- 
ceses which  form  their  province.  The  bishops  under  them 
are  called  suffragans.  In  some  countries,  where  there  are  sev- 
eral archbishops,  one  See  is  often,  from  its  antiquity  or  some 
other  reason,  regarded  as  the  first  in  dignity,  and  the  arch- 
bishop of  that  See  is  called  the  Primate  of  the  country. 


THE  PAPACY.  301 

THE  PAPACY. 

In  the  government  of  the  Church  the  Pope  is  assisted  by 
the  College  of  Cardinals,  who  are  of  three  grades— Cardinal 
bishops  (6),  Cardinal  priests  (50),  and  Cardinal  deacons  (14). 
Cardinals  were  originally  the  bishops  near  Rome,  and  clergy 
of  the  city  of  Rome,  and  a  Cardinal  bishop  is  always  bishop 
of  one  of  the  suburban  churches,  and  every  Cardinal  priest, 
though  he  may  be  archbishop  or  bishop  in  some  other  country, 
always  has  the  title  of  some  church  in  that  city.  The  Car- 
dinalate  is  not  sacramental,  and  the  conferring  of  the  dignity 
is  not  a  part  of  Holy  Orders,  nor  a  rank  in  the  episcopate. 

When  the  Pope  makes  a  promotion  of  cardinals  he  gives 
them  the  title  of  priest,  or  deacon,  as  he  thinks  proper ;  and 
because  all  cardinals  are  equal  by  their*  dignity,  they  take 
place  according  to  the  date  of  their  promotion  and  the  qual- 
ity of  their  title.  As  cardinals,  with  regard  to  spirituals, 
govern  the  Church  of  Rome  in  all  parts  of  the  Christian 
world,  subjects  of  the  different  nations  of  it  are  allowed  to 
aspire  to  this  dignity,  according  to  the  decisions  of  the 
Council  of  Trent.  Cardinals  wore  only  the  common  vestment 
of  priests,  which  was  like  a  monastic  habit,  till  the  time  of 
Innocent  IY.  The  red  hat  was  given  them  in  1243,  in  the 
Council  of  Lyons.  According  to  writers  they  were  not  clothed 
in  scarlet  till  the  pontificate  of  Paul  II. ;  others  pretend  that 
their  robes  were  of  that  color  as  early  as  Innocent  III. ;  and 
others,  again,  that  they  wore  the  purple  under  Stephen  IV. 
Paul  II.  distinguished  them  by  the  embroidered  silk  mitre, 
and  the  red  cope  and  cap,  red  housings  for  their  mules,  and 
gilt  stirrups.  Urban  VIII. ,  in  order  to  add  fresh  splendor 
to  the  cardinalate,  ordered  that  the  title  of  Eminence  should 
be  given  to  them. 

The  red  cap  is  dispatched  to  the  newly  created  Cardinal 
by  a  member  of  the  Pope's  Noble  Guard,  and  if  he  be  not  a 
resident  of  Rome,  an  ablegate  with  a  brief  and  credentials  is 
sent  with  the  biretta,  which  is  formally  presented  to  His 
Eminence  in  a  Cathedral  church.  Within  a  year  he  must 
proceed  to  Rome  to  receive  the  other  insignia.  The  closing 


302  THE  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CHURCH. 

and  opening  of  the  mouth  of  new  Cardinals  is  the  first  cere- 
mony. The  ring  and  title  are  conferred  together,  after  the 
unsealing  of  the  mouth.  The  Cardinal,  kneeling  before  the 
Pope,  receives  the  gold  ring,  set  with  a  sapphire,  which  the 
Pope  places  on  his  finger  and  commits  the  titular  church  to 
his  care.  The  cap  is  made  of  red  cloth,  lined  with  red  silk, 
with  a  red  silk  cord  around  the  crown,  and  tassels  of  red 
silk  in  five  rows. 

METHODS   OF   ELECTING  A   POPE. 

The  election  of  a  Pope  is  regarded  with  universal  interest 
in  the  Church,  and  in  those  countries  where  the  Roman 
Catholic  is  the  State  religion.  After  the  burial  of  a  deceased 
Pope,  the  Cardinals  assemble  in  a  church,  and  walk  in  pro- 
cession with  their  conclavists,  a  secretary,  and  a  chaplain,  to 
the  great  gate  of  the  Palace,  in  which  one  will  remain  as 
Sovereign  Pontiff.  The  Cardinal  Camerlingo,  with  three 
others,  administers  the  government  until  an  election  is  had. 

There  are  three  methods  of  electing  a  Pope,  by  scrutiny, 
by  compromise,  and  by  inspiration  or  acclamation.  The  first 
consists  of  collecting  and  examining  the  ballots  of  the  Car- 
dinals. If  there  is  no  election  the  ballots  are  burned  and 
new  ones  used  for  a  second  vote,  and  so  on  until  a  choice  is 
made,  the  decisive  vote  being  two-thirds  of  all  the  Cardinals. 
A  Pope  is  elected  by  compromise  when  the  Cardinals  agree 
to  appoint  a  given  number  of  their  associates  to  make  a 
selection,  pledging  themselves  to  acknowledge  the  one  they 
may  nominate  as  duly  elected.  The  last  method  is  where 
all  are  so  manifestly  in  favor  of  a  certain  person  that  neither 
balloting  nor  compromise  is  necessary,  and  the  choice  is 
made  by  the  acclamation  of  the  Cardinals. 

When  a  Pope  is  chosen,  a  door  leading  out  on  a  balcony 
previously  walled  up,  is  broken  open,  and  the  first  Cardinal 
Deacon  steps  through  and  announces  the  result:  "I  give 
you  tidings  of  great  joy.  We  have  as  Pope  the  most  emi- 
nent and  reverend  Lord  ,  cardinal  of  the  holy  Roman 

Church ,  of  the  title  of  St. ,  who  has  assumed  the 

name  of  — — ."  If  the  newly-elected  Pope  is  not  a  bishop  he 


THE  LAST  (ECUMENICAL  COUNCIL.  303 

is  consecrated  a  bishop  and  crowned  with  the  triple  crown. 
From  his  election  he  is  head  of  the  Church — can  decree,  rale, 
name  or  depose  bishops,  and  exercise  every  pontifical  juris- 
diction ;  but  he  cannot  ordain  or  consecrate  until  he  has 
received  the  imposition  of  hands  from  bishops  inferior  to 
himself. 

THE  LAST    (ECUMENICAL   COUNCIL. 

The  last  (Ecumenical  Council  of  the  Church  was  held  in 
Eome,  1869-70,  and- was  the  first  convened  since  the  famous 
Council  of  Trent,  held  in  1545.  Pursuant  to  the  mandatory 
letters  issued  by  Pope  Pius  IX.,  all  the  Christian  prelates  of 
the  world,  who  had  accepted  the  invitation,  repaired  to  Rome 
on  Dec.  2, 1869.  A  preparatory  assembly  was  held  of  those 
prelates  who  had  reached  the  Eternal  City,  Pope  Pius  pre- 
siding at  the  session.  A  Novena,  or  nine  days'  prayer,  was 
publicly  instituted  to  invoke  the  Divine  assistance  during 
the  deliberations  of  the  Council.  At  dawn  of  day  on  the 
8th,  the  cannon  of  St.  Angelo  and  the  bells  of  Rome  an- 
nounced that  the  Vatican  Council  was  about  to  be  formally 
opened.  The  left  transept  of  St.  Peter's  had  been  partitioned 
off  to  serve  as  the  Council  Chamber,  and  the  different  sec- 
tions had  been  arranged  and  furnished  according  to  the  rank 
of  those  entitled  to  a  place  in  the  assembly.  About  9  A.M. 
the  procession  started  from  the  Vatican  Palace,  and  after 
the  Pope  and  accompanying  prelates  had  reached  the  places 
assigned  to  them  the  Mass  of  the  Holy  Ghost  was  sung  by 
Cardinal  Patrizzi.  Bishop  Fessler,  Secretary  of  the  Council, 
then  placed  the  book  of  the  Gospels  on  a  desk,  after  which 
Monsignor  Passaralli,  Archbishop  of  Iconium,  preached  the 
opening  sermon.  The  customary  act  of  homage  was  then 
rendered  to  the  Pope,  and  after  some  devotional  exercises, 
the  Council  was  declared  formally  opened.  No  less  than 
728  prelates  and  divines  assisted  at  the  opening  of  the  Coun- 
cil, which  terminated  on  the  18th  of  July,  1870,  when  536  of 
the  members  gave  in  their  adhesion  to  the  Dogma  of  Infal- 
libility. 

As  this  ecclesiastical  action  has  since  been  the  subject  of 


304  THE  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CHURCH. 

profound  consideration,  and  is  imperfectly  understood,  a 
literal  translation  of  the  Dogma,  as  promulgated  by  the 
Council,  is  submitted : 

"  And  since,  by  the  divine  right  of  apostolic  primacy,  the 
Koman  pontiff  is  placed  above  the  universal  Church,  we  fur- 
ther teach  and  declare  that  he  is  the  supreme  judge  of  the 
faithful,  and  that  in  all  causes  the  decision  of  which  belongs 
to  the  Church  recourse  may  be  had  to  his  tribunal :  and  that 
none  may  reopen  the  judgment  of  the  Apostolic  See,  the  au- 
thority of  which  is  greater  than  all  other  ;  nor  can  any  law- 
fully review  its  judgment.  Wherefore,  they  err  from  the 
right  course  who  assert  that  it  is  lawful  to  appeal  from  the 
judgments  of  the  Roman  pontiffs  to  an  oecumenical  council, 
as  to  an  authority  higher  than  that  of  the  Roman  pontiff. 

"  Therefore,  faithfully  adhering  to  the  tradition  received 
from  the  beginning  of  the  Christian  faith,  for  the  glory  of 
God  cur  Saviour,  the  exaltation  of  the  Catholic  religion,  and 
the  salvation  of  Christian  people,  the  sacred  council  approv- 
ing, we  teach  and  define  that  it  is  a  dogma  divinely  revealed : 
That  the  Roman  pontiff,  when  he  speaks  ex  cathedra — that 
is,  when,  in  discharge  of  the  office  of  pastor  and  doctor  of 
all  Christians,  by  virtue  of  his  supreme  apostolic  author- 
ity, he  defines  a  doctrine  regarding  faith  or  morals  to  be  held 
by  the  universal  Church— by  the  divine  assistance  promised 
to  him  in  blessed  Peter,  is  possessed  of  that  infallibility  with 
which  the  divine  Redeemer  willed  that  his  Church  should 
be  endowed,  for  defining  doctrine  regarding  faith  or  morals ; 
and  that,  therefore,  such  definitions  of  the  Roman  pontiff 
are  irref ormable  of  themselves,  and  not  from  the  consent  of 
the  Church." 

Among  those  Bishops  who  were  opposed  to  the  Dogma  of 
Infallibility,  fifty-five  wrote  a  letter  to  the  Pope  prior  to  its 
adoption,  announcing  that  their  minds  remained  unaltered, 
and  that  they  should  absent  themselves  from  the  session. 
Of  those  who  were  conspicuous  by  their  advocacy  of  the 
Dogma  may  be  mentioned  Archbishops  Deschamps,  of  Ma- 
lines  ;  Manning,  of  Westminster  ;  Spaulding,  of  Baltimore ; 
and  Bishop  Martin,  of  Paderborn.  The  leaders  among  the 


THE  DOGMA  OF  INFALLIBILITY.  305 

opponents  were :  Hefele,  afterward  Bishop  of  Rottenburg ; 
Strossmeyer,  of  Bosnia ;  Cardinal  Rauscher,of  Vienna ;  Arch- 
bishop Darboy,  of  France ;  Dupanloup,  of  Orleans ;  and  Ken- 
rick,  of  St.  Louis. 

The  very  day  the  Pope  confirmed  the  decree,  Napoleon  III. 
declared  war  against  Germany,  and  on  September  20th  the 
Italians  took  possession  of  the  city  of  Rome.  On  October 
20th  the  Pope  prorogued  the  Council,  and  it  has  not  yet  been 
reassembled. 

The  decree  had  scarcely  been  promulgated  when  Dr.  D61- 
lenger  protested  against  it  as  an  innovation.  He  was  joined 
by  a  number  of  theologians,  in  Germany  and  Switzerland, 
who  formed  a  separate  communion  and  became  known  as 
"Old  Catholics."  In  Synods  held  subsequently  they  made 
many  alterations  in  the  discipline  of  the  Church.  In  1880 
it  was  estimated  that  their  adherents  did  not  exceed  50,000. 
The  leaders  were  all  excommunicated  from  the  Roman  com- 
munion. 


20 


Tfte 
Roman  Catftofic  Cftitrcft 

tn  tfte  United  States, 


EARLY   HISTORY. 


VEN  in  the  territory  now  embraced  in  the  United  States 
this  ancient  Church  preceded  all  other  Christian  denom- 
inations. 

As  early  as  1521  Yasquez  de  Ayllon  commenced  a  settle- 
ment on  one  of  the  rivers  flowing  into  the  Chesapeake,  and 
the  Dominican  friars  who  attended  him  reared  the  first  Cath- 
olic chapel  on  our  soil,  where  for  months  the  rites  of  the 
Church  were  offered  ;  but  the  commander  died  and  the  set- 
tlement was  abandoned. 

The  expeditions  of  Narvaez  and  De  Soto  had  clergymen 
with  them,  but  no  settlements  were  formed,  and  these  pioneer 
ministers  of  religion  perished  amid  the  hardships  of  the 
march.  Impelled  by  the.account  of  a  survivor  of  one  of  these 
*  ill-fated  expeditions,  the  Franciscan  Father  Mark,  of  Nice  in 
Italy,  penetrated  in  1539  to  New  Mexico.  Others  followed  and 
began  missions,  only  to  be  murdered  by  the  Indians.  In 
1595  the  Spaniards  occupied  the  country,  and  founded  Santa 
Fe.  The  Catholic  worship  was  established,  and  has  contin- 
ued almost  uninterruptedly  in  that  territory  for  nearly  three 
centuries.  In  an  outbreak  against  the  Spaniards,  at  the  close 
of  the  seventeenth  century,  many  of  the  missionaries  perished. 

(306) 


THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES.          307 

Some  Dominican  priests  were  slain  in  Florida  in  1549  while 
trying  to  convert  the  natives  ;  and  Tristan  de  Luna,  in  1559, 
had  a  Christian  shrine  at  Pensacola.  When  St.  Augustine 
was  begun,  in  1565,  a  Catholic  chapel  was  erected,  and  from 
that  time  the  services  of  the  Church  were  regularly  offered. 
At  St.  Helena,  on  Port  Royal  Sound,  and  later  on  the  banks 
of  the  Rappahannock,  there  were  Catholic  chapels  as  early 
as  1571.  For  many  years  St.  Augustine  had  its  Franciscan 
convent,  and  chapels  within  and  without  the  walls.  Missions 
were  established  among  the  Indian  tribes  by  the  Jesuits  and 
then  by  the  Franciscans,  and  the  Timuquans,  Apalaches,  and 
other  tribes  embraced  Christianity.  In  1699  Pensacola  was 
founded  and  a  Catholic  church  erected  there ;  but  the  Indian 
missions  were  finally  almost  extirpated  by  Carolina  and 
Georgia.  Many  devoted  missionaries  were  slain  amid  their 
pious  labors  to  regenerate  the  aborigines. 

Texas  was  settled  by  the  Spaniards,  and  a  town  grew  up  at 
San  Antonio,  with  church  and  convent,  while  missionaries 
planted  the  cross  among  the  Indian  tribes  from  the  Rio 
Grande  to  the  Sabine.  The  Catholic  Church  was  the  only 
Christian  body  here  for  a  century  and  a  quarter. 

Upper  California  was  settled  about  the  time  of  our  Revo- 
lution, and  the  Franciscans  established  a  series  of  Indian 
missions  whose  names  are  still  retained.  They  were  finally 
destroyed  by  the  greed  of  the  Mexican  government,  just  be- 
fore our  conquest  of  the  country.  As  in  Florida,  the  Catho- 
lic Church  in  New  Mexico,  Texas,  and  California  has  its  list 
of  missionaries  who  held  life  less  precious  than  the  cause  of 
Christ. 

North  of  our  territory  lie  Canada  and  Nova  Scotia,  set- 
tled at  an  early  day  by  Catholic  France.  The  worship  of  the 
Church  of  Rome  was  celebrated  beneath  rude  temporary 
structures  at  Boone  Island,  in  Maine,  and  subsequently  at 
Mount  Desert,  early  in  the  seventeenth  century.  The  very 
year  the  Pilgrim  Fathers  landed  at  Plymouth  Rock  a  Fran- 
ciscan priest  in  sandalled  feet  crossed  the  Niagara  River  from 
Canada,  and  preached  Christ,  and  him  crucified,  to  the  Indi- 
ans of  Western  New  York.  A  few  years  later  two  Jesuits 


308  THE  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CHURCH. 

met  the  Chippewas  at  Sault  St.  Mary's,  by  the  outlet  of  the 
most  remote  of  the  Western  Lakes,  and  one  of  them,  the 
gentle  yet  intrepid  Father  Jogues,  returned  to  die  by  the 
tomahawk,  while  endeavoring  to  imbue  the  minds  of  the 
Mohawks  with  the  sweet  spirit  of  Christ.  In  the  latter  part 
of  the  seventeenth  century  there  were  Catholic  chapels  on 
the  Kennebec  and  coast  of  Maine,  from  the  Mohawk  to  the 
Niagara,  at  Mackinaw,  Sault  St.  Mary's,  Green  Bay,  and 
Kaskaskia.  Early  in  the  last  century  Detroit  had  a  church. 
Kaskaskia,  Cahokia,  and  Vincennes  were  the  next  seats  of 
Catholicity.  At  the  South,  New  Orleans  and  Mobile  were 
founded  and  Catholic  churches  were  established,  Capuchins 
laboring  in  the  settlements,  and  Jesuits  and  missionary 
priests  among  the  Indian  tribes.  The  Ursuline  Nuns  at 
New  Orleans  began  to  labor  as  teachers  and  nurses.  These 
churches  and  institutions,  from  Maine  to  Louisiana,  were 
subject  to  the  bishops  of  Quebec. 

In  the  English  colonies  Catholicity  began  its  life  in  Mary- 
land coeval  with  the  settlement,  two  Jesuit  priests  having 
formed  part  of  the  first  body  of  colonists,  taking  up  lands 
and  bringing  over  men  to  cultivate  them.  By  the  leader  of 
this  mission,  Father  Andrew  White,  Catholic  worship  was 
first  offered  on  St.  Clement's  Isle,  in  the  Potomac,  on  the 
25th  of  March,  1634. 

This  was  a  most  important  epoch  in  the  history  of  the 
Church  and  of  the  United  States  as  well.  The  events  of 
those  days,  from  which  such  glorious  results  have  since  been 
obtained,  possess  an  enduring  interest  and  cannot  be  too  fre- 
quently considered  by  every  patriotic  and  Christian  citizen. 
Lord  Baltimore  having  received  from  Charles  I.  the  charter 
of  Maryland,  hastened  to  carry  into  effect  the  plan  of  colon- 
izing the  new  province,  of  which  he  appointed  his  brother, 
Leonard  Calvert,  to  be  Governor.  The  first  body  of  immi- 
grants, consisting  of  about  200  gentlemen  of  considerable 
rank  and  fortune,  chiefly  of  the  Roman  Catholic  persuasion, 
with  a  number  of  inferior  adherents,  sailed  from  England, 
under  the  command  of  Calvert,  in  November,  1632,  and  after 
a  prosperous  voyage  landed  in  Maryland,  near  the  mouth  of 


THE  SETTLEMENT  OF  MARYLAND.  309 

the  Potomac,  in  the  beginning  of  the  following  year.  The 
Governor,  as  soon  as  he  landed,  erected  a  cross  on  the  shore, 
and  took  possession  of  the  country  both  for  our  Saviour  and 
for  the  king  of  England.  Aware  that  the  first  settlers  of 
Virginia  had  given  umbrage  to  the  Indians  by  occupying 
their  territory  without  gaining  their  permission,  he  deter- 
mined to  imitate  the  wiser  policy  that  had  been  pursued  by 
the  colonists  of  New  England,  and  to  unite  the  new  with  the 
ancient  race  of  inhabitants  by  the  reciprocal  ties  of  equity 
and  good- will.  The  Indian  chief  to  whom  he  submitted  his 
proposition  of  occupying  a  portion  of  the  country,  received 
it  at  first  with  sullen  indifference.  His  only  answer  was  that 
he  would  neither  bid  the  English  go  nor  would  he  bid  them 
stay ;  but  that  he  left  them  to  their  own  discretion.  The 
liberality  and  courtesy  of  the  Governor's  demeanor  succeeded 
at  length  in  conciliating  his  regard,  and  so  effectively,  that 
he  not  only  promised  a  friendly  league  between  the  colonists 
and  his  own  people,  but  persuaded  the  neighboring  tribes  to 
accede  to  the  treaty.  Having  purchased  the  rights  from  the 
aborigines  at  a  price  which  gave  them  satisfaction,  the  colon- 
ists obtained  possession  of  a  considerable  district,  including 
an  Indian  town,  which  they  proceeded  immediately  to  occupy, 
and  to  which  they  gave  the  name  of  St.  Mary's. 

The  tidings  of  this  safe  and  comfortable  establishment  in 
the  province,  concurring  with  the  uneasiness  experienced  by 
the  Roman  Catholics  in  England,  induced  considerable  num- 
bers of  the  professors  of  this  faith  to  follow  the  original  im- 
migrants to  Maryland,  and  no  efforts  of  wisdom  or  generosity 
were  spared  by  Lord  Baltimore  to  facilitate  the  population, 
and  promote  the  happiness  of  the  colony.  The  transporta- 
tion of  people  and  of  necessary  stores  and  provisions  during 
the  first  two  years  cost  him  upwards  of  £40,000.  To  every 
settler  he  assigned  fifty  acres  of  land  in  absolute  fee  ;  and 
with  a  liberality  unparalleled  in  those  days  he  united  a  gen- 
eral establishment  of  Christianity  as  the  common  law  of  the 
land,  with  an  absolute  exclusion  of  the  political  predomi- 
nance or  superiority  of  any  one  particular  sect  or  denomina- 
tion of  Christians.  By  the  enactment  of  a  memorable  "  Act 


310  THE  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CHURCH. 

Concerning  Religion,"  by  the  Assembly  of  the  province,  then 
composed  chiefly  of  Roman  Catholics,  the  Catholic  planters 
of  Maryland  won  for  their  adopted  country  the  distinguished 
praise  of  being  the  first  of  the  American  States  in  which 
toleration  was  established  by  law. 

It  was  thus  that  Maryland  was  founded  on  the  broad  prin- 
ciples of  religious  freedom,  and  Puritans  expelled  from  Vir- 
ginia found  shelter  there.  During  the  period  of  the  Com- 
monwealth, however,  they  overthrew  the  authority  of  Lord 
Baltimore  and  passed  severe  penal  laws  against  the  Catholics, 
sending  all  the  priests  as  prisoners  to  England.  In  a  few 
years  they  returned  and  resumed  their  labors  under  great 
disadvantages.  Though  a  law  of  toleration  was  passed  in 
1649,  it  was  of  brief  duration.  In  1654  Catholics  were  de- 
prived of  civil  rights,  and,  though  there  was  a  lull  during 
the  reigns  of  Charles  II.  and  James  II.,  the  storm  broke  out 
with  renewed  fury  on  the  accession  of  William  III.  The 
Catholic  worship  was  forbidden  by  law,  and  could  be  offered 
only  in  secrecy ;  Catholics  were  loaded  with  double  taxes,  and 
deprived  of  all  power  of  voting  or  bearing  arms.  Yet  most 
of  the  Catholics  persevered,  the  Jesuits  and  Franciscans  hav- 
ing chapels  in  houses  which  were  attended  by  the  people. 
A  school  was  even  established  where  boys  were  fitted  for  a 
college  training  in  Europe. 

Between  the  years  1634  and  1687,  Catholic  missionaries 
had  already  traversed  that  vast  region  lying  between  the 
heights  of  Montreal,  Quebec,  and  the  mouth  of  the  Missis- 
sippi ;  the  greater  portion  of  which  is  now  known  as  the 
United  States.  Within  thirteen  years  the  wilderness  of  the 
Hurons  was  visited  by  sixty  missionaries,  chiefly  Jesuits. 
One  of  their  number,  Claude  Allonez,  discovered  the  south- 
ern shores  of  Lake  Superior ;  another,  the  gentle  Marquette, 
walked  from  Green  Bay,  following  the  course  of  the  Wis- 
consin, embarked  with  his  beloved  companion  and  fellow- 
missionary,  Joliet,  upon  the  Mississippi,  and  discovered  the 
mouth  of  the  impetuous  Missouri.  A  third,  the  fearless 
Menan,  settled  in  the  very  heart  of  the  dreaded  Mohawk 
country.  The  Onondagas,  the  Oneidas,  and  the  Senecas  wel- 


FIRST  CATHOLIC  CHURCH  IN  PHILADELPHIA.    311 

corned  the  missionaries,  and  lent  an  attentive  ear  to  the  tid- 
ings of  the  gospel  of  peace.  When  it  is  considered  that 
these  missionaries  were  established  in  the  midst  of  continual 
dangers  and  life-wasting  hardships,  that  many  of  the  Jesuit 
fathers  sealed  with  their  blood  the  truth  of  the  doctrines 
they  preached,  the  sincerity  of  their  love  for  those  indomit- 
able sons  of  the  American  forest,  no  one  can  be  surprised  at 
the  eloquent  encomiums  that  have  been  passed  upon  their 
dauntless  courage  and  their  more  than  human  charity  and 
zeal. 

During  the  control  of  James  as  Duke  and  King  over  New 
York,  liberty  of  conscience  prevailed  and  Catholics  began  to 
settle  there.  Several  clergymen  of  that  faith  came  over,  and 
the  settlers  who  adhered  to  it  were  thus  enabled  to  enjoy  the 
consolations  of  religion.  A  Latin  school  was  also  opened, 
the  first  one  in  the  colony.  Leisler,  on  the  fall  of  James, 
drove  nearly  all  Catholics  out  of  the  colony. 

When  Pennsylvania  began  to  be  settled  under  the  liberal 
policy  of  Penn,  Catholics  gradually  entered,  and  as  the  Ger- 
man immigration  began,  a  considerable  number  adhered  to 
the  faith  planted  in  their  fatherland  by  St.  Boniface.  As 
early  as  1708  the  Mass  was  regularly  offered  in  Philadelphia, 
and  after  a  time  St.  Joseph's  church,  on  Willing's  Alley, 
was  begun.  A  church  was  erected  at  an  early  period  at 
Lancaster,  and  there  were  mission-houses  at  Conewago  and 
Goshenhoppen. 

In  other  colonies  there  were  a  few  scattered  Catholics,  but 
nowhere  in  numbers  sufficient  to  establish  a  church.  The 
Acadians,  carried  off  by  the  British  government  from  Nova 
Scotia  in  1755  and  scattered  on  the  coast,  were  Catholics,  but 
only  at  Baltimore  did  they  find  a  welcome.  There  they 
founded  the  first  Catholic  church,  and  were  attended  by  a 
priest. 

The  Catholics  in  the  British  colonies  were  subject  to  a 
bishop  in  England,  known  as  the  Vicar- Apostolic  of  the 
London  District. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  Revolution  there  was  a  strong 
feeling  against  the  adherents  of  the  Church  of  Rome.  Cath- 


312  THE  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 

olics,  however,  without  exception,  rallied  to  the  cause  of 
freedom.  The  Catholic  Indians  in  Maine,  under  their  chief, 
Orono,  took  up  the  cause  of  the  colonies  ;  the  St.  Regis  In- 
dians, on  the  New  York  border,  did  the  same ;  and  the 
French  settlers  in  Illinois,  with  the  Indians  around  them, 
joined  Major  Clarke  and  gained  the  West  for  the  United 
States. 

The  Continental  Congress  and  the  Constitutional  Conven- 
tion had  Catholic  members,  who  were  honored  by  all. 

After  the  close  of  the  Revolution  the  Catholics  in  the 
United  States  could  no  longer  be  subject  to  the  London  vi- 
car-apostolic. Some  desired  a  bishop  ;  others  thought  that 
the  time  had  not  yet  come.  Pope  Pius  VI.,  in  1784,  ap- 
pointed as  prefect-apostolic  the  Rev.  John  Carroll,  a  Mary- 
land patriot-priest,  who  had,  at  the  desire  of  Congress,  gone 
to  Canada  during  the  Revolution  to  try  and  win  over  the  in- 
habitants of  that  province.  The  patriotism  of  this  distin- 
guished clergyman  was  as  decided  as  his  piety.  One  who 
knew  him  said :  "  He  loved  Republicanism,  and  so  far  pre- 
ferred his  own  country,  that  if  ever  he  could  be  excited  to 
impatience,  or  irritated,  nothing  would  have  that  effect  more 
certainly,  than  the  expression  of  the  slightest  preference,  by 
any  American  friend,  for  foreign  institutions  or  measures. " 
It  was  in  the  year  1776  that  he  accompanied  Dr.  Franklin, 
Samuel  Chase,  and  that  other  and  illustrious  Catholic, 
Charles  Carroll,  of  Carrollton,  on  the  political  mission  to 
Canada. 

The  new  prefect  set  to  work  to  ascertain  what  scattered 
Catholics  there  were  in  the  country.  More  were  found  in 
all  parts  than  had  been  anticipated.  The  priests  in  Penn- 
sylvania had  before  the  war  visited  Catholics  at  the  iron 
works  and  at  Macopin  in  New  Jersey,  and  the  Rev.  F.  Steen- 
meier  (Farmer),  a  Fellow  of  the  Royal  Society  and  a  distin- 
guished mathematician,  quietly  visited  New  York  and  gath- 
ered a  little  congregation. 

These  flocks  had  now  increased.  There  were  a  few  Catho- 
lics even  in  Boston,  at  points  on  the  Hudson  and  Mohawk, 
near  Pittsburgh,  and  in  Kentucky.  Other  priests  came  over 


ARCHBISHOP  CARROLL.  313 

from  Europe,  and  these  scattered  bodies  began  to  organize 
and  assemble  for  worship.  The  total  number  of  Catholics 
in  the  United  States  at  this  time  could  not  have  been  much 
under  forty  thousand,  including  the  French  and  Indians. 

The  reports  of  Very  Rev.  Mr.  Carroll  to  the  Pope  satisfied 
him  that  a  bishop  was  needed,  and  he  left  to  the  clergy  in 
the  country  the  nomination  of  a  suitable  candidate  and  the 
selection  of  his  See.  The  choice  fell  on  Dr.  Carroll,  who  was 
appointed  Bishop  of  Baltimore  November  6, 1789,  and  his 
diocese  embraced  the  whole  United  States. 

Bishop  Carroll  proceeded  to  England,  and  was  consecrated 
in  the  chapel  of  Lulworth  Castle,  August  15,  1790.  The 
founder  of  the  American  hierarchy  is  a  grand  figure  worthy 
of  his  time.  His  wisdom,  learning,  ability,  and  moderation 
were  all  required  to  build  up  the  Church.  Soon  after  his  re- 
turn to  the  United  States  the  Revolution  in  France  drove 
into  exile  many  worthy  and  learned  priests,  not  a  few  of 
whom  came  to  America  and  aided  Bishop  Carroll  in  his 
work.  Churches  were  begun  or  completed  at  Boston,  New 
York,  Albany,  Charleston,  Greensburg,  and  other  points. 
Carmelite  nuns  came  to  found  a  convent  of  their  order  in 
Maryland ;  the  Sulpitians  established  a  seminary  in  Balti- 
more ;  a  college  was  begun  at  Georgetown,  soon  followed  by 
one  at  Emmittsburg. 

In  1791  Bishop  Carroll  gathered  twenty  priests  in  a  synod 
at  Baltimore,  and  rules  were  adopted  suited  to  the  exigen- 
cies of  the  situation;  but  the  duties  of  bishop  were  too 
heavy  for  one  man.  The  Rev.  Leonard  Neale  was  appointed 
his  coadjutor,  and  consecrated  bishop  in  1800. 

This  was,  however,  but  a  temporary  relief,  and  in  1808 
bishops  were  appointed  for  Boston,  Philadelphia,  New  York, 
and  Bardstown,  Ky.  At  this  time  his  diocese  contained 
sixty-eight  priests  and  eighty  churches.  Bishop  Cheverus, 
appointed  Bishop  of  Boston,  a  man  of  zeal,  charity,  and  gen- 
tleness, had  all  New  England  as  his  diocese,  and  won  the 
affection  of  persons  of  every  creed.  The  Bishop  of  New 
York  died  at  Naples,  and  his  diocese  languished,  and  many 
important  works,  a  college,  and  a  convent-academy  were 


314  THE  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CHURCH. 

abandoned.  Bishop  Egan,  of  Philadelphia,  had  as  his  dio- 
cese the  State  of  Pennsylvania  and  part  of  New  Jersey.  He 
met  with  difficulties  in  Philadelphia,  which  increased  under 
his  successor,  and  were  detrimental  to  all  real  religious  life ; 
but  in  other  parts  of  the  diocese  religion  progressed.  The 
diocese  of  Bardstown  embraced  Kentucky,  with  Ohio  and 
all  the  Northwest.  Here  much  was  to  be  done ;  but  the 
saintly  Flaget,  with  coadjutors  like  Nerinckx,  Badin,  Rich- 
ard, Salmon,  and  the  English  Dominicans,  soon  revived  re- 
ligion in  places  where  it  seemed  dying  out. 

The  division  of  the  vast  diocese  and  the  establishment  of 
new  Sees  were  made  at  a  most  fortunate  time.  The  cause 
of  religion  was  spreading  rapidly  in  all  directions.  Orders 
were  springing  up  to  meet  the  wants  of  the  increasing  Cath- 
olic population.  Miss  Teresa  Lalor  founded  a  monastery  of 
Visitation  Nuns ;  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Seton,  a  convert  of  one  of 
the  best  New  York  families,  established  a  community  of  Sis- 
ters of  Charity,  based  on  those  of  St.  Vincent  de  Paul  in 
Prance ;  Poor  Clares  and  Ursulines  came  over  from  Europe  ; 
the  Dominican  Fathers  revived  their  Order  in  Kentucky ; 
monks  of  La  Trappe  established  a  monastery  of  their  severe 
rule  in  the  West ;  the  Rev.  John  Du  Bois,  subsequently 
Bishop  of  New  York,  laid  the  foundation  of  Mount  St. 
Mary's  College,  at  Emmittsburg,  Md.,  which  has  continued 
to  combine  a  theological  seminary  and  a  college,  and  has  be- 
stowed on  America  some  of  its  most  zealous  priests  and  most 
educated  and  devoted  laity. 

The  United  States  were  then  bounded  by  the  Mississippi. 
Louisiana,  which  embraced  the  country  west  of  that  river, 
had,  at  the  request  of  the  Spanish  government,  been  formed 
into  a  diocese  by  Pope  Pius  VI.,  who  in  1793  appointed  a 
learned  and  charitable  Cuban,  Rev.  Dr.  Penalver,  Bishop  of 
Louisiana.  When  Louisiana  was  ceded  to  the  United  States, 
in  1803,  the  bishopric  was  vacant,  and  the  administration  of 
the  Church  in  that  vast  province  was  also  confided  to  Bishop 
Carroll.  The  Church  there  was  in  a  peculiar  condition,  or- 
ganized originally  under  the  Spanish  system,  but  long  neg- 
lected. Great  troubles  ensued ;  but  the  elevation  of  Rt.  Rev. 


DIVISION  OF  DIOCESES.  315 

William  L.  Dubourg  to  the  episcopate,  and  the  establishing 
of  Sees  at  New  Orleans  and  St.  Louis,  gave  a  new  impulse  to 
religion.  On  December  3, 1815,  the  venerable  patriarch  of 
the  Church  in  the  United  States  expired  at  the  age  of  eighty. 
He  had  wisely  guided  the  policy  of  the  Church  so  as  to  in- 
sure the  complete  adoption  of  the  canonical  system,  else- 
where in  use,  without  exciting  prejudice  beyond  the  fold,  or 
alienating  from  the  faith  those  who  had  caught  too  much  of 
the  uncatholic  ideas  amid  which  they  lived. 

The  rapidly  increasing  emigration  after  the  fall  of  Napo- 
leon added  greatly  to  the  number  of  Catholics,  and  priests 
were  called  for  at  many  points.  The  first  effort  of  the  Cath- 
olic priest  is  to  erect  a  church  or  churches  in  the  district 
assigned  to  him,  and  in  time  to  add  schools.  As  a  diocese 
is  formed  the  bishop  aids  his  clergy  in  this  work,  and  en- 
deavors to  establish  seminaries  for  young  ladies,  orphan  asy- 
lums, hospitals  under  the  care  of  Sisters  belonging  to  some 
religious  order  fitted  to  the  work,  and  colleges,  high-schools, 
and  a  theological  seminary.  The  religious  orders  of  men 
come  as  auxiliaries  to  the  secular  clergy,  and  conduct  many 
of  the  colleges.  Each  diocese  thus  becomes  a  centre  of  such 
institutions.  The  rapid  increase  of  Catholics,  and  their  com- 
parative poverty,  have  made  this  work  difficult  and  onerous ; 
and  aid  has  been  derived  from  organizations  like  the  Asso- 
ciation for  the  Propagation  of  the  Faith  in  France,  which 
was  organized  originally  to  aid  the  struggling  churches  in 
America. 

The  original  dioceses;  with  the  growth  of  the  country,  soon 
required  division.  Out  of  that  of  Baltimore  have  grown  that 
of  Richmond  (1821),  Charleston  (1820),  Savannah  (1850), 
Wheeling  (1850),  and  Wilmington  (1868),  and  North  Caro- 
lina has  been  formed  into  a  vicariate.  The  original  diocese 
of  Philadelphia  has  been  divided  into  those  of  Philadelphia, 
Scranton  (1868),  Harrisburg  (1868),  Pittsburgh  and  Allegheny 
(1843-76),  and  Erie  (1853).  The  diocese  of  Newark,  formed 
to  embrace  New  Jersey  (1853),  has  had  Trenton  set  off  from 
it  (1881).  N°w  York  contains  the  dioceses  of  New  York, 
Albany  (1847),  Brooklyn  (1863),  Buffalo  (1847),  Rochester 


316  THE  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CHURCH. 

(1868),  Ogdensburg  (1872).  Besides  the  See  of  Boston,  there 
are  in  New  England  Sees  at  Portland  (1855),  Manchester 
(1884),  Burlington  (1853),  Springfield  (1870),  Providence  (1872), 
and  Hartford  (1844).  In  the  West,  Kentucky  has  bishops  at 
Louisville  and  Covington  (1853) ;  Ohio  an  archbishop  at  Cin- 
cinnati (1822),  and  bishops  at  Cleveland  (1847)  and  Columbus 
(1868) ;  Indiana  comprises  two  dioceses,  Vincennes  (1834) 
and  Fort  Wayne  (1857) ;  Michigan,  those  of  Detroit  (1832), 
Grand  Rapids  (1882),  and  Marquette  (1857) ;  Illinois  has  an 
archbishop  at  Chicago  (1844),  and  bishops  at  Alton  (1857) 
and  Peoria  (1877) ;  Wisconsin  an  archbishop  at  Milwaukee 
(1844),  and  bishops  at  Lacrosse  and  Green  Bay  (1868) ;  in 
Missouri  there  is  an  archbishop  at  St.  Louis,  and  bishop  at 
Kansas  City  and  St.  Joseph  (1868-80) ;  in  Arkansas  a  bishop 
at  Little  Rock  (1843) ;  bishops  in  Iowa  at  Dubuque  (1837) 
and  Davenport  (1881) ;  in  Minnesota  at  St.  Paul  (1850)  and 
St.  Cloud  (1875) ;  in  Kansas  at  Leavenworth  (1877) ;  in 
Nebraska  at  Omaha  (1885) ;  Montana  at  Helena  (1884) ;  Idaho, 
Dakota,  and  Colorado  are  vicariates-apostolic,  each  under  a 
bishop.  In  the  South  there  is  an  archbishop  at  New  Orleans ; 
bishops  at  Nashville  (1837),  at  Natchitoches  (1853),  Natchez 
(1837),  Mobile  (1824),  St.  Augustine  (1870) ;  Texas  has  bish- 
ops at  Galveston  (1847)  and  San  Antonio  (1874),  and  a  vicariate- 
apostolic  on  the  Rio  Grande.  Ancient  New  Mexico  has  its 
archbishop  at  Santa  Fe  (1850) ;  Arizona  a  vicar-apostolic. 
California  has  an  archbishop  at  San  Francisco  (1853),  and 
bishops  at  Grass  Valley  (1868)  and  Monterey  (1850).  Oregon 
has  its  archbishop  (1846) ;  Washington  Territory  a  bishop 
(1853),  and  Indian  Territory  a  prefect-apostolic. 

The  diocese  of  an  archbishop,  and  those  of  his  suffragans, 
form  a  province.  In  each  province,  from  time  to  time,  Pro- 
vincial Councils  are  held,  in  which  the  archbishop  presides 
and  his  suffragans  take  part,  with  their  theologians  and  the 
heads  of  the  religious  orders.  In  these  assemblies  decrees 
are  adopted  for  the  better  government  of  the  Church  in  the 
province.  The  first  council  was  that  of  Baltimore  in  1829, 
held  by  Archbishop  Whitfield.  A  number  of  councils  were 
subsequently  held  there;  and  when  other  archbishoprics 


THE  GROWTH  OF  THE  CHURCH.  317 

were  erected,  councils  were  held  at  New  York,  Cincinnati, 
New  Orleans,  Philadelphia,  St.  Louis,  San  Francisco,  and  in 
Oregon.  Besides  these  there  have  been  three  Plenary  Coun- 
cils, imposing  assemblages,  held  at  Baltimore,  attended  by 
all  the  archbishops  and  bishops  of  the  country. 

In  the  fall  of  1883,  Archbishop  Gibbons,  of  Baltimore,  and 
other  leading  Catholic  prelates,  were  summoned  to  Rome  for 
the  purpose  of  taking  into  consideration  the  affairs  of  the 
Church  in  America.  The  result  of  that  conference  was  the 
convoking  of  the  third  Plenary  Council  of  Baltimore.  At 
first  the  Pope  was  disposed  to  appoint  an  eminent  Italian 
clergyman  to  represent  him  at  the  Council,  but  upon  further 
advising  with  the  American  Archbishops  this  idea  was  aban- 
doned, and  Archbishop  Gibbons  was  appointed  Apostolic 
Delegate  and  President  of  the  Council.  The  Council  was 
opened  November  9,  1884,  and  continued  its  sessions  until 
December  7th.  There  were  present  fourteen  archbishops, 
sixty  bishops,  one  prefect-apostolic  from  the  United  States, 
with  five  visiting  bishops  from  other  countries,  and  thirty 
abbots  or  superiors  of  religious  orders.  The  decrees  adopted 
were  formally  certified,  and  then  forwarded  to  Home  for  ap- 
proval. They  were  returned  in  1886,  and  then  became 
operative.  About  the  same  time  Archbishop  Gibbons  was 
created  a  Cardinal  priest. 

The  wonderful  growth  of  the  Catholic  Church  has  not 
been  without  opposition.  Many  saw  in  it  a  danger  to  re- 
publican institutions,  and  violence  has  not  been  confined 
merely  to  words  or  publications.  Catholic  institutions  and 
churches  have  been  destroyed  by  mobs. 

To  advocate  and  defend  their  doctrines  and  polity  the 
Catholics  have  a  quarterly  review,  several  monthlies,  and  a 
large  number  of  weekly  papers  in  English,  German,  French, 
and  Spanish.  Their  publishing  houses  issue  in  great  num- 
bers Bibles,  Testaments,  Prayer-books,  doctrinal  and  contro- 
versial as  well  as  devotional  works,  and  books  of  a  lighter 
character  chiefly  for  the  young. 

The  Catholic  body  is  composed  of  the  descendants  of  the 
colonial  settlers  and  more  recent  immigrants  and  their  off- 


318  THE  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CHURCH. 

spring,  with  members  joining  them  from  other  religious 
bodies  ;  but  they  have  no  missionary  societies  and  no  direct 
machinery  for  extending  their  doctrines  among  those  unac- 
quainted with  it.  Many  of  its  prominent  men  have,  how- 
ever, been  converts— Archbishops  Whitfield,  Eccleston,  Bay- 
ley,  Wood;  Bishops  Tyler,  Wadhams,  Young,  Gilmour, 
Rosecrans,  Orestes  A.  Brownson,  the  philosopher;  Halde- 
man,  the  philologist ;  Dr.  L.  Silliman  Ives,  formerly  bishop 
in  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  ;  Father  Hecker,  founder 
of  the  Paulists ;  Mother  Seton,  founder  of  the  Sisters  of 
Charity. 

Among  other  distinguished  men  of  the  Catholic  body 
must  be  named  Cardinal  McCloskey,  the  first  American 
member  of  the  Sacred  College ;  Archbishop  Hughes  ;  Arch- 
bishop Kenrick,  of  Baltimore,  a  great  theologian  and  Bibli- 
cal scholar  ;  Bishop  England,  of  Charleston  ;  Bishop  Baraga, 
Father  De  Smet ;  the  Abbe  Rouquette  and  Rev.  A.  J.  Ryan, 
gifted  poets  ;  Bishop  Dubois,  founder  of  Mount  St.  Mary's  ; 
Bishop  Brute,  of  Vincennes  ;  Carroll  of  Carrollton,  Commo- 
dore Barry,  and  Prince  Gallitzin. 

Religious  orders  are  numerous ;  the  ancient  Benedictine 
and  Cistercian  monks  ;  the  Franciscan,  Dominican,  Carmel- 
ite, and  Augustinian  friars ;  Jesuits,  Redemptorists,  Servites, 
Oblates ;  Priests  of  the  Holy  Cross,  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  of 
the  Resurrection  ;  Sulpicians,  Brothers  of  the  Christian 
Schools,  Brothers  of  Mary ;  Xaverian,  Alexian,  and  Fran- 
ciscan Brothers;  Benedictine,  Carmelite,  Ursuline,  Visita- 
tion, Dominican  nuns ;  Ladies  of  the  Sacred  Heart ;  Sisters 
of  Charity,  of  Mercy,  and  many  others. 

In  1894  the  Catholic  Church  in  the  United  States  com- 
prised 14  provinces,  1  cardinal,  16  archbishops,  71  bishops, 
9,717  priests  (7,231  secular  and  2,486  regular  clergymen), 
8,729  churches,  5,704  chapels  and  stations,  8  universities  and 
25  secular  seminaries,  2,076  students  for  the  priesthood,  172 
high  schools  for  boys  and  668  for  girls,  3,732  parochial 
schools,  238  orphan  asylums,  753  charitable  institutions, 
860,356  children  in  Catholic  institutions,  and  8,902,033  re- 
ported and  12,000,000  claimed  adherents. 


THE  GREEK  CATHOLIC 


EASTERN    CHURCH. 


THE  SEPARATION  OF  THE  GREEK  FROM  THE  LATIN 
CHURCH. 

THE  Greek  Church  may  be  considered,  in  regard  to  its 
antiquity,  as  coeval  with  the  Roman  or  Latin  Church ; 
and  for  the  first  eight  centuries,  the  two  churches  were 
assimilated,  not  only  in  regard  to  the  peculiar  doctrines  of 
their  faith,  but  also  to  their  acknowledgment  of  the  suprem- 
acy of  the  Eoman  pontiff.  The  schism  of  these  two  church- 
es is  a  most  memorable  epoch  in  ecclesiastical  history,  as  it 
forms  the  most  distinguishing  picture  of  the  two  religions 
at  the  present  day.  The  members  of  the  Greek  or  Eastern 
Church,  as  contra-distinguished  to  the  Roman  or  Western 
Church,  are  to  be  found  in  various  parts  of  Europe,  Asia,  and 
Africa,  and  are  subdivided  into  three  distinct  classes :  First, 
those  who  agree  on  all  points  of  worship  and  doctrine  with 
the  Patriarch  of  Constantinople,  and  reject  the  supremacy 
of  the  Roman  pontiff;  second,  those  who  adopt  the  doc- 
trines and  ceremonies  of  the  Greek  Church,  and  are  entirely 
independent  of  the  Patriarch  of  Constantinople  ;  and  third, 
those  who  are  still  subject  to  the  See  of  Rome,  though  not 
conforming  in  all  points  to  the  worship  of  that  Church. 
The  Greek  Church  is  considered  as  a  separation  from  the 

(319) 


320  THE  GREEK,   OR  EASTERN,   CHURCH. 

Latin.  In  the  middle  of  the  ninth  century,  the  controversy 
relating  to  the  procession  of  the  Holy  Ghost  (which  had 
been  started  in  the  sixth  century),  became  a  point  of  great 
importance,  on  account  of  the  jealousy  and  ambition  which 
at  that  time  were  blended  with  it.  Photius,  the  Patriarch 
of  Jerusalem,  having  been  advanced  to  that  See  in  the  room 
of  Ignatius,  whom  he  procured  to  be  deposed,  was  solemnly 
excommunicated  by  Pope  Nicholas,  in  a  council  held  at 
Rome,  and  his  ordination  declared  null  and  void.  The  Greek 
emperor  resented  this  conduct  of  the  Pope,  who  defended 
himself  with  great  spirit  and  resolution.  Photius,  in  his 
turn,  convened  what  he  called  an  (Ecumenical  Council,  in 
which  he  pronounced  sentence  of  excommunication  and  de- 
position against  the  Pope,  and  got  it  subscribed  by  twenty- 
one  bishops  and  others,  amounting  in  number  to  a  thousand. 
This  occasioned  a  wide  breach  between  the  Sees  of  Rome 
and  Constantinople.  However,  the  death  of  the  Emperor 
Michael,  a,nd  the  deposition  of  Photius  subsequent  there- 
upon, seem  to  have  restored  peace ;  for  the  Emperor  Basil 
held  a  council  at  Constantinople,  in  the  year  869,  in  which 
entire  satisfaction  was  given  to  Pope  Adrian.  But  the 
schism  was  only  smothered  and  suppressed  for  a  while. 
The  Greek  Church  had  several  complaints  against  the  Latin  ; 
particularly  it  was  thought  a  great  hardship  for  the  Greeks 
to  subscribe  to  the  definition  of  a  council  according  to  the 
Roman  form,  prescribed  by  the  Pope,  since  it  made  the 
church  of  Constantinople  dependent  on  that  of  Rome,  and 
set  the  Pope  above  an  (Ecumenical  Council.  But,  above  all, 
the  ceremonials  of  the  Roman  court  occasioned  the  Greeks 
much  distaste;  and,  as  their  deportment  was  regarded  as 
disrespectful  to  his  Imperial  Majesty,  it  entirely  alienated 
the  affections  of  the  Emperor  Basil.  Towards  the  middle  of 
the  eleventh  century,  Michael  Cerularius,  Patriarch  of  Con- 
stantinople, opposed  the  Latins  with  respect  to  their  making 
use  of  unleavened  bread  in  the  eucharist,  their  observation 
of  the  Sabbath,  and  fasting  on  Saturdays,  charging  them 
with  living  in  communion  with  the  Jews.  To  this  Pope 
Leo  IX.  replied  ;  and  in  his  apology  for  the  Latins,  declaim- 


THE  GREEK  CHURCH  PROPER.  331 

ed  very  warmly  against  the  doctrines  of  the  Greeks,  and 
interposed,  at  the  same  time,  the  authority  of  his  See.  He 
likewise,  by  his  legates,  excommunicated  the  Patriarch  in 
the  church  of  Santa  Sophia.  From  that  time,  the  animos- 
ity of  the  Greeks  to  the  Latins,  and  of  the  Latins  to  the 
Greeks,  became  insuperable,  insomuch  that  they  have  con- 
tinued ever  since  separated  from  each  other's  communion. 

As  the  numerous  sects  which  are  now  subsisting  in  the 
Levant  are  of  Greek  origin,  and  as  their  principles  and  cere- 
monies, except  in  some  few  particular  points,  are  nearly  the 
same,  it  will  be  necessary  to  treat  on  the  religion  of  the 
Greeks,  properly  so  called,  before  we  describe  the  different 
branches  that  have  issued  from  it. 

The  Greek  Church  was  not  formerly  so  extensive  as  it  has 
been  since  the  emperors  of  the  East  thought  proper  to  lessen 
or  reduce  the  other  patriarchates,  in  order  to  elevate  that  of 
Constantinople.  The  Greek  Church  under  the  Turkish  do- 
minion preserves  almost  entirely  its  ancient  organization.  It 
is  now  governed  by  the  Patriarchs  of  Constantinople,  Alex- 
andria, Antioch,  and  Jerusalem,  of  whom  the  first,  as  the 
(Ecumenic  Patriarch,  presides  over  the  general  synods  of 
Constantinople,  which  are  composed  of  the  above-mentioned 
patriarchs,  several  metropolitans,  and  bishops,  as  well  as 
twelve  eminent  Greek  laymsn.  He  exercises  a  supreme 
ecclesiastical  authority  over  all  the  Greeks  of  the  Ottoman 
Empire,  and  is  also  acknowledged  as  the  Primate  of  their 
church  by  the  inhabitants  of  the  Ionian  Islands,  and  such  of 
those  under  the  dominion  of  Austria  who  profess  the  Greek 
religion ;  but,  excepting  by  confirming  the  appointment  of 
bishops  when  elected  by  the  clergy,  and  presiding  at  coun- 
cils, he  exercises  no  supremacy  over  the  other  Patriarchs.  In 
Russia,  since  the  time  of  Peter  the  Great,  the  sovereign  has 
been  recognized  as  the  real  head  of  the  Church,  and  the 
patriarchal  powers  are  exercised  by  a  synod.  In  Greece  a 
similar  constitution  has  been  adopted  (it  was  only  recog- 
nized after  much  negotiation  by  the  Patriarch  of  Constanti- 
nople in  1850) ;  and  now  the  Archbishop  of  Athens  is  at  the 
head  of  the  national  synod. 


322  THE  GREEK,   OR  EASTERN,   CHURCH. 

DIFFERENCES  BETWEEN   THE  TWO   CHURCHES. 

I.  They  rebaptize  all  those  Latins  wlio  are  admitted  into 
their  communion.    . 

II.  They  do  not  baptize  their  children  till  they  are  three, 
four,  five,  six,  ten,  and  even  sometimes  eighteen  years  of 
age. 

III.  They  exclude  Confirmation   and  Extreme  Unction 
from  the  Seven  Sacraments. 

IV.  They  deny  there  is  any  such  place  as  Purgatory. 

V.  They  do  not  acknowledge  the  Pope's  authority,  nor 
that  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  which  they  look  upon  as  fallen 
from  her  supremacy  because,  as  a  Greek  schismatic  historian 
expresses  himself,  "  she  had  abandoned  the  doctrines  of  her 
fathers." 

VI.  They  deny  that  the  Church  of  Rome  is  the  true  Catho- 
lic Mother  Church.     They  even  prefer  their  own  to  that  of 
Rome  ;  and  on  Holy  Thursday  excommunicate  the  Pope  and 
all  the  Latin  prelates,  as  heretics  and  schismatics. 

VII.  They  deny  that  the  Holy  Ghost  proceeds  from  the 
Father  and  the  Son. 

VIII.  They  refuse  to  worship  the  Host  consecrated  by 
Latin  priests  with  unleavened  bread,  according  to  the  an- 
cient custom  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  confirmed  by  the  Coun- 
cil of  Florence.     They  will  not  suffer  a  Latin  priest  to  offici- 
ate at  their  altars,  insisting  that  the  sacrifice  ought  to  be  per- 
formed with  leavened  bread. 

IX.  They  assert  that  the  usual  form  of  words,  wherein  the 
Consecration,  according  to  the  Latins,  wholly  consists,  is  not 
sufficient  to  change  the  bread  and  wine  into  the  body  and 
blood  of  Christ,  without  the  use  of  some  additional  prayers 
and  benedictions  of  the  fathers. 

X.  They  insist  that  the  Sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper 
ought  to  be  administered  in  both  kinds  to  infants,  even  be- 
fore they  are  capable  of  distinguishing  this  spiritual  food 
from  any  other,  because  it  is  a  divine  institution. 

XI.  They  hold  that  the  laity  are  under  an  indispensable 
obligation,  by  the  law  of  God,  to  receive  the  communion  in 


THE  GREEK  AND  LATIN  CHURCHES.  323 

both  kinds,  and  look  on  the  Latins  as  heretics  because  they 
maintain  the  contrary. 

XII.  They  assert  that  no  members  of  the  Church,  when 
they  have  attained  to  years  of  discretion,  ought  to  be  com- 
pelled to  receive  the  communion  every  Easter,  but  should 
have  free  liberty  to  act  according  to  the  dictates  of  their  own 
conscience. 

XIII.  They  show  no  respect,  no  religious  homage,  nor 
veneration  for  the  Holy  Sacrament  of  the  Eucharist,  even  at 
the  celebration  of  their  own  priests ;  and  use  no  lighted 
tapers  when  they  administer  it  to  the  sick. 

XIV.  They  are  of  opinion  that  such  Hosts  as  are  conse- 
crated on  Holy  Thursday  are  much  more  efficacious  than 
those  consecrated  at  other  times. 

XV.  They  maintain  that  the  sacrament  of  Matrimony  is 
a  union  which  may  be  dissolved.     For  which  reason,  they 
charge  the  Church  of  Rome  with  being  guilty  of  an  error,  in 
asserting  that  the  bonds  of  marriage  can  never  be  broken, 
even  in  case  of  adultery,  and  that  no  person  upon  any  prov- 
ocation whatsoever  can  lawfully  marry  again. 

XVI.  They  condemn  all  fourth  marriages. 

XVII.  They  refuse  to  celebrate  the  solemnities  instituted 
by  the  Church  and  the  primitive  Fathers,  in  honor  of  the 
Virgin  Mary  and  the  Apostles,  and  wholly  neglect  the  ob- 
servance of  several  Saints'  days  which  are  of  ancient  institu- 
tion.    They  reject  likewise  the  religious  use  of  graven  im- 
ages and  statues,  although  they  admit  of  pictures  in  their 
churches. 

XVIII.  They  insist  that  the  canon  of  the  mass  of  the  Lat- 
ins ought  to  be  abolished,  as  being  full  of  errors. 

XIX.  They  deny  that  usury  is  a  mortal  sin. 

XX.  They  deny  that  the  subdeaconry  is  a  holy  order. 

XXI.  Of  all  the  general  councils  that  have  been  held  in 
the  Catholic  Church,  they  pay  no  regard  to  any  after  the 
sixth. 

XXII.  They  deny  auricular  confession  to  be  a  divine  pre- 
cept, and  claim  that  it  is  only  a  positive  injunction  of  the 
Church. 


324  THE  GREEK,   OR  EASTERN,  CHURCH. 

XXIII.  They  insist  that  the  confession  of  the  laity  ought 
to  be  free  and  voluntary ;  for  which  reason  they  are  not 
compelled  to  confess  themselves  annually,  nor  are  they  ex- 
communicated for  neglect. 

XXIY.  They  insist  that  in  confession  there  is  no  divine 
law  which  enjoins  the  acknowledgment  of  every  individual 
sin,  nor  a  discovery  of  all  the  circumstances  that  attend  it. 

XXV.  They  administer  the  sacrament  to  their  laity  both 
in  sickness  and  in  health,  though  they  have  never  applied 
themselves  to  their  confessors  ;  the  reason  of  which  is,  that 
they  are  persuaded  all  confessions  should  be  free  and  volun- 
tary, and  that  a  lively  faith  is  all  the  preparation  that  is 
requisite  for  the  worthy  receiving  of  the  sacrament  ol  the 
Lord's  Supper. 

XXVI.  They  oppose  the  Latins  for  their  observance  of 
the  vigils  before  the  nativity  of  the  Blessed  Saviour,  and  the 
festivals  of  the  Virgin  Mary  and  the  Apostles,  as  well  as  for 
their  fasting  in  Ember- week. 

XXVII.  They  condemn  the  Latins  as  heretics,  for  eating 
such  things  as  have  been  strangled,  and  such  other  meats  as 
are  prohibited  in  the  Old  Testament. 

XXVIII.  They  deny  that  simple  fornication  is  a  mortal 
sin. 

XXIX.  They  insist  that  it  is  lawful  to  deceive  an  enemy, 
and  that  it  is  no  sin  to  injure  and  oppress  him. 

XXX.  They  are  of  opinion  that,  in  order  to  be  saved,  there 
is  no  necessity  to  make  restitution  of  such  goods  as  have 
been  stolen  or  fraudulently  obtained. 

XXXI.  To  conclude :  They  hold  that  such  as  have  been 
admitted  into  holy  orders  may  become  laymen  at  pleasure. 
To  which  it  may  be  added,  that  they  approve  of  the  mar- 
riage of  their  priests,  provided  they  enter  into  that  state  be- 
fore their  admission  into  holy  orders,  though  they  are  never 
indulged  in  that  respect  after  their  ordination. 

THE  GEEEK  PRIESTHOOD. 

The  first,  or  lowest  order  of  the  priesthood,  is  the  lecturer, 
whose  peculiar  province  is  to  read  the  sacred  Scriptures  to 


THE  GREEK  PRIESTHOOD.  325 

the  people  on  solemn  festivals ;  from  this  station  he  is  grad- 
ually advanced,  first,  to  be  a  chorister  or  chanter,  then  sub- 
deacon,  whose  office  it  is  at  mass  to  sing  the  epistle ;  and 
then  he  is  ordained  deacon,  and  sings  the  gospel.  The  last 
order  is  that  of  the  priests,  who  are  either  seculars  or  reg- 
ulars. 

According  to  the  orders  in  the  pontifical,  when  a  person  is 
to  be  ordained  a  priest,  two  deacons  accompany  him  to  the 
sacred  doors,  and  there  deliver  him  into  the  hands  of  the 
priests.  The  protopapas,  and  he  who  is  next  in  dignity  to 
him,  lead  him  three  times  round  the  altar,  singing  the  hymn 
of  the  martyrs.  The  candidate  for  the  priesthood  then 
kneels  down,  and  the  ordinant  makes  three  times  over  his 
head  the  sign  of  the  cross,  repeats  the  prayers  adapted  to 
that  particular  occasion,  and  lays  his  hands  upon  him.  In 
one  of  the  prayers  in  particular,  the  ordinant  enumerates  the 
principal  functions  of  a  priest, — viz.,  those  of  sacrificing, 
preaching  the  gospel,  and  administering  the  sacrament  of 
baptism,  etc.  These  prayers  being  concluded,  he  orders  the 
new  priest  to  rise,  and  puts  the  band  of  the  horary,  which 
hangs  down  behind,  over  his  right  shoulder.  He  then  pre- 
sents him  with  the  epitrachelium,  or  the  stole ;  and  the  phe- 
lonium,  or  the  surplice ;  the  choir  singing  during  the  whole 
of  the  time  this  ceremony  is  performing.  A  deacon  after- 
wards pronounces  the  following  exhortation,  "  Let  us  love 
one  another."  Then  the  Patriarch  kisses  the  altar,  and  each 
priest  approaches  the  sacred  table  in  regular  order,  accord- 
ing to  his  rank  and  dignity,  and  not  only  kisses  it,  but  also 
the  Patriarch's  hand,  which  lies  upon  it,  and  then  his  cheek. 
The  priests  salute  each  other,  and  the  deacons  follow  their 
example.  The  priests  wear  a  white  woollen  fillet  behind 
their  hats  or  caps,  which  hangs  down  upon  their  shoulders, 
and  is  called  "  peristera,"  that  is  to  say,  a  dove ;  and  is 
looked  upon  as  an  emblem  or  figure  of  the  innocence  and 
purity  of  the  priesthood.  The  bishop  moves  this  dove  from 
any  priest  under  his  jurisdiction,  who  is  proved  guilty  of 
any  offence. 

At  the  ordination  of  a  bishop,  the  priests  deliver  him  into 


326  THE  GREEK,   OR  EASTERN,   CHURCH. 

the  hands  of  two  prelates,  who  oblige  him  to  make  a  formal 
procession  round  the  altar,  as  in  the  preceding  ordinations. 
After  these  preliminary  ceremonies,  the  chartophylax,  or 
archivist,  delivers  the  contacium,  which  is  a  small  collection 
of  degrees,  forms,  etc.,  relating  to  the  election  of  a  bishop, 
to  the  Patriarch,  who  takes  it  in  his  left  hand,  and  lays  his 
right  on  the  candidate  for  the  bishopric,  in  order  to  read  the 
form  of  his  election.  After  this  lesson,  he  opens  the  book 
of  the  gospels,  and  lays  it  on  the  head  of  the  candidate,  all 
the  assistant  bishops  laying  their  hands  on  the  book  at  the 
same  time.  All  these  ceremonies  are  accompanied  with 
several  prayers  which  are  suitable  to  the  solemn  occasion. 
The  prayers  being  over,  the  ordinant  takes  the  book  from 
the  head  of  the  bishop-elect,  and  having  deposited  it  on  the 
altar,  presents  him  with  the  pallium.  This  ceremony  is  ac- 
companied with  singing  and  with  holy  kisses. 


LITURGIES   AND   SERVICES   OF  THE  CHUECH. 

The  service  of  the  Greeks  consists  of  nine  parts,  viz.,  the 
nocturns,  or  night  service  ;  the  morning  service,  or  matins  ; 
the  laudes,  prime,  tierce,  sexte,  none,  vespers,  and  complin. 
After  the  nocturnal,  they  sing  the  trisagium,  or  "  Holy  God, 
Holy  and  Omnipotent,  Holy  and  Eternal";  and  repeat  the 
Gloria  Patri  three  times  successively ;  and,  at  all  the  hours, 
perform  the  same  service. 

The  Greeks  have  four  distinct  liturgies ;  the  first  is  that 
of  St.  James,  which  has  met  with  a  universal  reception 
throughout  the  Greek  Church.  As  this  particular  service  is 
very  long,  and  requires  five  hours  at  least  for  the  celebration 
of  it,  it  is  read  but  once  a  year,  that  is,  on  the  23d  of  Octo- 
ber, which  is  St.  James's  day.  The  second  is  that  of  St.  Basil, 
who,  perceiving  that  the  uncommon  length  of  St.  James's 
liturgy  tired  the  people,  abridged  it.  The  liturgy  of  St. 
Basil  is  read  every  Sunday  in  Lent,  Palm  Sunday  excepted, 
on  Holy  Saturday,  on  the  vigils  or  eves  of  Christmas,  the 
Epiphany,  and  the  festival  of  St.  Basil.  The  third  liturgy 
is  that  of  St.  Chrysostom,  who  ascertained  that  the  liturgy 


LITURGIES  AND  SERVICES.  327 

of  St.  Basil,  though  an  abridgment,  was  still  too  tedious,  and 
that  he  did  not  make  sufficient  allowance  for  the  weakness 
and  frailty  of  the  faithful,  who  are  unable  to  support  a  close 
attention  to  the  duties  of  religion  for  several  consecutive 
hours.  St.  Chrysostom,  therefore,  made  a  new  reduction  of 
this  liturgy,  or  rather  extracted  the  most  essential  parts  from 
St.  Basil's  abridgment,  and  inserted  them  in  his  own..  This 
liturgy  of  St.  Chrysostom  is  used  during  the  whole  year, 
except  on  the  days  above  particularly  specified.  The  fourth, 
which  is  that  of  St.  Gregory,  is  called  the  preconsecrated 
liturgy,  because  it  always  follows  that  of  St.  Chrysostom  or 
St.  Basil.  The  liturgy  of  St.  Gregory  is  no  more  than  a  col- 
lection of  prayers,  peculiarly  adapted  to  inspire  both  the 
priest  and  the  people  with  that  ardent  zeal  and  devotion 
which  are  requisite  for  the  Lord's  Supper. 

During  divine  service  the  Greeks  observe  several  distinct 
postures,  which  are  considered  as  actually  essential,  and  of 
the  greatest  moment  in  the  performance  of  their  religious 
duties  ;  in  general,  when  they  pray,  they  stand  upright,  and 
turn  their  faces  to  the  east ;  but  they  may  lean,  or  even  sit 
down  to  rest  themselves,  when  they  find  it  convenient.  The 
laity  sit,  while  the  priest  reads  his  exhortation  to  them ;  but 
stand,  when  they  pray  to  God  or  sing  an  anthem.  On  reach- 
ing their  respective  places  they  uncover  their  heads,  and 
make  the  sign  of  the  cross,  by  joining  the  first  three  fingers 
of  their  right  hand,  by  which  it  is  implied  that  there  are 
three  persons  in  the  sacred  Godhead.  In  this  sign  of  the 
cross  the  three  fingers  placed  on  the  forehead  denote  that 
the  three  persons  in  the  sacred  Godhead  reside  in  the  king- 
dom of  heaven ;  when  brought  below  the  breast,  they  point 
out  four  great  mysteries  at  once,  viz.,  Christ's  incarnation, 
crucifixion,  burial,  and  descent  into  hell.  When  placed  on 
the  right  shoulder,  they  imply  that  Jesus  Christ,  being  risen, 
sits  at  the  right  hand  of  God.  In  short,  as  the  left  shoulder 
is  a  type  or  figure  of  the  reprobation  of  the  wicked,  the 
Greek  devotee,  by  placing  his  three  fingers  there,  begs  of  God 
that  he  may  not  be  reckoned  among  the  number  of  those  aban- 
doned wretches ;  but  be  delivered  from  the  power  of  the  devil. 


328  THE  GREEK,   OR  EASTERN,   CHURCH. 


SOLEMN   FESTIVALS. 

The  Greeks  have  four  solemn  fasts,  or  Lents.  The  first 
commences  on  the  15th  of  November,  or  forty  days  before 
Christmas.  The  second  is  Lent,  which  immediately  precedes 
Easter,  which  they  keep  according  to  the  old  style,  the  East- 
ern Christians  not  having  admitted  the  Gregorian  Reforma- 
tion of  the  Calendar.  Their  third  is  distinguished  by  the 
title  of  "  the  Fast  of  the  Holy  Apostles,"  which  they  observe 
upon  the  supposition,  that  the  apostles  then  prepared  them- 
selves by  prayer  and  fasting  for  the  promulgation  of  the 
Gospel.  This  fast  commences  the  week  after  Whit- Sunday, 
and  continues  till  the  festival  of  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul.  The 
number  of  days  therefore  comprised  in  this  Lent  is  not  set- 
tled nor  determined ;  but  consists  of  more  or  less,  according 
as  Whit-Sunday  falls  sooner  or  later.  Their  fourth  fast  com- 
mences the  1st  of  August,  and  lasts  only  until  the  15th.  It 
is  by  this  fast  that  they  prepare  themselves  for  the  celebra- 
tion of  the  festival  called  "the  Assumption  of  the  Blessed 
Virgin."  This  fast  is  observed  so  strictly,  that  the  Greek 
monks  are  not  allowed  to  touch  a  drop  of  oil  during  the 
continuance  of  it,  except  on  the  6th  of  August,  which  is  the 
festival  of  the  Transfiguration,  at  which  time  they  are  in- 
dulged in  the  eating  both  of  oil  and  fish ;  but  on  the  follow- 
ing day  they  are  obliged  to  observe  the  same  rules  of  absti- 
nence as  were  before  prescribed  to  them. 

To  these  four  general  fasts  must  be  added  that  of  the  28th 
of  August,  in  commemoration  of  the  martyrdom  of  St.  John 
the  Baptist.  They  prepare  themselves  by  a  fourteen  days' 
fast  for  the  festival  of  the  Exaltation  of  the  Cross  ;  during 
which  time  the  monks  preach,  and  endeavor  to  affect  the  peo- 
ple with  a  long  and  pathetic  history  of  our  Saviour's  Passion  ; 
few,  however,  excepting  the  monks,  observe  the  latter  fast ; 
they  being  the  persons  who  peculiarly  devote  themselves  to 
exercises  of  devotion,  and  the  mortification  of  the  flesh : 
accordingly,  they  not  only  abstain  from  all  flesh,  butter, 
cheese,  and  milk,  but  from  all  fish  that  have  either  shells, 
tins,  or  blood.  They  are  allowed,  however,  to  eat  any  kind 


SOLEMN  FESTIVALS.  329 

of  fish  during  that  Lent  which  begins  the  15th  of  November ; 
as  well  as  on  their  ordinary  fast-days  of  Wednesdays  and 
Fridays ;  which  days  are  in  general  fast-days  throughout 
the  year,  except  a  few  particular  ones ;  and  among  the  rest, 
those  in  the  eleventh  week  before  Easter,  which  they  call 
Artzeburst,  which,  in  the  Armenian  language,  signifies  mes- 
senger. 

Lent,  with  the  Greeks,  begins  on  a  Monday.  They  are 
so  rigid  in  the  observance  of  their  fasts,  that  they  will  not 
admit  of  any  cases  of  sufficient  urgency  to  justify  the  grant 
of  any  dispensations  ;  and  the  Patriarch  himself,  according 
to  their  ideas,  cannot  authorize  or  empower  any  person  to  eat 
meat  when  the  church  has  enjoined  the  contrary.  Upon  a 
general  computation,  there  are  only  about  one  hundred  and 
thirty  days  in  the  year  on  which  meat  is  allowed ;  and  neither 
old  nor  young,  sick  nor  weak,  are  excused  from  the  strict  ob- 
servance of  all  their  fasts. 

In  regard  to  their  fasts,  Easter  is  accounted  by  the  Greek 
Church  the  most  solemn  festival  in  the  year.  It  is  custom- 
ary for  them  at  this  time,  upon  meeting  with  their  friends, 
to  greet  them  with  this  formal  salutation,  "  Jesus  Christ  is 
risen  from  the  dead";  to  which  the  person  accosted  replies, 
"  He  is  risen  indeed":  at  the  same  time,  they  kiss  each  other 
three  times — once  on  each  cheek,  and  once  upon  their  lips, 
and  then  part.  This  ceremony  is  observed  on  Good  Friday, 
Easter  Sunday,  and  the  three  subsequent  days ;  and  every 
week  till  Whitsuntide.  According  to  some  historians,  two 
priests  on  Good  Friday,  in  order  to  commemorate  the  sacred 
sepulchre,  carry  in  procession  at  night  upon  their  shoulders 
the  representation  of  a  tomb,  in  which  an  effigy  or  painting 
of  the  crucified  Jesus  is  deposited.  On  Easter  Sunday  this 
sepulchre  is  carried  out  of  the  church  and  exposed  to  the 
public  view ;  when  the  priest  begins  to  sing,  "  Jesus  Christ 
is  risen  from  the  dead ;  he  has  triumphed  over  death,  and 
given  life  to  all  such  as  were  laid  in  their  graves."  After 
which,  it  is  carried  back  to  the  church,  and  there  thurified, 
or  incensed,  and  the  service  is  continued.  The  priest  and  the 
congregation  repeat  almost  every  moment  this  form  of  words : 


330  THE  GREEK,   OR  EASTERN,   CHURCH. 

"  Jesus  Christ  is  risen  from  the  dead."  In  the  next  place,  the 
celebrant,  or  officiating  priest,  makes  three  signs  of  the  cross, 
kisses  the  Gospel  and  the  image  of  Jesus  Christ.  Then  the 
picture  is  turned  on  the  other  side,  on  which  Jesus  Christ  is 
represented  as  rising  out  of  his  sepulchre.  The  priest  kisses 
it,  and  in  a  more  elevated  strain  pronounces  the  same  form, 
"Jesus  Christ  is  risen  from  the  dead."  The  whole  congre- 
gation embrace  and  make  their  peace  with  each  other.  The 
ceremony  concludes  with  the  benediction,  pronounced  by  the 
officiating  priest.  The  women  observe  much  the  same  cere- 
mony among  themselves,  in  that  part  of  the  church  which  is 
appropriated  to  their  peculiar  service. 

On  September  2d  the  monks  alone  celebrate  the  festival  of 
St.  John  the  Baptist,  whom  they  have  dignified  with  the 
character  of  temperate  and  abstemious,  as  setting  the  first 
and  glorious  example  of  fasting.  The  26th  is  consecrated 
in  commemoration  of  St.  John  the  Evangelist,  of  whom  it  is 
a  received  belief  among  the  Greeks,  that  he  was  translated 
to  heaven  like  Enoch  and  Elias. 

According  to  Christopher  Angelus,  there  are  six-and-thirty 
solemn  festivals  in  the  Greek  calendar,  twelve  of  which  are 
devoted  to  the  honor  and  service  of  the  Lord  Jesus  and  the 
Blessed  Virgin ;  the  remaining  twenty-four  are  appropri- 
ated to  St.  John  the  Baptist,  the  Apostles,  and  the  Holy 
Martyrs. 

THE  MASS   ATTO  HOLT   SACKAMENTS. 

The  Greeks  celebrate  mass,  which  consists  of  a  round  of 
ceremonies  somewhat  similar  to  those  of  the  Latin  mass. 
The  laity,  as  well  as  the  clergy,  however,  among  the  Greeks, 
take  the  sacrament  in  both  kinds,  and  receive  from  the 
hands  of  the  priest  the  consecrated  bread  and  wine  in  the 
same  spoon,  which  the  Greeks  call  Labis.  The  laity  receive 
the  sacrament  standing  at  the  door  of  the  sanctuary ;  the 
men  first,  and  then  the  women.  Those  who  presume  to  par- 
take of  this  holy  banquet  must  stand  in  a  modest  and  rever- 
ential posture ;  their  eyes  must  be  fixed  on  the  ground,  and 
their  head  bowed  down,  as  persons  in  the  act  of  adoration, 


SACRAMENT  OF  BAPTISM.  331 

and  their  arms  must  be  crossed.  The  Greeks  follow  the  exam- 
ple of  the  Latins,  carry  the  communion  to  the  sick,  but  with 
less  pomp  or  grandeur,  it  being  contained  in  a  little  box,  en- 
closed in  a  bag,  which  the  priest  bears  under  his  arm.  This 
is  a  small  parcel  or  portion  of  the  blessed  bread,  which  they 
also  carry  to  those  whose  business  confines  them  at  home. 
They  take  a  small  portion  of  consecrated  bread,  about  an 
inch  square,  cut  in  the  form  of  a  cross  and  sprinkled  with 
a  little  blood  (that  is,  transubstantiated  wine),  and  adminis- 
ter it  to  the  sick,  after  having  moistened  it  with  a  little  water, 
or  a  little  wine,  and  this  is  their  viaticum  which  they  give 
to  sick  and  dying  persons. 

BAPTISM. 

The  first  sacrament  of  the  Greek  Church  is  that  of  Baptism, 
and  the  Greeks  take  care  to  bring  the  children  as  soon  as 
they  are  eight  days  old  to  the  church  door.  If  an  infant, 
however,  be  in  any  apparent  danger  of  death,  he  is  baptized 
immediately,  for  fear  he  should  die,  as  they  express  it,  out 
of  tJie  light.  The  priest  goes  to  the  church  door,  in  order  to 
receive  the  infant,  and  to  give  him  his  benediction,  as  St. 
Simon  formerly  did  to  the  Saviour.  At  the  same  time  he 
marks  him  with  the  sign  of  the  cross  on  his  forehead,  his 
mouth,  and  his  breast.  These  are  the  preliminary  ceremo- 
nies to  the  sacrament  of  Baptism,  and  are  styled  putting  the 
seal  upon  an  infant.  The  initial  ceremony  is  followed  by 
a  prayer  repeated  by  the  priest ;  after  which  he  takes  the 
infant  and  raises  him  in  his  arms,  either  before  the  church 
door  or  the  image  of  the  Blessed  Virgin,  making  several 
signs  of  the  cross  upon  him.  This  baptism  is  performed  by  a 
threefold  immersion  ;  but  before  he  administers  this  sacra- 
ment, the  priest  breathes  three  times  on  the  infant,  which 
is  looked  upon  as  an  exorcism,  and  deliverance  from  the 
power  and  malice  of  the  devil ;  afterwards  he  plunges  him 
three  times  all  over  in  the  baptismal  font,  and  at  each  immer- 
sion names  one  of  the  three  personages  of  the  Sacred  Trinity. 
The  relations,  who  bring  the  child  to  be  baptized,  take  care 
to  have  the  baptismal  water  warmed,  throwing  into  it  a  col- 


332  THE  GREEK,   OR  EASTERN,   CHURCH. 

lection  of  the  most  odoriferous  flowers  ;  and  while  the  water 
is  warming,  the  priest  sanctifies  it  by  a  prayer,  breathes  upon 
it,  and  then  pours  oil  into  it,  and,  with  the  same  oil,  anoints 
the  infant  in  the  form  of  a  cross.  The  oil  is  a  symbol  or 
figure  of  man's  reconciliation  with  his  Maker,  and  this  unc- 
tion is  performed  by  the  priest  upon  the  child's  forehead 
and  breast,  all  round  about  his  ears,  and  upon  his  loins,  dur- 
ing which  he  pronounces  the  following  forms  of  words,  in 
anointing  the  forehead, "  The  servant  of  the  Lord  is  anointed  " ; 
in  anointing  his  breast,  "  For  the  cure  of  his  soul  and  body  "; 
and  at  the  unction  of  his  ears  he  adds,  "  that  the  faith  may 
be  received  by  hearing." 

After  the  last  prayer  in  the  office  of  baptism,  the  infant  is 
confirmed  by  the  priest,  who,  on  applying  the  chrism,  in 
the  form  of  a  cross,  to  the  forehead,  eyes,  nose,  mouth, 
ears,  breast,  hands,  and  feet  of  the  infant,  says,  "  Behold 
the  seal  of  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost."  Seven  days  after 
baptism,  the  infant  is  brought  to  church  in  order  to  be 
washed.  The  priest,  pronouncing  the  prayers  directed  in 
their  ritual,  not  only  washes  the  infant's  shirt,  but  cleans 
his  body  with  a  new  sponge,  or  a  linen  cloth  prepared  for 
that  purpose,  and  dismisses  him  with  the  following  words : 
"  Thou  art  now  baptized,  surrounded  with  a  celestial  light, 
fortified  with  the  Sacrament  of  Confirmation,  and  sanctified 
and  washed  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  of  the  Son,  and  of 
the  Holy  Ghost." 

MATEIMONY. 

The  particular  ceremonies  and  preliminaries  of  the  mar- 
riage rites  of  the  Greeks  are  as  singular  as  those  of  other 
countries.  In  the  office  of  matrimony  there  is  a  prayer  for 
the  bride,  who  is  to  be  muffled  up  either  in  a  veil  or  a  hood. 
Those  who  are  inclined  to  be  joined  together  in  the  bonds  of 
wedlock,  make  their  applications  to  the  priest  as  soon  as 
mass  is  over  for  the  solemnization  of  their  nuptials.  The 
bridegroom  stands  on  the  right  hand,  and  the  bride  on  the 
left.  Two  rings,  one  gold,  the  other  silver,  are  deposited 
near  to  each  other  on  the  right  side  of  the  communion  table, 


SACRAMENT  OF  MATRIMONY.  333 

the  latter  pointing  to  the  right  hand,  and  the  former  to  the 
left.  The  priest  who  performs  the  ceremony  makes  several 
crosses  upon  the  bride  and  bridegroom  ;  puts  lighted  wax- 
tapers  in  their  hands,  thurifies,  or  incenses,  them,  in  the  form 
of  a  cross,  and  accompanies  them  to  the  temple.  The  choir 
and  the  deacon  pray  alternately  that  the  bridegroom  and  the 
bride  may  prosper  in  all  their  undertakings,  and  be  blessed 
with  a  numerous  and  hopeful  issue.  When  these  prayers 
are  over,  the  priest  gives  the  gold  ring  to  the  bridegroom 
and  the  silver  one  to  his  spouse,  saying  three  times  succes- 
sively, "I  join  N.  and  N.,  these  servants  of  the  Almighty 
here  present,  in  the  name  of  the  Father,"  etc.  Having  pro- 
nounced these  words,  he  makes  the  sign  of  the  cross  with  the 
rings  over  their  heads  before  he  puts  them  on  the  proper 
finger  of  the  right  hand.  Then  the  paranymph,  or  brideman, 
exchanges  these  two  rings,  and  the  priest  reads  a  long  prayer, 
in  which  the  virtue  and  dignity  of  the  nuptial  ring  are 
typically  compared  to  Joseph's  ring,  and  that  of  Daniel  and 
of  Thamar. 

While  the  bride  and  bridegroom  are  crowned,  the  same 
priest  accompanies  the  ceremony  with  several  benedictions, 
and  other  emphatical  prayers,  which  being  completed,  the 
bridegroom  and  his  spouse  enter  the  church  with  their  wax- 
tapers  lighted  in  their  hands ;  the  priest  marches  in  proces- 
sion before  them,  with  his  incense-pot,  singing,  as  he  pro- 
ceeds, the  128th  Psalm,  which  consists  of  a  promise  to  the 
faithful  Jews  of  a  prosperous  and  fruitful  marriage.  At  the 
close  of  every  verse  the  congregation  repeat  the  Doxology  or 
the  Gloria  Patri.  The  deacon,  as  soon  as  the  psalms  are 
over,  resumes  the  prayers,  and  the  choir  makes  the  usual  re- 
sponses. 

These  prayers  being  concluded,  the  priest  places  the  crown 
on  the  bridegroom's  head,  saying,  "  This  man,  the  servant  of 
the  Lord,  is  crowned,  in  order  to  be  married  to  this  woman," 
etc.  After  which,  he  crowns  the  bride,  and  repeats  the  same 
form,  which  is  followed  by  a  triple  benediction,  the  proper 
lessons,  and  prayers.  The  priest,  in  the  next  place,  presents 
the  bridegroom  and  the  bride  with  a  goblet,  or  large  glass, 


334  THE  GREEK,   OR  EASTERN,   CHURCH. 

full  of  wine,  after  which  he  takes  off  their  crowns.  Another 
prayer,  accompanied  with  a  proper  benediction,  and  several 
compliments  paid  to  the  newly-married  couple,  conclude  the 
ceremony. 

EXTREME   UNCTION. 

A  striking  difference  exists  between  the  Greeks  and  the 
Latins,  in  regard  to  the  manner  of  administering  the  extreme 
unction,  and  there  are  several  ceremonies  which  belong 
peculiarly  to  the  two  unctions  of  the  Greeks.  The  arch- 
bishop, or,  in  his  absence,  the  bishop,  consecrates,  on  Wednes- 
day in  holy  week,  the  oil  of  unction  for  the  whole  year ; 
and  on  Maundy-Thursday,  the  patriarch,  or  bishop,  ad- 
ministers the  unction  publicly  to  all  the  faithful.  The  prel- 
ate is  anointed  first  by  the  (Economist,  after  which  he  him- 
self anoints  the  whole  congregation.  The  other  circum- 
stances relating  to  the  unction  and  extreme  unction  of  the 
Greeks,  which  are  peculiar  to  themselves,  are,  that  the  priest, 
after  he  has  dipped  his  cotton,  which  is  fastened  to  the  end 
of  a  stick,  into  the  sacred  oils,  anoints  the  penitent  or  the 
sick  person,  in  the  form  of  a  cross  upon  the  forehead,  chin, 
cheeks,  the  upper  side  and  palms  of  the  hands.  After 
which  he  pronounces  a  short  prayer.  The  seven  assisting 
priests  anoint  all  the  sick  persons,  one  after  another.  The 
principal  lays  the  gospel  upon  his  head,  while  the  others  lay 
their  hands  upon  him. 

The  differences  which  have  been  observed  between  the 
unction  of  the  Latins  and  that  of  the  Greeks  may  be  thus  ex- 
plained. By  the  laws  of  the  Latin  Church  one  person  alone 
may  administer  the  sacrament  of  extreme  unction  ;  whereas 
the  administration  of  it,  in  the  opinion  of  the  Greeks,  is  ir- 
regular, unless  three  at  least  assist  at  the  celebration  of  it. 
By  the  Latin  ritual  the  bishop  only  has  authority  to  conse- 
crate the  oil ;  but  the  Grecian  priests,  as  well  as  their  prelates, 
are  invested  with  that  power.  Independently  of  the  parts 
of  the  body  of  their  sick  which  are  differently  anointed  it  is 
customary  with  the  Greeks  to  anoint  their  houses  also,  and  to 
imprint  upon  them  at  the  same  time  several  signs  of  the  cross. 


FUNERAL  CEREMONIES.  335 

FUNEBAL    SOLEMNITIES. 

On  the  decease  of  any  person,  whether  male  or  female,  the 
body  is  dressed  in  its  best  apparel,  and  afterwards  extended 
upon  a  bier,  with  one  wax  taper  at  the  head  and  another  at  the 
feet.  The  wife,  if  the  husband  be  the  object  of  their  sorrow,  the 
children,  servants,  relations,  and  acquaintance,  enter  the 
apartment  in  which  the  deceased  is  thus  laid  out,  with  their 
clothes  rent,  tearing  their  hair,  beating  their  breast,  and  dis- 
figuring their  faces  with  their  nails.  When  the  body  of  the 
deceased  is  completely  dressed,  and  decently  extended  on 
the  bier,  for  the  regular  performance  of  the  last  serrices,  and 
the  hour  is  arrived  for  his  interment,  the  crucifix  is  carried 
in  procession  at  the  head  of  the  funeral  train.  The  priests  and 
deacons  who  accompany  them,  reciting  the  prayers  appointed 
by  the  church,  burn  incense,  and  implore  the  Divine  Majesty 
to  receive  the  soul  of  the  deceased  into  his  heavenly  mansions. 

As  soon  as  the  funeral  service  is  over,  they  kiss  the  cruci- 
fix, and  afterwards  salute  the  mouth  and  forehead  of  the  de- 
ceased. After  that,  each  of  them  eats  a  small  bit  of  bread, 
and  drinks  a  glass  of  wine  in  the  church,  wishing  the  soul 
of  the  deceased  a  good  repose.  A  widow  who  has  lost  her 
husband,  a  child  who  has  lost  his  father  or  mother —in  short, 
all  persons  who  are  in  deep  mourning,  dress  no  victuals  at 
their  own  houses.  The  friends  and  relations  of  the  deceased 
send  them  in  provisions  for  the  first  eight  days ;  at  the  end 
of  which  they  pay  the  disconsolate  family  a  courteous  visit, 
in  order  to  condole  with  and  comfort  them  under  their  loss, 
and  to  wait  on  them  to  the  church,  where  prayers  are  read 
for  the  repose  of  the  soul  of  the  deceased.  The  men  again  eat 
and  drink  in  the  church,  while  the  women  renew  their  cries 
and  lamentations.  After  the  ninth  day,  masses  and  prayers 
are  again  read  upon  the  same  occasion,  which  are  repeated 
at  the  expiration  of  forty  days  ;  as,  also,  at  the  close  of  six 
months,  and  on  the  last  day  of  the  year.  After  the  cere- 
mony is  concluded,  they  make  their  friends  a  present  of 
some  corn,  boiled  rice,  wine,  and  some  sweetmeats.  This 
custom,  which  is  generally  called  by  the  Greeks  Ta  Sperna, 
;s  looked  upon  by  them  as  very  ancient. 


BRANCHES 


6REEK,  en  E^gTEp,  CfKI  W 


GEORGIAN  A1STD   MINGBELIAlSr   CHURCHES. 

~T)  ESIDES  the  Greek  Church  proper,  of  which  the  Rus- 
JD  sian  Church  may  be  considered  an  independent  branch, 
there  are  several  other  branches  of  the  same  church,  which 
are  scattered  over  a  great  extent  of  country  in  the  East,  em- 
bracing an  unknown,  but  large  number  of  members.  We 
shall  describe  the  most  important  of  them. 

Georgia  and  Mingrelia  are  two  countries  of  Asia.  The 
former  lies  between  the  Black  and  Caspian  Seas ;  and  the 
latter  between  Circassia  on  the  north,  and  Guriel  on  the 
south.  The  former  was  the  ancient  Iberia,  the  latter  in  part 
the  ancient  Colchis. 

Georgia  was  declared  a  Russian  province  in  1800.  Peter 
the  Great  had  obtained  some  portions  of  the  territory  by 
treaty  in  1723  and  1724.  Its  last  king,  George  XIII.,  be- 
queathed his  dominions  to  the  Czar  of  Russia,  by  will,  dated 
Oct.  28,  1800,  and  Alexander  I.  published  a  manifesto  ac- 
cepting the  responsibility,  Sept.  12,  1801.  Other  parts  of 
the  country  were  obtained  by  the  Russians  in  1813, 1828,  and 
1829.  Mingrelia  was  declared  an  independent  principality 
by  a  treaty  between  Turkey  and  Russia,  in  1774.  In  1812 
the  Russians  acquired  an  ascendency  over  the  native  princes, 
and  by  the  treaty  of  Gulistan,  Oct.  12,  1813,  the  Turkish 
government  renounced  all  claim  to  the  province. 


THE  PALM  OFFERING.— GOODALL.— The  portrayal  by  an  eminent  English  artist 
of  a  mother  and  child  of  the  people  presenting  the  simplest  of  offerings,  while  representing 
all  that  is  most  interesting  in  humanity. 


GEORGIAN  AND  MINGEELIAN  CHURCHES.       337 

Each  of  these  nations  has  a  pontiff  at  its  head,  whom  they 
call  Catholicos,  or  the  Catholic — who  is  obliged  to  pay  a  cer- 
tain tribute  to  the  Patriarch  of  Constantinople — but  is,  in 
every  other  respect,  independent  of  any  foreign  jurisdiction. 
They  have  also  bishops  and  priests.  The  priests  are  allowed 
not  only  to  marry,  according  to  the  custom  of  the  Greek 
Church,  before  ordination,  but  also  to  enter  into  second  mar- 
riages at  the  expense  only  of  a  dispensation  from  the  bishop. 
In  short,  they  may  marry  a  third  or  fourth  time  upon  pay- 
ing double  fees  for  every  new  indulgence. 

In  regard  to  their  baptismal  ceremonies, — as  soon  as  an 
infant  is  born,  the  priest  makes  the  sign  of  the  cross  on  his 
forehead,  and  eight  days  afterwards  anoints  him  with  the 
myrone — that  is,  their  consecrated  oil ;  but  he  never  bap- 
tizes him  till  two  years  after.  The  following  form  is  then 
observed :  The  child  is  brought  to  the  church,  and  presented 
to  the  priest,  who  immediately  asks  his  name,  and  lights  a 
little  wax-taper ;  after  which  he  reads  a  long  lesson,  and  re- 
peats several  prayers  suitable  to  the  occasion.  After  that, 
the  godfather  undresses  the  infant,  and  plunges  him  naked 
into  a  kind  of  font  or  bathing- vessel,  full  of  lukewarm  water, 
mixed  with  walnut-oil,  and  washes  his  body  all  over,  the 
priest  taking  no  share  in  this  part  of  the  ceremony,  nor  pro- 
nouncing a  single  syllable  during  the  whole  of  the  time. 
After  this  general  ablution,  however,  he  advances  towards 
the  water- vessel,  and  gives  the  myrone  to  the  godfather,  to 
anoint  the  infant.  The  godfather  accordingly  anoints  his 
forehead,  nose,  eyes,  ears,  breast,  navel,  knees,  soles  of  the 
feet,  heels,  hams,  loins,  shoulders,  and  the  crown  of  his  head. 
After  this  ceremony  is  over,  he  plunges  him  again  into  the 
font,  or  water- vessel,  and  offers  him  a  bit  of  blessed  bread  to 
eat,,  and  a  small  portion  of  sacred  wine  to  drink.  If  the 
child  swallows  them,  it  is  looked  upon  as  a  happy  omen. 
.In  conclusion,  the  godfather  returns  the  infant  to  its  mother, 
•saying  three  times,  "  You  delivered  him  into  my  hands  a 
Jew,  and  I  return  him  to  you  a  Christian." 

The  nuptial  ceremonies  of  the  Georgians  are,  in  fact,  noth- 
ing more  than  a  mere  contract.  The  parents  bring  their 
22 


338  THE  GREEK,   OR  EASTERN    CHURCH. 

daughters  to  market,  and  agree  with  the  purchasers  for  a 
particular  sum,  which  is  greater  or  smaller,  according  to  the 
value  of  the  living  commodities.  A  female  who  has  never 
been  married  commands  a  much  higher  price  than  a  widow, 
and  a  virgin  in  her  bloom  more  than  an  antiquated  maid. 
As  soon  as  the  purchase-money  is  raised  and  ready,  the  father 
of  the  bridegroom  gives  an  entertainment,  at  which  the  son 
attends  with  his  cash  in  hand,  and  deposits  it  on  the  table  be- 
fore he  offers  to  sit  down.  At  the  same  time,  the  relations 
of  the  bride  provide  an  equivalent,  which  is  generally  as  near 
the  value  of  his  money  as  possible,  consisting  of  all  manner 
of  necessary  household  goods,  cattle,  clothes,  slaves,  etc. 
This  custom  appears  to  be  very  ancient.  After  the  enter- 
tainment is  over,  the  bride  repairs  to  the  bridegroom's  house, 
attended  by  her  relations,  friends,  and  acquaintances.  The 
procession  is  enlivened  by  a  concert  of  instrumental  music  ; 
the  contractors  going  before,  to  inform  the  family  that  the 
newly-married  couple  will  arrive  soon  at  home.  These  mes- 
sengers, on  their  first  arrival,  are  presented  with  bread,  wine, 
and  meat.  Without  offering  to  enter  the  house,  however, 
they  take  the  flagon  of  wine,  and  pour  it  lavishly  round 
about  it.  This  libation  is  consecrated  by  their  hearty  wishes 
for  the  health,  prosperity,  and  peace  of  the  newly-married 
couple.  After  this  they  return  to  the  bride,  and  conduct 
her  home  to  her  husband's  apartment,  in  which  the  other 
relations  and  friends  are  all  assembled.  In  the  middle  of 
the  room  a  carpet  is  spread  upon  the  floor  ;  and  a  pitcher  of 
wine,  with  a  kettle-full  of  dough,  called  Gom,  with  which 
they  make  their  bread,  are  set  upon  it.  Soon  after  her  en- 
trance, the  bride  kicks  down  the  pitcher,  and  scatters  the 
paste  with  both  her  hands  all  over  the  room.  The  ceremony 
is  attended  with  the  usual  pastimes  and  demonstrations  of 
joy  which  are  customary  on  such  public  occasions. 

The  essential  part  of  the  nuptial  ceremony,  however,  is  not 
solemnized  here,  but  in  a  private  apartment,  for  fear  the  sor- 
cerers should  cast  a  spell  upon  the  newly-married  couple. 
The  bridegroom  and  his  bride  stand  with  their  godfather 
before  a  priest,  who  reads  over  the  marriage  words  by  the 


NESTORIAN  CHURCHES.  339 

light  of  a  wax-taper.  Two  garlands  of  flowers,  either  nat- 
ural or  artificial,  are  set  close  to  each  other  on  an  adjoining 
table,  with  tufts  of  various  colors,  together  with  a  tavaiole, 
that  is,  a  veil,  a  glass  of  wine,  a  piece  of  bread,  and  a  needle 
and  thread.  The  godfather  now  throws  a  veil  over  the 
bridegroom's  head,  and,  while  the  priest  is  reading  the  cere- 
mony, sews  the  garments  of  the  bride  and  bridegroom  to- 
gether. This  godfather  likewise  puts  crowns  upon  their 
heads,  changing  them  three  or  four  times,  successively,  ac- 
cording to  the  tenor  of  the  prayers  repeated  on  the  occasion. 
After  this,  he  takes  the  glass  and  the  pieces  of  bread  into 
his  hands,  and  gives  the  bridegroom  one  bit,  and  the  bride 
another.  This  he  repeats  three  times,  and  eats  what  is  left 
himself.  He  now  gives  them  the  glass  three  times  apiece, 
and  then  drinks  the  remainder,  which  concludes  the  cere- 
mony. 

The  mourning  of  the  Mingrelians  is  like  that  of  persons 
in  the  very  depth  of  despair,  and  consists  not  only  in  weep- 
ing in  honor  of  their  dead,  but  also  in  shaving  their  beards 
and  eyebrows.  Moreover,  when  a  wife  loses  her  husband,  or 
some  other  near  relation,  she  rends  her  clothes,  strips  herself 
naked  to  the  waist,  tears  her  hair,  and  scarifies  her  body. 
The  men  likewise  behave  nearly  in  the  same  manner,  and 
are  more  or  less  violent,  as  necessity,  inclination,  or  the  cir- 
cumstances of  their  mourning  prompt  them.  This  continues 
forty  days,  with  a  gradual  diminution  of  their  sorrow,  as 
that  term  draws  near  to  its  expiration. 


NESTOBIAN   CHUECHES. 

There  are  several  sects  of  Christians  in  the  Levant,  who 
are  known  and  distinguished  by  the  name  of  Chaldeans  or 
Syrians  ;  but  the  most  considerable  part  of  them  are  those 
who  pass  under  the  denomination  of  Nestorians,  and  in  re- 
ality revere  Nestorius,  who  was  Patriarch  of  Constantinople 
in  tne  beginning  of  the  fifth  century,  by  invoking  him  in 
their  prayers.  The  occasion  of  the  controversy  in  which 
Nestorius  involved  the  Church,  was  furnished  by  Anastasius, 


340  THE  GREEK,   OR  EASTERN,   CHURCH. 

who  was  honored  with  his  friendship.  This  presbyter,  in  a 
public  discourse,  delivered  in  424,  declaimed  warmly  against 
the  title  of  Mother  of  God,  which  was  then  frequently  at- 
tributed to  the  Virgin  Mary  in  the  controversy  with  the 
Arians,  giving  it  as  his  opinion  that  the  Holy  Virgin  was 
rather  to  be  called  Mother  of  Christ,  since  the  Deity  can 
neither  be  born  nor  die,  and,  of  consequence,  the  Son  of  Man 
alone  could  derive  his  birth  from  an  earthly  parent.  !N"es- 
torius  applauded  these  sentiments,  and  explained  and  de- 
fended them  in  several  discourses. 

In  opposition  to  him,  Eutyches,  an  abbot  at  Constantino- 
ple, declared  that  these  natures  were  so  united  in  Christ  as 
to  form  but  one  nature,  that  of  the  Incarnate  Word.  It  was 
an  age  when  men  were  fast  losing  sight  of  the  Gospel,  and 
contending  about  modes  and  forms ;  and  these  opposite  opin- 
ions threw  the  whole  Eastern  world  into  bitter  contention, 
and  gave  rise  to  that  great  division  which  continues  to  this 
day  among  the  remnant  of  the  Eastern  churches.  The  fol- 
lowers of  the  former  are  called  Nestorians,  the  latter  Mono- 
physites. 

The  Nestorians  early  became  the  chief  propagators  of  the 
Gospel  in  the  East.  They  enjoyed  the  patronage  of  the  Per- 
sian monarch,  Pherazes,  by  whom  their  opponents  were  ex- 
pelled from  his  kingdom,  and  their  Patriarch  was  established 
at  Seleucia.  They  established  a  school  at  Nisibis  under  Bar- 
sumas,  a  disciple  of  Nestorius,  from  whence  proceeded,  in 
the  fifth  and  sixth  centuries,  a  band  of  missionaries,  who 
spread  abroad  their  tenets  through  Egypt,  Syria,  Arabia,  In- 
dia, Tartary,  and  China.  In  the  twelfth  century  they  won 
over  to  their  faith  the  Prince  of  Tartary,  who  was  baptized 
John  ;'  'and  because  he  exercised  the  office  of  presbyter,  was, 
with  his  successors,  called  Prester  John.  They  formed  at 
one  time  an  immense  body,  but  dwindled  away  before  the 
Saracen  power,  and  the  exasperated  heathen  priests  and 
jealous  Chinese  emperors.  They  acknowledged  but  one  pa- 
triarch until  1551,  who  resided  first  at  Bagdad  and  after- 
wards at  Mosul.  ,  But  at  this  period  the  Roman  Catholics 
succeeded  in  dividing  them,  -and  a  -new  Patriarch  was  con- 


THE  CHRISTIANS  OF  ST.   THOMAS.  341 

secrated  by  Pope  Julius  III.,  and  established  over  the  adher- 
ents to,  the  Pope,  in  the  city  of  Ormus.  The  Nestorians 
are  scattered  over  Asia,  and  are  particularly  strong  in  Meso- 
potamia, where  their  Patriarch  resides  at  Dyarbekr. 

The  churches  belonging  to  the  Nestorians  are  divided  by 
balustrades  or  rails,  and  one  part  of  them  is  always  allotted 
for  the  peculiar  service  of  the  women.  The  font  is  erected 
on  the  south  side.  When  they  say  their  prayers,  and  pay 
their  homage  to  the  Supreme  Being,  they  always  turn  their 
faces  towards  the  east.  Before  the  entrance  into  these  churches 
there  is,  generally,  a  large  court.  This  court  was  originally 
the  place  appointed  for  the  reception  of  penitents,  and  was 
made  use  of  as  a  bar  to  the  profane,  in  order  to  prevent  them 
hearing  and  seeing  the  different  proceedings  and  ceremonies 
of  the  Christian  assemblies. 

Independently  of  the  fasts,  which  are  generally  observed 
by  the  Christians  of  the  Greek  Church,  the  Nestorians  keep 
one  in  particular,  which  continues  three  days.  It  is  called 
the  Fast  of  Nineveh,  because  they  therein  imitate  the  repent- 
ing Ninevites,  who  did  penance  for  their  sins  for  three  days 
after  the  preaching  of  the  prophet  Jonas.  This  fast  is  the 
introduction  to  their  Lent. 

Their  nuptial  ceremonies  are  very  singular  and  remarka- 
ble. The  bridegroom  is  conducted  to  the  house  of  the  bride 
on  horseback,  between  two  drawn  swords,  which  are  carried 
by  two  men,  one  before  and  the  other  behind  him.  The  rela- 
tions, friends,  and  acquaintance  of  the  bride  receive  him  with 
their  flambeaux  lighted,  and  music  preceding  them,  accom- 
panied with  songs,  acclamations,  and  other  testimonies  of 
general  joy.  On  the  wedding-night  the  bridegroom  gives  his 
spouse  an  uncourteous  kick,  and  commands  her  to  pull  off 
his  shoes,  as  a  token  of  her  submission  and  obedience. 

THE   CHRISTIANS   OF   ST.    THOMAS. 

With  regard  to  the  origin  of  the  Christians  of  St.  Thomas, 
who  inhabit  the  coast  of  Malabar  and  Travancore,  there  ex- 
ists much  difference  of  opinion.  The  Portuguese,  who  first 
opened  the  navigation  of  India,  in  the  fifteenth  century,  and 


342  THE  GREEK,   OR  EASTERN,  CHURCH. 

found  them  seated  there,  assert  that  St.  Thomas,  the  apostle, 
preached  the  gospel  in  India,  and  that  these  are  the  descend- 
ants of  his  proselytes. 

The  Christians  of  St.  Thomas  declare  themselves  descend- 
ants of  one  Mar  Thomas,  or  Thomas  Cana,  an  Armenian 
merchant,  who  settled  at  Congraiior.  Mar  Thomas  married 
two  wives,  and  had  issue  by  each.  The  children  by  the  former 
were  heirs  to  all  his  effects  and  lands,  which  were  situate  in 
the  southern  part  of  the  kingdom  of  Congranor ;  and  those 
of  the  latter,  who  was  a  negro  slave  converted  to  the  Chris- 
tian faith,  inherited  the  settlement  of  which  their  father  died 
possessed  in  the  north.  In  process  of  time,  his  descendants 
became  very  numerous,  and  constituted  two  considerable 
branches,  which  were  never  united  nor  allied  to  each  other. 
The  issue  of  his  first  wife,  from  whom  the  nobility  are  de- 
scended, look  down  with  disdain  on  the  Christians  of  the 
other  branch,  and  carry  their  aversion  to  so  high  a  pitch  as 
to  separate  themselves  from  their  communion,  and  to  reject 
the  ministry  of  their  priests.  Mar  Thomas,  whom  these 
Christians  look  upon  as  their  common  parent,  flourished, 
according  to  the  general  belief,  in  the  tenth  century ;  but  M. 
la  Croza  thinks  that  he  lived  in  the  sixth.  These  Christians 
enjoyed  so  many  valuable  privileges  under  the  sovereigns  of 
the  country,  and  grew  so  powerful,  that  they  at  length  elected 
kings  out  of  their  own  nation  and  religion. 

In  respect  to  their  religious  ceremonies  they  observe  at 
Easter  a  kind  of  public  collation,  which  bears  some  affinity 
with  the  Agapce  of  the  primitive  Christians.  This  feast  or 
entertainment  consists  generally  of  nothing  but  a  few  herbs, 
fruits,  and  rice ;  and  is  made  in  the  fore-court  before  the 
church-porch.  The  priests  at  those  times  have  a  double,  and 
the  bishop  a  triple  portion  of  what  is  provided.  To  these 
AgapcB,  we  must  add  another  ceremony,  called  by  the  Chris- 
tians of  St.  Thomas  their  Casture,  which  is  said  to  be  an  em- 
blem, or  symbol  of  brotherly  love.  During  the  time  they  are 
in  the  church,  they  take  hold  of  the  hands  of  one  of  their 
most  ancient  Cacanares,  or  priests,  and  in  that  posture  receive 
his  benediction. 


THE  MONOPI1Y SITES,  343 

These  Christians  have  holy  water  placed  at  their  church- 
doors,  with  which  they  make  the  sign  of  the  cross,  repeating 
at  the  same  time  a  prayer  in  commemoration  of  Nestorius. 
It  is  merely  a  little  common  water  mixed  with  a  small 
quantity  of  mold,  taken  out  of  the  road  through  which  St. 
Thomas  had  traveled.  In  case  they  have  no  such  mold,  they 
throw  a  few  grains  of  frankincense  into  it.  They  have  crosses 
erected  not  only  in  their  streets  and  high-roads,  but  in  the 
most  solitary  places.  They  are  erected  on  a  pedestal,  in 
which  there  is  a  hole  or  cavity,  large  enough  to  contain  a 
burning  lamp.  In  the  Lord's  Supper  their  form  is  more  Prot- 
estant than  Roman.  The  cross  alone  is  admitted  into  their 
churches,  in  which  the  Syric  language  is  used.  For  many 
years  they  have  been  under  the  protection  of  the  British  gov- 
ernment, and  secured  in  the  management  of  their  own  affairs. 


THE  MONOPHYSITES   OF  THE  LEVANT. 

This  sect  originated  in  the  fifth  century,  and  maintained 
that  the  divine  and  human  natures  of  Christ  were  so  united 
as  to  constitute  ?,  at  one  nature.  They  were  the  followers 
of  Eutyches,  who  nad  the  controversy  with  Nestorius,  and 
branched  into  several  sects.  The  term  Monophysites  was  first 
used  after  the  condemnation  of  the  doctrines  by  the  fourth 
general  council,  held  at  Chalcedon  in  451.  In  Egypt  and 
the  East  they  are  called  Jacobites.  The  head  of  the  Asiatic 
Jacobites  is  the  Patriarch  of  Antioch.  He  has  an  assistant, 
called  the  Primate  of  the  East,  who  resides  in  the  monastery 
of  St.  Matthew,  near  the  city  of  Mosul,  in  Mesopotamia.  All 
the  Jacobite  Patriarchs  assume  the  name  of  Ignatius.  The 
African  Monophysites,  or  Jacobites,  are  subject  to  the  Patri- 
arch of  Alexandria,  who  usually  resides  at  Cairo,  Egypt. 

The  Jacobites  neither  deny  a  state  of  purgatory,  nor  reject 
prayers  for  the  dead  ;  but  their  beliefs  in  these  particulars 
are  the  same  as  those  of  the  Greeks  and  other  oriental  na- 
tions. They  do  not  consecrate  the  sacrament  with  unleav- 
ened bread,  the  Armenians,  and,  according  to  Alvares,  the 
Ethiopians,  only  excepted ;  for  the  true  Jacobites  make  use  of 


344  THE  GREEK,   OR  EASTERN,    CHURCH. 

leavened  bread.  Gregory  XIII.,  who  purposed  to  found  a 
college  at  Rome  for  the  Jacobites,  there  being  one  antece- 
dently erected  for  the  encouragement  of  the  Maronites, 
would  no  doubt  have  indulged  them,  as  well  as  the  Greeks, 
with  the  administration  of  the  sacrament  with  leavened 
bread ;  but  in  regard  to  confession,  the  claim  that  it  is  not 
practiced  among  them,  is  a  gross  mistake  ;  for  as  it  is  not 
looked  upon  by  them  as  of  divine  institution,  it  is  conse- 
quently very  much  neglected.  A  great  distinction  must  be 
made  between  the  Jacobites,  when  the  Copts,  Abyssinians, 
and  Armenians  are  included  under  that  denomination,  for 
though  they  are  all  followers  of  that  St.  James,  from  whom 
they  derive  their  title,  yet,  they  do  not  all  observe  the  same 
ceremonies.  James  was  the  disciple  of  Severus,  Patriarch 
of  Antioch,  in  the  sixth  century.  He  is  revered  as  a  saint 
by  the  Jacobites  as  well  as  Dioscorus,  who  was  his  contem- 
porary. Before  baptism  the  Jacobites  imprint  the  sign  of 
the  cross,  not  only  on  the  arm,  but  on  the  face  of  the  infant 
to  be  baptized.  It  is  likewise  a  belief  among  them,  that  the 
souls  of  the  righteous  reside  on  earth  till  the  day  of  judg- 
ment, waiting  for  the  second  coming  of  Jesus  Christ ;  also, 
that  the  angels  consist  of  two  substances,  fire  and  light. 

THE  COPTS. 

The  Copts,  according  to  Scaliger  and  Father  Simon,  derive 
their  name  from  Coptos,  once  a  celebrated  town  of  Egypt, 
and  the  metropolis  of  Thebaid  ;  but  Volney  and  others  are 
of  opinion,  that  the  name  Copts  is  only  an  abbreviation  of 
the  Greek  word  Aigouptios,  an  Egyptian.  The  Copts  have 
a  patriarch,  whose  jurisdiction  extends  over  both  Egypts, 
Nubia,  and  Abyssinia,  who  resides  at  Cairo,  but  who  takes 
his  title  from  Alexandria.  He  has  under  him  eleven  or 
twelve  bishops,  besides  the  abuna,  or  bishop  of  the  Abyssin- 
ians, whom  he  appoints  and  consecrates.  The  rest  of  the 
clergy,  whether  secular  or  regular,  are  composed  of  the  or- 
ders of  St.  Anthony,  St.  Paul,  and  St.  Macarius,  who  have 
each  their  monasteries.  Their  arch-priests  are  next  in  de- 


THE  COPTS.  345 

gree  to  bishops,  and  their  deacons  follow.  Next  to  the  pa- 
triarch is  the  bishop  or  titular  patriarch  of  Jerusalem,  who 
also  resides  at  Cairo,  because  there  are  few  Copts  at  Jerusa- 
lem. He  is,  in  reality,  little  more  than  bishop  of  Cairo,  ex- 
cept that  he  goes  to  Jerusalem  every  Easter,  and  visits  some 
other  places  in  Palestine,  within  his  own  jurisdiction.  To 
him  belongs  the  government  of  the  Coptic  church,  during 
the  vacancy  of  the  patriarchal  See. 

They  have  seven  sacraments :  baptism,  the  eucharist,  con- 
firmation, ordination,  faith,  fasting,  and  prayer.  They 
admit  only  three  ecumenical  councils :  those  of  Nice, 
Constantinople,  and  Ephesus.  They  observe  four  Lents, 
as  do  the  Greeks  and  most  Eastern  Christians.  There 
are  three  Coptic  liturgies :  one  attributed  to  St.  Basil, 
another  to  St.  Gregory,  and  the  third  to  St.  Cyril.  These 
are  translated  into  Arabic  for  the  use  of  the  clergy  and 
the  people.  The  Copts  are  fond  of  rites  and  ceremonies. 
During  the  time  of  service,  they  are  always  in  motion.  In 
particular,  the  officiating  priest  is  in  continual  motion, 
incensing  the  saints,  pictures,  books,  etc.,  every  moment. 
They  have  many  monasteries,  in  which  the  monks  bury 
themselves  from  society  in  remote  solitudes.  Their  nunner- 
ies are  properly  hospitals  ;  and  few  enter  them  except  wid- 
ows reduced  to  beggary. 

Their  nuptial  ceremonies  do  not  essentially  differ  from 
those  practiced  by  the  Greeks.  After  midnight  service,  or, 
as  the  Romans  would  express  it,  after  matins,  the  bride- 
groom in  the  first  place,  and  then  the  bride,  were  conducted 
from  their  own  apartments  to  church,  accompanied  by  a 
long  train  of  attendants  with  wax-tapers,  and  other  lights. 
During  the  procession  several  hymns  were  sung  in  the  Cop- 
tic language,  and  the  performers  beat  time,  or  accompanied 
the  vocal  with  instrumental  music,  by  striking  little  wooden 
hammers  upon  small  ebony  rulers.  The  bridegroom  was 
conducted  into  the  inner  choir  of  the  church,  and  the  bride 
to  the  place  appointed  for  the  women.  Then  the  priests  and 
the  people  began  several  prayers,  interspersed  with  hymns, 
within  the  choir.  This  ceremony  was  very  long.  At  the 


346  THE  GREEK,   OR  EASTERN,   CHURCH. 

conclusion,  the  priest  who  solemnized  the  nuptials  went  up  to 
the  bridegroom,  and  read  three  or  four  prayers,  making  the 
sign  of  the  cross  both  at  the  beginning  and  at  the  conclusion 
of  each  prayer.  After  that,  he  made  him  sit  down  upon  the 
ground,  with  his  face  towards  the  Heikel.  The  priest  who 
stood  behind  him  held  a  silver  cross  over  his  head,  and  in 
that  posture  continued  praying. 

Whilst  this  ceremony  was  performing  in  the  inner  choir, 
the  sacristan  had  placed  a  form  or  bench  at  the  door  of  the 
outer  choir,  for  the  bride  to  sit  on  with  one  of  her  relations. 
The  priest  having  finished  in  the  inner  choir  what  the  Copts 
call  the  Prayer  of  the  Conjugal  Knot,  the  other  priest,  who 
solemnized  the  nuptials,  dressed  the  bridegroom  in  an  alb, 
tied  it  with  a  surcingle  about  his  waist,  and  threw  a  white 
napkin  over  his  head.  The  bridegroom  thus  equipped  was 
conducted  to  his  spouse.  The  priest  then  made  him  sit 
down  by  her  side,  and  laid  the  napkin,  which  before  covered 
the  bridegroom's  head,  over  them  both.  After  this,  he 
anointed  each  of  them  on  the  forehead,  and  above  the  wrist. 
To  conclude  the  ceremony,  he  read  over  to  them,  after  their 
hands  were  joined,  an  exhortation,  which  principally  turned 
on  the  duties  incumbent  on  all  those  who  enter  into  the  holy 
state  of  matrimony.  Then  followed  sundry  prayers  ;  and 
after  them  the  mass,  at  which  the  bridegroom  and  the  bride 
received  the  blessed  sacrament,  and  then  departed. 

THE  AEMETSTANS. 

The  Armenians,  from  Armenia,  a  province  of  Asia,  con- 
sisting of  the  modern  Turcomania,  and  part  of  Persia,  were 
formerly  a  branch  of  the  Greek  Church.  They  professed  the 
same  faith,  and  acknowledged  the  same  subjection  to  the 
See  of  Constantinople,  until  nearly  the  middle  of  the  sixth 
century,  when  the  doctrines  of  the  Monophysites  spread 
through  Africa  and  Asia,  and  comprehended  the  Armenians. 
But,  though  the  members  of  this  church  still  agree  with  the 
other  Monophysites  in  the  principal  doctrine  of  that  sect, 
respecting  the  unity  of  the  divine  and  human  nature  in 


THE  ARMENIANS.  347 

Christ,  they  differ  from  them  in  so  many  points  of  faith, 
worship,  and  discipline,  that  they  hold  no  communion  with 
that  branch  of  the  Monophysites  who  are  Jacobites  in  the 
more  limited  sense  of  that  term,  nor  with  the  Copts  or  the 
Abyssinians. 

The  Armenians  allow  and  accept  the  articles  of  faith 
according  to  the  Council  of  Nice,  and  use  the  Apostles'  Creed. 
With  respect  to  the  Trinity,  they  agree  with  the  Greeks  in 
acknowledging  three  persons  in  one  divine  nature,  and  that 
the  Holy  Ghost  proceeds  only  from  the  Father.  They  be- 
lieve that  Christ  descended  into  hell,  and  liberated  thence 
all  the  souls  of  the  damned,  by  the  grace  and  favor  of  his 
glorious  presence ;  that  this  liberation  was  not  forever,  nor 
by  a  plenary  pardon  or  remission,  but  only  until  the  end  of 
the  world,  when  the  souls  of  the  damned  shall  again  be  re- 
turned into  eternal  flames.  They  worship  after  the  Eastern 
manner,  by  prostrating  their  bodies,  and  kissing  the  ground 
three  times.  When  they  first  enter  the  church,  they  uncover 
their  heads,  and  cross  themselves  three  times  ;  but  afterwards 
they  cover  their  heads,  and  sit  cross-legged  on  carpets.  The 
greatest  part  of  their  public  divine  service  is  performed  in  the 
morning,  before  it  is  light.  They  are  very  devout  on  vigils  to 
feasts,  and  on  Saturday  evenings,  when  they  all  go  to  church, 
and,  after  their  return  home,  perfume  their  houses  with  in- 
cense, and  adorn  their  little  pictures  with  lamps.  In  their 
monasteries,  the  whole  Psalter  of  David  is  read  over  every 
twenty-four  hours ;  but  in  the  cities  and  parochial  churches, 
the  Psalter  is  divided  into  eight  portions,  and  each  portion 
into  eight  parts,  at  the  end  of  each  of  which  is  said  the  Gloria 
Patria. 

The  rites  and  ceremonies  of  the  Armenian  Church  greatly 
resemble  those  of  the  Greeks.  Their  liturgies  also  are  essenti- 
ally the  same,  or  at  least  ascribed  to  the  same  authors.  The 
fasts,  which  they  observe  annually,  are  not  only  more  nu- 
merous, but  kept  with  greater  rigor  and  mortification  than  is 
usual  in  any  other  Christian  community.  They  mingle  the 
whole  course  of  the  year  with  fasting ;  and  there  is  not  a 
single  day  which  is  not  appointed  either  for  a  fast  or  a  festi- 


348  THE  GREEK,   OR  EASTERN,   CHURCH. 

val.  They  commemorate  our  Lord's  Nativity  on  the  6th  of 
January,  and  thus  celebrate  in  one  festival  his  birth,  epiph- 
any, and  baptism.  The  Armenians  practice  the  triple  immer- 
sion, which  they  consider  as  essential  to  baptism.  After  bap- 
tism, they  apply  the  chrism,  and  anoint  the  forehead,  eyes, 
ears,  breast,  palms  of  the  hands,  and  soles  of  the  feet  with 
consecrated  oil,  in  the  form  of  a  cross.  Then  they  administer 
to  the  child  the  eucharist,  with  which  they  only  rub  its  lips. 
The  sacrament  of  the  eucharist  is  celebrated  only  on  Sun- 
days and  festivals.  They  do  not  mix  the  wine  with  water, 
nor  put  leaven  into  their  bread,  as  do  the  Greeks.  They  steep 
the  bread  in  the  wine,  and  thus  the  communicant  receives 
both  kinds  together. 

In  their  fasts  they  are  much  more  rigorous  than  the 
Greeks,  and  no  dispensation  is  allowed  on  any  account.  Dur- 
ing the  forty  days  of  their  Lent,  which  precedes  their  Easter, 
they  must  eat  nothing  but  herbs,  roots,  beans,  peas,  and  the 
like,  and  no  greater  quantity  of  them  than  is  just  sufficient 
to  support  nature.  The  Armenians,  however,  are  allowed  to 
eat  fish  on  Sundays.  They  have  an  established  custom  of 
having  no  mass  on  fast-days  and  during  their  Lent ;  but  on 
Sundays  only  there  is  a  kind  of  spiritual  humiliation.  This 
mass  is  celebrated  at  noon,  and  is  called  low-mass  ;  because 
there  is  a  curtain  drawn  before  the  altar,  and  the  priest,  who 
is  unseen,  pronounces  nothing  with  an  audible  voice,  but  the 
gospel  and  the  creed.  All  their  fasts  in  general  are  observed 
with  the  same  strictness  and  austerity  as  their  grand  Lent. 

Children  generally  leave  the  choice  of  the  person  whom 
they  are  to  marry,  as  well  as  the  settlement  of  the  marriage 
articles,  to  their  parents  or  nearest  relations.  Their  mar- 
riages are  the  result  of  the  mother's  choice,  who  very  seldom 
advises  with  any  persons  upon  the  subject  except  her  hus- 
band, and  even  that  deference  is  paid  with  no  small  reluc- 
tance. After  the  terms  of  accommodation  are  settled  and 
adjusted,  the  mother  of  the  young  man  pays  a  visit  to  the 
young  lady,  accompanied  by  a  priest  and  two  venerable  ma- 
trons, and  presents  her  with  a  ring,  as  the  first  tacit  promise 
of  her  intended  husband.  He  generally  makes  his  appear- 


ARMENIAN  MARRIAGES.  849 

ance  at  the  same  time,  with  all  the  seriousness  he  is  able  to 
assume,  or  perhaps  with  all  the  perplexity  of  one  who  has 
not  the  liberty  to  make  his  own  choice.  The  Armenians 
never  publish  their  banns  of  matrimony,  as  is  customary  with 
other  Christian  churches.  The  evening  before  the  wedding 
the  bridegroom  and  the  bride  send  each  other  some  presents. 
On  the  wedding-day  there  is  a  procession  on  horseback,  and 
the  bridegroom  rides  in  the  front  from  his  mistress'  house, 
having  on  his  head  a  gold  or  silver  network,  or  a  flesh-colored 
gauze  veil,  according  to  his  quality.  This  network  hangs 
down  to  his  waist.  In  his  right  hand  he  holds  one  end  of  a 
girdle,  whilst  the  bride,  who  follows  him  on  horseback,  cov- 
ered with  a  white  veil  which  reaches  down  to  her  horse's 
legs,  has  hold  of  the  other. 

The  relations  and  friends  (generally  young  men  and  maids), 
either  on  horseback  or  on  foot,  accompany  them  to  the  church 
with  great  order  and  decorum  in  the  procession,  having  wax- 
tapers  in  their  hands  and  a  band  of  music  marching  before 
them.  They  alight  at  the  church-door,  and  the  bridegroom 
and  bride  walk  up  to  the  very  steps  of  the  sanctuary,  still 
holding  the  ends  of  the  girdle  in  their  hands.  They  there 
stand  side  by  side,  and  the  priest,  having  put  the  Bible  upon 
their  heads,  pronounces  the  sacramental  form.  He  then  per- 
forms the  ceremony  of  the  ring,  and  says  mass.  The  nuptial 
benediction  is  expressed  in  the  following  words  :  "  Bless,  O 
Lord !  this  marriage  with  thy  everlasting  benediction ;  grant 
that  this  man  and  this  woman  may  live  in  the  constant  prac- 
tice of  faith,  hope,  and  charity  ;  endow  them  with  sobriety ; 
inspire  them  with  holy  thoughts,  and  secure  their  bed  from 
all  manner  of  pollution." 

When  an  infant  dies  under  nine  years  of  age,  the  father, 
or  his  nearest  relation,  provides  prayers  to  Almighty  God, 
eight  days  successively,  for  the  soul  of  the  deceased ;  and 
during  all  that  time  pays  the  expenses  of  the  priest  to  whose 
care  that  act  of  devotion  is  intrusted.  On  the  ninth  day  the 
solemn  service  for  the  soul  is  performed.  Those  who  are 
pious,  and  in  good  circumstances,  have  a  particular  day  set 
apart  for  the  commemoration  of  their  relations,  and  for  the 


350  THE  GREEK,  OR  EASTERN,   CHURCH. 

due  celebration  of  all  the  requisite  offices.  It  is  a  received 
custom  among  them  to  visit  the  monuments  of  the  dead 
upon  Easter  Monday,  at  which  time  the  men  sigh  and  groan, 
but  the  women  actually  scream.  This  they  call  the  visible 
testimonies  of  their  sorrow  and  concern.  A  more  agreeable 
scene  immediately  succeeds.  They  all  withdraw  under  the 
refreshing  shade  of  some  luxuriant  tree,  where  an  elegant 
entertainment  erases  the  idea  of  affliction. 

The  Maronites  are  a  sect  of  Eastern  Christians  subject  to 
the  authority  of  the  Pope.  Their  principal  habitation  is 
on  Mount  Libanus.  They  have  a  patriarch  who  resides  in  a 
monastery  on  the  mount.  They  were  connected  with  the 
Monothelites  until  the  twelfth  century,  when  they  united 
with  the  Roman  Church  on  the  condition  that  they  should 
retain  all  their  ancient  rites  and  customs. 

It  is  claimed  by  many  ecclesiastical  historians  that  the 
Abyssinians  and  Ethiopians,  as  well  as  other  sects  in  Africa, 
are  in  reality  branches  of  the  Greek  or  Eastern  Church,  cut 
off  in  the  very  remote  past.  As  Christianity  has  been  intro- 
duced into  every  important  section  of  "  The  Dark  Continent," 
and  as  the  representatives  of  all  creeds  have  met  with  an  en- 
couraging degree  of  toleration,  and  in  many  instances  suc- 
cess, the  reader  will  doubtless  better  appreciate  narratives 
of  the  condition  of  the  various  denominations  in  operation 
there  at  the  present  time,  than  a  repetition  of  statements 
that  have  the  indefiniteness  of  tradition  and  the  flavor  of 
extreme  antiquity.  For  a  view  of  the  present  state  of  the 
various  denominations  in  Africa,  the  reader  is  referred  to 
Chapter  VIII.,  and  those  in  which  the  denominations  of  the 
United  States  are  treated. 


THE 


EARLY   ECCLESIASTICAL   HISTORY   OF  RUSSIA. 

IT  is  impossible  to  settle  with  any  certainty  at  what 
period,  or  by  whom,  Christianity  was  first  introduced 
into  Russia.  What  we  learn  with  most  appearance  of  proba- 
bility is,  that  the  Grand  Duchess  Olga,  grandmother  to 
Vladimir,  was  the  first  person  of  distinction  converted  to 
Christianity  in  Russia,  about  the  year  955,  and  that  she  as- 
sumed the  name  of  Helena  at  her  conversion  ;  under  which 
name  she  still  stands  as  a  saint  in  the  Russian  calendar. 
Methodius,  and  Cyril  the  philosopher,  traveled  from  Greece 
into  Moravia,  about  the  year  900,  to  plant  the  gospel ;  where 
they  translated  the  service  of  the  church,  or  some  parts  of  it, 
from  the  Greek  into  the  Sclavonian  language,  the  common 
language  at  that  time  of  Moravia  and  Russia ;  and  thus  it  is 
thought  that  this  princess  imbibed  the  first  principles  of 
Christianity.  And,  being  herself  fully  persuaded  of  its 
truth,  she  was  very  earnest  with  her  son,  the  Grand  Duke 
Sviatoslav,  to  embrace  it  also  ;  but  this,  from  political  mo- 
tives, he  declined  to  do.  In  the  course,  however,  of  a  few 
years,  Christianity  is  said  to  have  made  considerable  prog- 
ress in  that  nation. 

Little  occurred  in  the  ecclesiastical  history  of  Russia,  ex- 

(851) 


352  THE  RUSMA&  (GREEK)   CHURCH. 

cept,  perhaps,  the  rise  of  the  sect  of  the  Raskolniki,  which 
excited  considerable  tumults  and  commotions  in  that  king- 
dom, till  Peter  the  Great  ascended  the  throne  of  Russia.  He 
resolved  to  be  the  reformer  of  his  church  as  well  as  of  his 
empire.  While  he  made  no  change  in  the  articles  of  faith 
entertained  by  his  countrymen,  which  contained  the  doctrine 
of  the  Greek  Church,  he  took  the  utmost  pains  to  have  this 
doctrine  explained  in  a  manner  conformable  to  the  dictates 
of  sound  reason  and  the  spirit  of  the  gospel.  He  extinguished 
the  spirit  of  persecution,  and  renewed  and  confirmed  to 
Christians,  of  all  denominations,  liberty  of  conscience,  and 
the  privilege  of  performing  divine  worship  in  the  manner 
prescribed  by  their  respective  liturgies  and  institutions. 
This  liberty,  however,  was  modified  in  such  a  manner  as  to 
restrain  and  defeat  any  attempts  that  might  be  made  by  the 
Jesuits  and  other  members  of  the  Roman  Church  to  promote 
its  interests  in  Russia,  or  to  extend  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
Roman  pontiff  beyond  the  chapels  of  that  communion  that 
were  tolerated  by  law ;  and  particular  charge  was  given  to 
the  council,  to  which  belonged  the  cognizance  of  ecclesiastical 
affairs,  to  use  their  utmost  care  and  vigilance  to  prevent  the 
propagation  of  Roman  tenets  among  the  people.  All  this 
caution  had,  no  doubt,  arisen  from  the  repeated  efforts  of  the 
Roman  pontiffs  and  their  missionaries  to  extend  the  Papal 
empire  over  the  Greek  churches,  under  the  claim  of  uniting 
the  two  communions.  Peter  abolished  the  office  of  Patriarch, 
putting  himself  at  the  head  of  the  church,  which,  under  him, 
was  to  be  governed  by  a  synod. 

Proposals  for  uniting  the  two  communions  have  been  made 
by  different  popes,  as  Honorius  III.,  Gregory  IX.,  Innocent 
IV.,  Gregory  XIII.,  and  last  of  all,  by  the  Academy  of  Sor- 
bonne  in  1718 ;  but  the  Russian  sovereigns  and  the  nation 
have  always  remained  firm  and  true  to  their  religion ;  at  the 
same  time,  all  religions,  without  exception,  are  tolerated  in 
Russia.  In  the  year  1581,  in  the  reign  of  Czar  John  Vasilie- 
vitz,  Pope  Gregory  XIII.  proposed  to  that  sovereign  that  the 
Lutheran  clergy  should  be  banished  from  Russia ;  but  he 
was  answered,  that  "  in  that  country  all  nations  have  a  free 


JOAN  OP  ARC  MEETING  THE  SPIRITS.— D.  MAILLART.— A  striking  illustration 
of  an  experience  of  exceptional  persons  in  all  ages  and  under  all  religions,  in  which  spirits 
of  the  dead  become  inspirers  of  the  living,  through  the  imagination  at  least  if  not  in  reality. 


THE  RUSSIAN  MASS.  353 

exercise  of  their  religions";  and  now  in  Russia  there  are 
Lutherans,  Calvinists,  Hernhutters,  Armenians,  Jews,  Mo- 
hammedans, Pagans,  Hindoos,  Roman  Catholics,  and  repre- 
sentatives of  nearly  every  creed  in  Christendom. 

In  her  doctrines,  the  Russian  Church  agrees  with  the 
Greek  Church ;  like  her,  she  receives  the  seven  sacraments 
or  mysteries  ;  allows  no  statues  or  graven  images,  but  admits 
pictures  and  invocation  of  saints.  Their  Bible  is  translated 
into  the  Sclavonian  language  from  the  Greek  Septuagint ; 
but  they  never  suffer  it  to  be  carried  into  church,  for  fear  of 
profaning  it  by  several  passages  that  are  to  be  met  with  in 
the  Old  Testament.  It  is  the  New  Testament  only,  and  some 
particular  passages  extracted  from  the  Psalms  and  the 
Prophets,  which  are  read  in  their  churches  ;  they  are,  how- 
ever, allowed  to  read  the  whole  Scriptures  at  home. 

THE  RUSSIAN  MASS. 

During  the  celebration  of  the  mass,  the  laity,  not  except- 
ing the  sovereign  himself,  are  obliged  either  to  stand  or  to 
kneel,  and  be  uncovered  ;  and  to  observe  the  same  position 
during  the  performance  of  all  the  other  parts  of  divine  ser- 
vice. The  Russian  mass  is  always  performed  in  the  ancient 
Sclavonian  language  ;  and  a  great  part  of  it  is  said  in  a  low 
voice.  Like  the  Greeks,  the  Russians  bow  down  before  the 
host,  and  adore  it.  From  the  preface  of  the  mass  to  the 
communion,  the  doors  of  the  sanctuary  are  shut,  and  a  cur- 
tain is  drawn  before  it,  which  covers  the  altar.  In  Easter- 
week,  however,  the  sanctuary  doors  are  always  open,  even 
during  mass.  To  the  other  ceremonies  observed  at  the  com- 
munion, in  conformity  with  those  of  the  Greeks,  we  must 
add,  according  to  Olearius,  that  the  Muscovites  administer 
the  sacrament  to  those  who  are  deprived  of  their  reason,  by 
touching  their  lips  only  with  the  bread  dipped  in  the  wine  ; 
that  they  are  not  allowed  to  give  the  communion  to  a  woman 
who  lies  in,  in  the  room  where  she  was  brought  to  bed. 
Those  who  have  taken  a  false  oath  before  a  court  of  judica- 
ture, or  have  been  guilty  of  any  notorious  crime,  cannot  re- 
23 


354  THE  RUSSIAN  (GREEK)  CHURCH. 

ceive  the  sacrament  of  the  eucharist  till  they  are  at  the  point 
of  death.  It  is  customary  to  give  those  who  are  sick,  some 
water  or  some  brandy,  in  which  several  of  their  sacred  relics 
have  been  first  infused,  before  they  give  them  the  com- 
munion. 

EEVEEENCE   OF   RELICS,   IMAGES,   AND  PICTUEES. 

The  Russians  have  a  peculiar  regard  for  relics,  images,  and 
pictures  of  saints  ;  for  the  invocation  of  saints,  the  crucifix, 
and  the  sign  of  the  cross  ;  for  an  infinite  number  of  inclina- 
tions, genuflexions,  and  prostrations,  not  only  before  those 
objects  which  are  adorable,  but  those  likewise  which  demand 
only  a  common  reverence  and  esteem  ;  and  also  for  number- 
less processions  and  pilgrimages.  The  cathedral  church  at 
Moscow  is  in  possession  of  what  is  called  the  garment  of 
Jesus  Christ,  and  a  picture  of  the  Blessed  Virgin,  drawn  by 
St.  Luke.  The  Russians  look  upon  this  picture  as  the  pal- 
ladium of  their  state.  Other  churches  claim  of  being  pos- 
sessed of  the  bodies  of  several  Russian  saints  ;  and  thirty- 
six  gold  and  silver  shrines,  full  of  very  valuable  relics,  are  to 
be  seen  in  the  church  of  the  Annunciation.  These  shrines, 
or  boxes,  are  said  to  contain,  among  other  things,  some  of 
the  precious  blood  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  one  of  the 
hands  of  St.  Mark,  and  some  of  the  bones  of  the  prophet 
Daniel,  etc. 

Every  Russian,  whether  his  condition  be  high  or  low,  has 
his  own  titular  saint,  to  whom  he  offers  up  his  morning  and 
evening  prayers,  and  whom  he  never  fails  to  consult  on  all 
occasions  of  a  doubtful  or  hazardous  nature.  No  one  can 
pay  a  Russian  a  higher  compliment  than  by  taking  some 
deferential  notice  of  the  picture  of  his  saint,  upon  entering 
and  leaving  his  dwelling  or  place  of  business.  The  walls  of 
their  churches  are  all  covered  with  pictures,  which  are  not 
only  representations  of  Jesus  Christ  and  the  Blessed  Virgin, 
but  of  St.  Nicholas  and  several  other  saints,  whom  the  Rus- 
sians have  made  choice  of  for  their  patrons  and  protectors. 

The  invocation  of  saints  constitutes  a  considerable  part  of 
the  religious  worship  of  the  Russians ;  but  greater  demon- 


BENEDICTION  OF  THE  WATERS.  355 

strations  of  respect  are  shown  to  St.  Nicholas  than  to  any  of 
the  rest.  It  is  customary,  in  Russia,  to  mention  God  and 
the  Czar  at  the  same  time  when  they  have  any  affair  of  im- 
portance to  transact.  Thus  they  frequently  say,  "  God  is 
powerful  as  well  as  the  Czar."  "  With  God  and  the  Czar's 
permission."  Their  devotees  go  in  pilgrimage,  for  the  most 
part,  to  those  places  where  their  saints  have  especially  dis- 
tinguished themselves. 

THE  BENEDICTION   OF  THE  WATERS. 

The  number  of  ceremonies  and  religious  customs  among 
the  Russians  nearly  equals  that  of  the  Roman  Church.  The 
most  rigorously  observed  and  ostentatiously  conducted  of  all 
these  is  the  festival  called  the  "  Benediction  of  the  Waters." 
This  solemnity  is  celebrated  at  the  beginning  of  the  year  at 
St.  Petersburg,  in  the  following  manner :  On  the  river  Neva, 
upon  the  ice,  which  is  then  very  strong,  there  is  erected  a 
kind  of  temple,  of  wood,  usually  of  an  octagonal  figure, 
painted  and  richly  gilt,  having  the  inside  decorated  with 
various  sacred  pictures,  representing  the  baptism  of  our 
Saviour,  his  transfiguration,  and  some  other  parts  of  his 
life,  and  on  the  top  a  picture  of  St.  John  the  Baptist.  This 
is  called  the  "  Jordan,"  which  name  used  to  signify  the  bap- 
tistery or  font,  or  any  basin  in  which  holy  water  is  conse- 
crated. There  the  attention  of  the  spectators  is  drawn  to  a 
large  emblem  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  appearing  to  descend  from 
heaven,  a  decoration  common  to  almost  all  Greek  churches, 
in  which  a  peristerion  or  dove,  as  a  symbol  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  is  usually  suspended  from  four  small  columns  which 
support  a  canopy  over  the  Holy  Table.  The  "  Jordan "  is 
surrounded  by  a  temporary  hedge  of  the  boughs  of  fir-trees ; 
and,  in  the  middle  of  the  sanctuary  or  chancel  is  a  square 
space,  where  the  broken  ice  leaves  a  communication  with  the 
water  running  below,  and  the  rest  is  ornamented  with  rich 
tapestry.  Around  this  temple  a  kind  of  gallery  is  erected, 
and  a  platform  of  boards,  covered  with  red  cloth,  is  laid  for 
the  procession  to  go  upon,  guarded  also  by  a  fence  of  boughs, 


356  THE  RUSSIAN  (GREEK)   CHURCH. 

The  gallery  communicates  with  one  of  the  windows  of  the 
imperial  palace,  at  which  the  emperor  and  his  family  come 
out  to  attend  the  ceremony,  which  begins  as  soon  as  the 
liturgy  is  finished  in  the  chapel  of  the  imperial  palace,  and 
the  regiments  of  guards  have  taken  post  on  the  river.  Then, 
at  the  sound  of  the  bells,  and  of  the  artillery  of  the  fortress, 
the  clerks,  the  deacons,  the  priests,  the  archimandrites,  and 
the  bishops,  dressed  in  their  richest  robes,  carrying  in  their 
hands  lighted  tapers,  the  censer,  the  Gospel,  and  the  sacred 
pictures  and  banners,  proceed  from  the  chapel  to  the  "  Jor- 
dan," singing  the  hymns  appointed  in  the  office,  and  fol- 
lowed by  the  emperor,  the  grand  dukes,  the  nobles,  and  the 
whole  court. 

When  arrived  at  the  place  where  the  ice  is  broken  the 
Archbishop  of  Moscow,  or  other  officiating  bishop,  descends, 
by  means  of  a  ladder,  to  the  side  of  the  water.  There  he 
reads  the  prayers  appointed  in  the  office,  dips  his  cross  three 
times,  and  ends  the  ceremony  by  an  exhortation  appropriate 
to  it.  As  soon  as  the  service  is  finished  the  artillery  and 
soldiers  fire  ;  after  which  the  prelate  sprinkles  the  water  on 
the  company  around  him,  and  on  the  colors  of  all  the  regi- 
ments that  happen  to  be  at  St.  Petersburg,  which  are  planted 
round  the  "  Jordan. "  He  then  retires,  when  the  people  crowd 
towards  the  hole  in  the  ice  and  drink  of  the  waters  with 
avidity.  Notwithstanding  the  cold  the  mothers  plunge  their 
infants,  and  the  old  men  their  heads,  into  them.  Every- 
body makes  it  a  duty  to  carry  away  some  for  the  purifica- 
tion of  their  houses,  and  curing  certain  distempers,  against 
which  the  good  Russians  believe  this  water  to  be  a  powerful 
specific. 

OBSEBVANOES  OF  LENT. 

The  first  grand  ceremony  in  the  Lenten  season  takes  place 
on  Palm  Sunday.  On  the  eve  of  this  day  all  the  inhabitants 
of  Moscow  resort,  in  carriages,  on  horseback,  or  on  foot,  to  the 
Kremlin,  for  the  purchase  of  palm-branches  to  decorate  the 
sacred  pictures  in  the  streets  or  elsewhere.  The  governor, 
attended  by  the  maitre  de  police,  the  commandant,  and  a 


THE  LENTEN  SEASON.  357 

train  of  nobility,  go  in  procession  mounted  on  fine  horses. 
The  streets  are  lined  with  spectators,  and  cavalry  are  sta- 
tioned on  each  side  to  preserve  order.  Arriving  in  the  Krem- 
lin, a  vast  assembly,  bearing  artificial  bouquets  and  boughs, 
are  seen  moving  here  and  there,  forming  the  novel  and  strik- 
ing spectacle  of  a  gay  and  moving  forest.  Upon  this  occasion 
every  person  who  visits  the  Kremlin,  and  would  be  thought 
a  true  Christian,  purchases  one  or  more  of  the  branches  ;  and 
in  returning  the  streets  are  crowded  with  droskis,  and  all 
kinds  of  vehicles,  filled  with  devotees,  holding  in  their  hands 
one  or  more  branches,  according  to  their  circumstances  or 
desires.  The  same  custom  is  observed  in  St.  Petersburg  and 
all  the  large  cities  in  the  vast  empire. 

The  second  ceremony  takes  place  on  Thursday  before  Eas- 
ter at  noon,  when  the  archbishop  washes  the  feet  of  the  apos- 
tles. The  priests  appear  in  their  most  gorgeous  apparel. 
Twelve  monks,  designed  to  represent  the  twelve  apostles,  are 
placed  in  a  semicircle  before  the  archbishop.  The  ceremony 
is  performed  in  the  cathedral,  which  is  crowded  with  spec- 
tators. The  archbishop,  performing  all  that  is  related  of  our 
Saviour  in  the  thirteenth  chapter  of  St.  John,  takes  off  his 
robes,  girds  up  his  loins  with  a  towel,  and  proceeds  to  wash 
the  feet  of  all,  until  he  comes  to  the  representative  of  Simon 
Peter,  who  rises;  and  the  same  interlocution  takes  place 
between  him  and  the  archbishop  which  is  said  to  have  taken 
place  between  our  Saviour  and  that  apostle. 

The  third  and  most  magnificent  ceremony  of  all  is  cele- 
brated two  hours  after  midnight,  in  the  morning  of  Easter 
Sunday.  It  is  called  the  ceremony  of  the  resurrection,  and 
exceeds  in  splendor  anything  of  the  kind  celebrated  any- 
where. A  learned  spectator  of  this  ceremonial  thus  describes 
its  magnificence : 

"  At  midnight  the  great  bell  of  the  cathedral  tolled.  Its 
vibrations  seemed  the  rolling  of  distant  thunder,  and  they 
were  instantly  accompanied  by  the  noise  of  all  the  bells  in  Mos- 
cow. Every  inhabitant  was  stirring,  and  the  rattling  of  car- 
riages in  the  streets  was  greater  than  at  noonday.  The  whole 
city  was  in  a  blaze ;  for  lights  were  seen  in  all  the  windows. 


358  THE  RUSSIAN*  (GREEK)   CHURCH. 

and  innumerable  torches  in  the  streets.  The  tower  of  the 
cathedral  was  illuminated  from  its  foundation  to  its  cross. 

"  We  hastened  to  the  cathedral,  which  was  filled  with  a 
prodigious  assembly  of  all  ranks  and  sexes,  bearing  lighted 
wax- tapers,  to  be  afterwards  heaped  as  vows  on  the  different 
shrines.  The  walls,  ceilings,  and  every  part  of  this  building 
are  covered  with  the  pictures  of  saints  and  martyrs.  In  the 
moment  of  our  arrival  the  doors  were  shut ;  and  on  the 
outside  appeared  the  archbishop,  preceded  by  banners  and 
torches,  and  followed  by  all  his  train  of  priests  with  cruci- 
fixes and  censers,  who  were  making  three  times,  in  proces- 
sion, the  tour  of  the  cathedral ;  chanting  with  loud  voices 
and  glittering  in  sumptuous  vestments,  covered  with  gold, 
silver,  and  precious  stones.  After  completing  the  third  cir- 
cuit they  all  halted  opposite  the  great  doors,  which  were 
shut ;  and  the  archbishop,  with  a  censer,  scattered  incense 
against  the  doors  and  over  the  priests.  Suddenly  those  doors 
were  opened,  and  the  effect  was  great  beyond  description. 
The  immense  throng  of  spectators  within,  bearing  innumer- 
able tapers,  formed  two  lines,  through  which  the  archbishop 
entered,  advancing  with  his  train  to  a  throne  near  the  centre. 
The  profusion  of  lights  in  all  parts  of  the  cathedral,  and, 
among  others,  of  the  enormous  chandelier  which  hung  from 
the  centre,  the  richness  of  the  dresses,  and  the  vastness  of 
the  assembly,  filled  us  with  astonishment.  Having  joined 
the  suite  of  the  archbishop,  we  accompanied  the  procession 
and  passed  even  to  the  throne,  on  which  the  officials  permit- 
ted us  to  stand  among  the  priests,  near  an  embroidered  stool 
of  satin  placed  for  the  archbishop.  The  loud  chorus,  which 
burst  forth  at  the  entrance  to  the  church,  continued  as  the 
procession  moved  towards  the  throne,  and  after  the  arch- 
bishop had  taken  his  seat. 

"  Soon  after,  the  archbishop  descended,  and  went  all  round 
the  cathedral ;  first  offering  incense  to  the  priests,  and  then 
to  the  people  as  he  passed  along.  When  he  had  returned 
to  his  seat,  the  priests,  two  by  two,  performed  the  same  cer- 
emony ;  beginning  with  the  archbishop,  who  rose  and  made 
obeisance  with  a  lighted  taper  in  his  hand.  From  the  mo- 


THE  SACRAMENT  OF  BAPTISM.  359 

ment  the  church  doors  were  opened,  the  spectators  had  con- 
tinued bowing  their  heads  and  crossing  themselves. 

"  I  had  now  leisure  to  examine  the  dresses  and  figures  of  the 
priests,  which  were,  certainly,  the  most  striking  I  ever  saw. 
Their  long  dark  hair,  without  powder,  fell  down  in  ringlets, 
or  straight  and  thick,  far  over  their  rich  robes  and  shoulders. 
Their  dark  thick  beards  also  entirely  covered  their  breasts. 
On  the  heads  of  the  archbishop  and  bishops  were  high  caps, 
covered  with  gems,  and  adorned  with  miniature  paintings, 
set  in  jewels,  of  the  crucifixion,  the  virgin,  and  the  saints. 
Their  robes  of  various-colored  satin  were  of  the  most  costly 
embroidery,  and  even  on  these  were  miniature  pictures  set 
with  precious  stones. 

"  After  two  hours  had  been  spent  in  various  ceremonies, 
the  archbishop  advanced,  holding  forth  a  cross,  which  all 
the  people  crowded  to  embrace,  squeezing  each  other  nearly 
to  suffocation.  As  soon,  however,  as  their  eagerness  had 
been  somewhat  satisfied,  he  retired  to  the  sacristy ;  where 
putting  on  a  plain  purple  robe,  he  again  advanced,  exclaim- 
ing three  times  in  a  very  loud  voice — '  Christ  is  risen ! '  Thus 
was  Easter  proclaimed." 


THE   SACKAMENT   OF  BAPTISM. 

As  soon  as  an  infant  comes  into  the  world,  the  parents 
send  immediately  for  a  priest  to  purify  him.  The  godfath- 
ers and  godmothers  of  the  first  child  must  stand  sureties  for 
all  the  other  children  in  that  family,  however  great  may  be 
the  number.  After  entering  the  church,  these  godfathers 
deliver  nine  wax-tapers  into  the  hands  of  the  priest,  who  il- 
lumines them  all,  and  sticks  them  in  the  form  of  a  cross 
about  the  font  or  vessel  in  which  the  infant  is  to  be  baptized. 
The  priest  then  thurifies  the  godfathers,  and  consecrates  the 
water ;  and  after  that  he  and  the  godfathers  go  thrice  in 
procession  round  it.  The  clerk,  who  marches  in  the  front, 
carries  the  picture  of  St.  John.  After  this,  they  all  arrange 
themselves  in  such  a  manner  that  their  backs  are  turned 
towards  the  font,  as  a  testimony  of  their  aversion  to  the 


36t  THE  -RUSSIAN  (GREEK}   CHURCH. 

three  questions  which  the  priest  proposes  to  the  godfathers ; 
that  is  to  say, — First,  "  Whether  the  child  renounces  the 
devil?"  Second,  "Whether  he  abjures  his  angels?"  and 
Third,  "Whether  he  abhors  and  detests  their  impious 
works  ?  "  At  each  question  the  godfathers  answer  "  yes," 
and  spit  upon  the  ground.  The  exorcism  follows,  which  is 
performed  out  of  the  church,  lest  the  devil,  as  he  comes  out 
of  the  infant,  should  pollute  or  profane  it.  After  the  exor- 
cism is  over,  the  priest  cuts  some  hair  off  the  child's  head  in 
the  form  of  a  cross,  and  puts  it  into  a  book,  or  wraps  it  up 
in  wax,  and  deposits  it  in  some  particular  place  belonging  to 
the  church  appropriated  for  that  purpose.  The  baptism 
which  ensues  is  performed  by  a  triple  immersion,  as  we  have 
before  observed  with  respect  to  the  Greeks.  The  priest,  hav- 
ing now  put  a  grain  of  salt  into  the  infant's  mouth,  anoints 
him  several  times  in  the  form  of  a  cross,  which  may  properly 
enough  be  called  his  confirmation ;  and  as  he  puts  on  him 
a  clean  shirt,  he  says,  "  Thou  art  now  as  clean  as  this  shirt, 
and  purified  from  the  stain  of  original  sin."  To  conclude 
this  ceremony,  a  little  gold  or  silver  cross,  or  one  of  inferior 
value,  according  to  the  circumstances  of  the  parent,  is  hung 
about  the  infant's  neck,  which  is  the  badge  or  token  of  his 
baptism.  He  must  wear  this  not  only  as  long  as  he  lives, 
but  carry  it  with  him  to  his  grave.  To  this  cross  must  be 
added  some  saint,  appointed  by  the  priest  to  be  his  guardian 
and  protector,  the  picture  of  whom  he  delivers  into  the  god- 
fathers' hands,  and  in  express  terms  charges  them  to  instruct 
the  child  in  what  manner  he  may  pay  a  peculiar  respect  and 
veneration  to  his  patron  saint.  After  the  baptism  is  over, 
the  priest  salutes  the  infant  and  his  sponsors. 

THE   SACEAMENT   OF  MATRIMONY. 

In  the  evening  of  their  wedding-day,  the  bridegroom,  ac- 
companied by  a  numerous  train  of  his  nearest  relations  and 
acquaintances,  proceeds  to  wait  on  his  mistress,  the  priest 
who  is  to  solemnize  their  nuptials  riding  on  horseback  be- 
fore them.  After  the  congratulations,  and  other  compli- 


SACRAMENT  OF  MATRIMONY.  361 

merits,  customary  on  such  joyful  occasions  in  all  countries, 
the  company  sit  down  to  table.  But  notwithstanding  there 
are  three  elegant  dishes  instantly  served  up,  no  one  takes 
the  freedom  to  taste  of  them.  At  the  upper  end  of  the  table 
is  a  vacant  seat  intended  for  the  bridegroom.  While  he  is 
in  earnest  discourse  with  the  bride's  relations,  some  young 
gentleman  takes  possession  of  his  chair,  and  does  not  resign 
it  without  some  valuable  consideration.  As  soon  as  the 
bridegroom  has  thus  redeemed  his  seat,  the  bride  is  intro- 
duced into  the  room,  dressed  as  gayly  as  possible,  but  cov- 
ered with  a  veil.  A  curtain  of  crimson  taffeta,  supported  by 
two  young  gentlemen,  now  parts  the  lovers,  and  prevents 
them  from  stealing  any  glances  from  each  other's  eyes.  In 
the  next  place,  the  bride's  Suacha,  or  agent,  wreathes  her 
hair,  and  after  she  has  turned  up  her  tresses,  puts  a  crown 
upon  her  head,  which  is  either  of  gold  or  silver  gilt,  and 
lined  with  silk,  and  of  greater  or  less  value,  in  proportion  to 
the  quality  or  circumstances  of  the  person  for  whom  it  is  in- 
tended. The  other  Suacha  is  employed  in  setting  the  bride- 
groom off  to  the  best  advantage.  During  this  interval,  some 
women  that  are  present  sing  a  number  of  little  merry  catches 
to  divert  them,  while  the  bridesmaids  strew  hops  upon  the 
heads  of  the  company.  Two  lads  after  this  bring  in  a  large 
cheese,  and  several  rolls  or  little  loaves,  in  a  hand-basket, 
with  curious  sable  tassels  to  it.  Two  of  the  bride's  attend- 
ants bring  in  another  cheese,  and  the  same  quantity  of  bread, 
upon  her  particular  account.  All  these  provisions,  after  the 
priest  has  blessed  them,  are  carried  to  the  church.  At  last 
there  is  a  large  silver  basin  set  upon  the  table,  full  of  small 
remnants  of  satin  and  taffeta,  with  several  small  square 
pieces  of  silver,  hops,  barley,  and  oats,  all  mingled  together. 
The  Suacha,  after  she  has  put  the  bride's  veil  over  her  face 
again,  takes  several  handfuls  of  this  medley  out  of  the  basin, 
and  strews  it  over  the  heads  of  all  the  company.  The  next 
ceremony  is  the  exchange  of  their  respective  rings,  which  is 
performed  by  the  parents  of  the  newly-married  couple.  The 
Suacha  now  conducts  the  bride  to  church,  and  the  bridegroom 
follows  with  the  priest. 


362  THE  RUSSIAN  (GREEK)   CHURCH. 

One  part  of  the  pavement  of  the  church,  where  the  cere- 
mony is  performed,  is  covered  with  crimson  taffeta,  and 
another  piece  of  the  same  silk  is  spread  over  it,  where  the 
bride  and  bridegroom  are  appointed  to  stand.  The  priest, 
before  he  enters  upon  his  office,  demands  their  oblations, 
which  consist  of  iish,  pastry,  etc.  Then  he  gives  them  his 
benediction,  and  holds  over  their  heads  the  pictures  of  those 
saints  who  were  made  choice  of  to  be  their  patrons.  After 
which,  taking  the  right  hand  of  the  bridegroom  and  the  left 
of  the  bride  within  his  own  hands,  he  asks  them  three  times, 
whether  they  sincerely  consent  to  and  approve  of  their  marri- 
age, and  whether  they  will  love  each  other  for  the  future  as 
is  their  bounden  duty  so  to  do,  When  they  have  answered 
"  Yes,"  all  the  company  in  general  take  hands  and  join  in  a 
solemn  dance,  while  the  priest  sings  the  128th  Psalm  (ac- 
cording to  the  Hebrew  computation),  in  which  almost  all  the 
blessings  that  attend  the  married  state  are  enumerated.  The 
priest,  as  soon  as  the  psalm  is  finished,  puts  a  garland  of  rue 
upon  their  heads  ;  but  if  the  man  be  a  widower,  or  the  woman 
a  widow,  then  he  lays  it  upon  their  shoulders.  The  blessing 
attendant  on  this  ceremony  begins  with  these  words,  "  In- 
crease and  multiply";  and  concludes  with  that  other  solemn 
direction,  which  is  contained  in  so  many  marriage  ceremo- 
nies, "  Whom  God  hath  joined,  let  no  man  put  asunder."  As 
soon  as  this  is  pronounced,  all  the  company  light  their  wax- 
tapers,  and  one  of  them  presents  the  priest  with  a  glass  of 
wine,  which  he  drinks,  and  the  newly-married  couple  pledge 
him.  This  is  done  thrice,  and  then  the  bride  and  bridegroom 
dash  their  glasses  down  upon  the  floor,  and  tread  the  pieces 
under  their  feet,  denouncing  several  maledictions  on  all  those 
who  shall  hereafter  endeavor  to  set  them  at  variance.  At  the 
same  time,  several  women  strew  linseed  and  hempseed  upon 
their  heads.  After  this  ceremony  is  over,  the  usual  congratu- 
lations are  repeated,  with  such  other  demonstrations  of  gayety 
and  rejoicing  as  generally  accompany  the  nuptial  rites  in 
other  countries. 


FUNERAL  CEREMONIES.  363 

FUNERAL   CEREMONIES. 

The  Russian  funeral  solemnities  are  as  remarkable  in  all 
respects  as  their  nuptial  ceremonies.  As  soon  as  a  sick  per- 
son has  expired,  they. send  for  the  relations  and  friends  of 
the  deceased,  who  place  themselves  about  the  corpse.  There 
are  women  likewise  who  attend  as  mourners,  and  ask  the  de- 
ceased, "  What  was  the  cause  of  his  death  ?  Were  his  circum- 
stances narrow  and  perplexed  ?  Did  he  want  either  the  neces- 
saries or  conveniences  of  life  ? "  In  the  next  place,  the  corpse 
is  well  washed,  dressed  in  clean  linen,  or  wrapped  in  a  shroud, 
and  shod  with  Russia  leather,  and  put  into  a  coffin,  the  arms 
being  laid  over  the  stomach,  in  the  form  of  a  cross.  The  corpse 
is  not  carried,  however,  to  church,  till  it  has  been  kept  eight 
or  ten  days  at  home,  if  the  season  or  circumstances  of  the 
deceased  will  admit  of  such  a  delay  ;  for  it  is  a  received  opin- 
ion, that  the  longer  they  stay  in  this  world,  the  better  recep- 
tion they  will  meet  with  in  the  next.  The  priest  thurifies  the 
corpse,  and  sprinkles  it  with  holy  water,  till  the  very  day  of 
its  interment. 

The  funeral  procession  is  arranged  in  the  following  man- 
ner :  A  priest  marches  in  the  front,  carrying  the  image  of  the 
particular  saint  who  was  made  choice  of  as  patron  of  the  de- 
ceased at  the  time  he  was  baptized.  Four  young  virgins,  who 
are  the  nearest  relations  to  the  deceased,  and  the  chief  mourn- 
ers, follow  him  ;  or,  for  want  of  such  female  friends,  the  same 
number  of  women  are  hired  to  attend,  and  to  perform  that 
melancholy  office.  After  them  comes  the  corpse,  carried  on 
the  shoulders  of  six  bearers.  If  the  party  deceased  be  a  monk 
or  a  nun,  the  brothers  or  sisters  of  the  convent  to  which  he  or 
she  belonged  perform  this  last  friendly  office.  The  relations 
and  friends  bring  up  the  rear,  each  having  a  wax-taper  in  his 
hand.  As  soon  as  they  are  arrived  at  the  grave,  the  coffin  is 
uncovered,  and  the  image  of  the  deceased's  favorite  saint  is 
laid  over  him,  while  the  priest  repeats  some  prayers  suitable 
to  the  solemn  occasion,  or  reads  some  particular  passages  out 
of  the  liturgy.  After  that,  the  relations  and  friends  bid  their 
last  sad  adieu,  either  by  saluting  the  deceased  himself,  or  the 


364  THE  RUSSIAN  (GREEK)   CHURCH. 

coffin  in  which  he  is  interred.  The  priest,  in  the  next  place, 
comes  close  to  his  side,  and  puts  his  certificate  into  his  hand, 
which  is  signed  by  the  archbishop,  and  likewise  by  his  father 
confessor.  This  is  a  testimonial  of  the  virtue  and  good  actions 
of  the  deceased,  or,  at  least,  of  his  sincere  repentance  of  all 
his  sins.  When  a  person  at  the  point  of  expiring  is  so  happy 
as  to  have  the  benediction  of  his  priest,  and  after  his  decease 
his  certificate  in  his  hand,  his  immediate  reception  into  heaven 
is,  in  their  opinion,  infallibly  secured.  The  priest  always 
recommends  the  deceased  to  the  favor  and  protection  of  St. 
Nicholas.  To  conclude,  the  coffin  is  nailed  up  and  let  down 
into  the  grave,  the  face  of  the  deceased  being  turned  towards 
the  east.  The  friends  and  relations  now  take  their  last  fare- 
well. 

During  their  mourning,  which  continues  forty  days,  they 
make  three  funeral  entertainments,  that  is  to  say,  on  the  third, 
the  ninth,  and  the  twentieth  day  after  the  interment.  A 
priest  must  spend  some  time  in  prayer  for  the  consolation 
and  repose  of  the  soul  of  the  deceased  every  night  and  morn- 
ing, for  forty  days  successively  in  a  tent,  which  is  erected  on 
that  occasion  over  the  grave.  They  commemorate  their  dead, 
likewise,  once  a  year.  This  ceremony  consists,  principally, 
in  mourning  over  their  tombs,  and  in  taking  care  that  they 
be  duly  perfumed  with  incense  by  some  priest. 

THE   SECT   OF   EASKOLNIKI. 

This  is  the  only  sect  that  has  separated  from  the  estab- 
lished church  in  Eussia.  The  date  of  the  separation  was 
about  the  year  1666.  They  profess  to  be  ardent  lovers  of 
the  Holy  Scriptures,  and  distinguished  for  their  piety.  Its 
members  assume  the  name  of  IbraniM,  that  is,  the  multi- 
tude of  the  elect ;  or,  according  to  others,  Straoivertsi,  that 
is,  believers  in  the  ancient  faith  ;  but  the  name  given  them 
by  their  opponents,  and  that  by  which  they  are  generally 
known,  is  Raskolnikl,  that  is,  schismatics.  In  defence  of 
their  separation,  they  allege  the  corruptions,  in  both  doctrine 
and  discipline,  that  had  been  introduced  into  the  Russian 


THE  SECT  OF  RASKOLNIKL  365 

Church.  They  profess  a  rigorous  zeal  for  the  letter  of  the 
Holy  Scripture ;  and  the  transposition  of  a  single  word  in  a 
new  edition  of  the  Russian  Bible,  though  this  transposition 
was  intended  to  correct  an  uncouth  phrase  in  the  translation 
commonly  received,  threw  them  into  the  greatest  tumult. 
They  hold  that  there  is  no  subordination  of  rank,  no  superior 
or  inferior  among  the  faithful ;  that  a  Christian  may  kill 
himself  for  the  love  of  Christ ;  that  "  Hallelujah  "  must  be 
only  twice  pronounced,  that  it  is  a  great  sin  to  repeat  it 
thrice  ;  and  that  a  priest  must  never  give  a  blessing  except 
with  three  fingers.  They  are  regular,  even  to  austerity,  in 
their  manners.  They  have  suffered  much  persecution  ;  and 
various  means  have  been  used  to  lead  them  back  into  the 
bosom  of  the  church,  but  in  vain.  Some  wealthy  merchants 
and  great  lords  are  attached  to  this  sect ;  and  it  is  widely 
diffused  among  the  peasants. 


THE 

Church  of   England 

EPISCOPALIAN. 


EARLY   HISTORY. 

IT  is  asserted  by  some  authorities  that  the  Gospel  was  in- 
troduced into  Britain  as  early  as  A.D.  63.  To  Lucius 
and  to  Joseph  of  Arimathea,  among  others,  the  honor  of  its 
introduction  has  been  accorded,  and  St.  Paul  is  said  to  have 
preached  there  in  A.D.  66.  The  British  Church  is  often 
mentioned  by  writers  of  the  second  and  third  centuries ; 
and  British  martyrs  suffered  under  the  edicts  against  the 
Christians  issued  by  Diocletian  in  303.  British  bishops  were 
present  at  the  councils  of  Aries,  in  314,  and  of  Nicsea,  the 
first  general  council,  in  325.  About  597  Gregory  I.  sent 
Augustine  and  a  band  of  monks  to  endeavor  to  bring  the 
British  Church  into  subjection  to  Rome.  Ethelbert,  king 
of  Kent,  was  converted,  and  a  struggle  between  the  early 
British  Church  and  Gregory's  representatives  at  once  began. 
At  the  Reformation  the  entire  system,  which  had  at  length 
been  established  by  Rome,  was  overthrown,  and  the  British 
Church  restored  to  that  state  of  independence  in  which  it 
had  originally  existed  throughout  the  islands.  Many  laws 
for  the  regulation  of  the  Church  were  made  by  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  kings.  Its  right  of  sanctuary  was  rigidly  enforced. 
Attempts  at  encroachment  by  the  Roman  Church  were  fre- 


THE  CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND.  367 

quently  opposed,  and  the  first  article  of  the  Magna  Charta 
(1215)  provided  that  the  Church  of  England  should  be  free, 
and  enjoy  her  whole  rights  and  liberties  inviolable.  In  1530 
the  clergy  in  convocation  acknowledged  Henry  VIII.  as  su- 
preme head  of  the  English  Church ;  and  by  25  Hen.  VIII. 
c.  21  (1534),  the  Papal  power  in  England  was  abrogated.  The 
king  was  appointed  supreme  head  of  the  Church  by  26  Hen. 
VIII.  c.  1  (1534).  The  Articles  were  drawn  up  in  1551,  and 
published  in  1553.  They  were  forty- two  in  number.  They 
were  revised  and  reduced  to  thirty-nine  in  1562.  At  the 
Union  in  1800,  the  Church  of  Ireland  was  united  with  that 
of  England,  under  the  title  of  "  The  United  Church  of  Eng- 
land and  Ireland."  A  bill  introduced  into  Parliament 
March  1,  1869,  to  disestablish  and  disendow  the  Irish 
Church,  received  the  royal  assent,  July  26.  The  act  took 
effect  from  Jan.  1,  1871.  For  further  historical  mention  of 
the  Established  Church,  the  reader  is  referred  to  the  notice 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  England. 

In  Scotland  Episcopacy  was  abolished  in  1561,  restored  in 
1606,  again  abolished  in  1639,  again  restored  in  1661,  and 
abolished  at  the  Revolution  in  1689,  when  the  bishops  were 
expelled.  Before  the  Revolution  there  were  two  archbish- 
oprics and  twelve  bishoprics  in  Scotland,  the  last,  that  of 
Edinburgh,  having  been  founded  by  Charles  I.  in  1633. 
Though  the  Presbyterian  Church  was  acknowledged  as  the 
national  church  at  the  Revolution,  many  of  the  old  Episco- 
palian bishoprics  were  revived,  and  are  still  in  healthful 
operation.  The  founding  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church 
in  the  United  States,  although  a  practical  offspring  of  the 
Church  of  England,  is  due  to  the  Episcopacy  of  Scotland, 
for  Dr.  Samuel  Seabury,  the  first  Bishop,  was  refused  conse- 
cration in  England,  and  obtained  it  at  the  hands  of  the 
Scottish  bishops  in  Aberdeen. 

The  religious  tenets  or  doctrines  of  the  Church  of  England 
are  to  be  found  in  the  Book  of  Homilies,  consisting  of  short 
moral  and  doctrinal  discourses,  and  in  the  Thirty-nine  Arti- 
cles, which,  with  the  three  Creeds  and  Catechism,  are  in* 
sorted  in  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer. 


368  THE  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH. 

THE  THIBTY-NTNE  AETICLES. 
I.— Of  Faith  in  the  Holy  Trinity. 

There  is  but  one  living  and  true  God,  everlasting,  without  body,  parts, 
or  passions;  of  infinite  power,  wisdom,  and  goodness;  the  Maker  and 
preserver  of  all  things,  both  visible  and  invisible.  And  in  unity  of  this 
Godhead  there  be  three  Persons  of  one  substance,  power,  and  eternity  ; 
the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost. 

II. — Of  the  Word,  or  Son  of  God,  which  was  made  very  Man. 

The  Son,  which  is  the  Word  of  the  Father,  begotten  from  everlasting 
of  the  Father,  the  very  and  eternal  God,  of  one  substance  with  the 
Father,  took  man's  nature  in  the  womb  of  the  Blessed  Virgin,  of  her 
substance :  so  that  two  whole  and  perfect  natures — that  is  to  say,  the 
Godhead  and  Manhood — were  joined  together  in  one  Person,  never  to 
be  divided ;  whereof  is  one  Christ  very  God  and  very  Man ;  who  truly 
suffered,  was  crucified,  dead  and  buried,  to  reconcile  his  father  to  us, 
and  to  be  a  sacrifice,  not  only  for  original  guilt,  but  also  for  actual  sins 
of  men. 

III.— Of  the  going  down  of  Christ  into  Hell 

As  Christ  died  for  us,  and  was  buried,  so  also  it  is  to  be  believed,  thai 
he  went  doAvn  into  Hell. 

IV.— Of  the  Resurrection  of  Christ. 

Christ  did  truly  rise  again  from  death,  and  took  again  his  body,  with 
flesh,  bones,  and  all  things  appertaining  to  the  perfection  of  Man's 
nature,  wherewith  he  ascended  into  Heaven,  and  there  sitteth,  until  he 
return  to  judge  all  men  at  the  last  day. 

V.— Of  the  Holy  Ghost. 

•The  Holy  Ghost,  proceeding  from  the  Father  and  the  Son,  is  of  one 
substance,  majesty  >  and  glory,  with  the  Father  and  the  Son,  very  and 
eternal  God.  .  .  .,;..'  .  .  ;; ; 

VI.— Of  the  Sufficiency  of  the  Holy  Scriptures  for  Satiation'.  "'"-. 

^  Holy  Scripture  containeth  all  things  necessary  to  salvation:  So  that 
whatsoever  is  not  read  therein,  nor  may  be  proved  thereby,  is  not  to  be.  re- 
quired of  any  man  that  it  should  be" believed  as  an  article  of  faith,  or  be 
thought  requisite  or  necessary  to  salvation.  In  the  name  of  the  Holy 
Scripture,,  we  do  understand  those  canonical  Books  of  the  Old  and  New 
Testament  of  whose  authority  was  never  any  doubt  in  the  Church. 


THE  THIRTY-NINE  ARTICLES.  369 

OF  THE  NAMES  AND  NUMBER  OF  THE  CANONICAL  BOOKS. 

Genesis.  The  First  Book  of  Chronicles. 

Exodus.  The  Second  Book  of  Chronicles. 

Leviticus.  The  First  Book  of  Esdras. 

Numbers.  The  Second  Book  of  Esdras. 

Deuteronomy.  The  Book  of  Esther. 

Joshua.  The  Book  of  Job. 

Judges.  The  Psalms. 

Ruth.  The  Proverbs. 

The  First  Book  of  Samuel.  Ecclesiastes,  or  Preacher. 

The  Second  Book  of  Samuel.  Cantica,  or  Songs  of  Solomon 

The  First  Book  of  Kings.  Four  Prophets  the  greater. 

The  Second  Book  of  Kings.  Twelve  Prophets  the  less. 

And  the  other  Books,  as  Hierome  saith,  the  Church  doth  read  for  ex- 
ample of  life  and  instruction  of  manners,  but  yet  doth  it  not  apply  them 
to  establish  any  doctrine :  such  are  these  following : — 

The  Third  Book  of  Esdras.  Baruch  the  Prophet. 

The  Fourth  Book  of  Esdras.  The  Song  of  the  Three  Children. 

The  Book  of  Tobias.  The  Story  of  Susanna. 

The  Book  of  Judith.  Of  Bel  and  the  Dragon. 

The  rest  of  the  Book  of  Esther.  The  Prayer  of  Manasses. 

The  Book  of  "Wisdom.  The  First  Book  of  Maccabees. 

Jesus  the  Son  of  Sirach.  The  Second  Book  of  Maccabees. 

All  the  Books  of  the  New  Testament,  as  they  are  commonly  received, 
we  do  receive,  and  account  them  Canonical. 

VII.— Of  the  Old  Testament. 

The  Old  Testament  is  not  contrary  to  the  New;  for  both  in  the  New 
and  Old  Testament  everlasting  life  is  offered  to  mankind  by  Christ,  who 
is  the  only  Mediator  between  God  and  Man,  being  both  God  and  Man. 
Wherefore  they  are  not  to  be  heard,  which  feign  that  the  old  Fathers 
did  look  only  for  transitory  promises.  Although  the  Law  given  from 
God  to  Moses,  as  touching  ceremonies  and  rites,  do  not  bind  Christian 
men,  nor  the  civil  precepts  thereof  ought  of  necessity  to  be  received  in 
any  Commonwealth  :  yet  notwithstanding,  no  Christian  man  whatso- 
ever is  free  from  the  obedience  of  the  Commandments  which  are  called 
moral. 

VIII.— Of  the  Three  Creeds. 

The  three  Creeds,  Nicene  Creed,  Athanasius's  Creed,  and  that  which 
is  commonly  called  the  Apostles'  Creed,  ought  thoroughly  to  be  received 
and  believed :  for  they  may  be  proved  by  most  certain  warrants  of  Holy 
Scripture. 

24 


370  THE  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH. 

IK.— Of  Original,  or  Birth  Sin. 

Original  sin  standeth  not  in  the  following  of  Adam — as  the  Pelagians 
do  vainly  talk — but  it  is  the  fault  and  corruption  of  the  nature  of  every 
man,  that  naturally  is  engendered  of  the  offspring  of  Adam ;  whereby 
man  is  very  far  gane  from  original  righteousness,  and  is  of  his  own 
nature  inclined  to  evil,  so  that  the  Flesh  lusteth  always  contrary  to  the 
Spirit;  and  therefore,  in  every  person  born  into  this  world,  it  deserveth 
God's  wrath  and  damnation.  And  this  infection  of  nature  doth  remain 
— yea,  in  them  that  are  regenerated;  whereby  the  lust  of  the  flesh,  called 
in  Greek  phronema  sarkos,  which  some  do  expound  the  wisdom,  some 
sensuality,  some  the  affection,  some  the  desire  of  the  flesh,  is  not  subject 
to  the  Law  of  God.  And  although  there  is  no  condemnation  for  them 
that  believe  and  are  baptized,  yet  the  Apostle  doth  confess  that  concu- 
piscence and  lust  hath  of  itself  the  nature  of  sin. 

X.— Of  Free  Will 

The  condition  of  man  after  the  fall  of  Adam  is  such,  that  he  cannot 
turn  and  prepare  himself,  by  his  own  natural  strength  and  good  works, 
to  faith  and  calling  upon  God :  Wherefore  we  have  no  power  to  do  good 
works,  pleasant  and  acceptable  to  God,  without  the  grace  of  God,  by 
Christ,  preventing  us,  that  we  may  have  a  good  will,  and  working  with 
us,  when  we  have  that  good  will. 

XL— Of  the  Justification  of  Man. 

We  are  accounted  righteous  before  God,  only  for  the  merit  of  our 
Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ,  by  faith,  and  not  for  our  own  works  or 
deservings.  Wherefore,  that  we  are  justified  by  faith  only,  is  a  most 
wholesome  doctrine,  and  very  full  of  comfort  :  as  more  largely  is  ex- 
pressed in  the  Homily  of  Justification. 

XII.— Of  Good  Works. 

Albeit  that  good  works,  which  are  the  fruits  of  faith,  and  follow  aftei 
justification,  cannot  put  away  our  sins,  and  endure  the  severity  of  God's 
Judgment;  yet  are  they  pleasing  and  acceptable  to  God  in  Christ,  and 
do  spring  out,  necessarily,  of  a  true  and  lively  faith ;  insomuch  that  by 
them  a  lively  faith  may  be  as  evidently  known,  as  a  tree  discerned  by 
the  fruit. 

XLtl. — Of  Works  before  Justification. 

Works  done  before  the  grace  of  Christ,  and  the  inspiration  of  the 
Spirit,  are  not  pleasant  to  God,  forasmuch  as  they  spring  not  of  faith  in 
Jesus  Christ :  neither  do  they  make  men  meet  to  receive  grace,  or,  as  the 
School  Authors  say,  deserve  grace  of  congruity;  yea  rather,  for  that 


THE  THIRTY-NINE  ARTICLES.  371 

they  are  not  done  as  God  hath  willed  and  commanded  them  to  be  done, 
we  doubt  not  but  they  have  the  nature  of  sin. 

XIV. — Of  Works  of  Supererogation. 

Voluntary  works  besides,  over  and  above  God's  Commandments, 
which  they  call  works  of  supererogation,  cannot  be  taught  without  ar- 
rogancy  and  impiety.  For  by  them  men  do  declare,  that  they  do  not 
only  render  unto  God  as  much  as  they  are  bound  to  do,  but  that  they 
do  more  for  his  sake,  than  of  bounden  duty  is  required:  whereas  Christ 
saith  plainly,  When  ye  hath  done  all  that  are  commanded  to  you,  say, 
We  are  unprofitable  servants. 

XV.— Of  Christ  alone  without  Sin. 

Christ,  in  the  truth  of  our  nature,  was  made  like  unto  us  in  all  things, 
sin  only  except;  from  which  he  was  clearly  void,  both  in  his  flesh  and 
in  his  spirit.  He  came  to  be  the  Lamb  without  spot,  who,  by  sacrifice 
of  himself  once  made,  should  take  away  the  sins  of  the  world :  and  sin, 
as  St.  John  saith,  was  not  in  him.  But  all  we  the  rest,  although  bap- 
tized and  born  again  hi  Christ,  yet  offend  in  many  things ;  and,  if  we 
say  we  have  no  sin,  we  deceive  ourselves,  and  the  truth  is  not  hi  us. 

XVI.— Of  Sin  after  Baptism. 

Not  every  deadly  sin,  willingly  committed  after  Baptism,  is  sin  against 
the  Holy  Ghost  and  unpardonable.  Wherefore  the  grant  of  repentance 
is  not  to  be  denied  to  such  as  fall  into  sin  after  Baptism.  After  we  have 
received  the  Holy  Ghost,  we  may  depart  from  grace  given,  and  fall  into 
sin  ;  and  by  the  grace  of  God  we  may  arise  again,  and  amend  our 
lives.  And  therefore  they  are  to  be  condemned,  which  say,  they  can  no 
more  sin  as  long  as  they  live  here,  or  deny  the  place  of  forgiveness  to 
such  as  truly  repent. 

XVII.— Of  Predestination  and  Election. 

Predestination  to  life  is  the  everlasting  purpose  of  God,  whereby,  be- 
fore the  foundations  of  the  world  were  laid,  he  hath  constantly  decreed 
by  his  counsel,  secret  to  us,  to  deliver  from  curse  and  damnation  those 
whom  he  hath  chosen  in  Christ  out  of  mankind,  and  to  bring  them  by 
Christ  to  everlasting  salvation,  as  vessels  made  to  honor.  Wherefore, 
they  which  be  endued  with  so  excellent  a  benefit  of  God,  be  called, 
according  to  God's  purpose,  by  his  Spirit  working  in  due  season  :  They 
through  grace  obey  the  calling  :  They  be  justified  freely  :  They  be  made 
sons  of  God  by  adoption  :  They  be  made  like  the  image  of  his  only  be- 
gotten Son  Jesus  Christ :  They  walk  religiously  in  good  works  :  and,  at 
length,  by  God's  mercy,  they  attain  to  everlasting  felicity. 


372  THE  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH, 

As  the  godly  consideration  of  Predestination  and  our  Election  in 
Christ,  is  full  of  sweet,  pleasant,  and  unspeakable  comfort  to  godly  per- 
sons, and  such  as  feel  in  themselves  the  working  of  the  Spirit  of  Christ, 
mortifying  the  works  of  the  flesh  and  their  earthly  members,  and  draw- 
ing up  their  mind  to  high  and  heavenly  things  ;  as  well  because  it  doth 
greatly  establish  and  confirm  their  faith  of  eternal  salvation  to  be  en- 
joyed through  Christ,  as  because  it  doth  fervently  kindle  their  love  to- 
wards God  :  so,  for  curious  and  carnal  persons,  lacking  the  Spirit  of 
Christ,  to  have  continually  before  their  eyes  the  sentence  of  God's  Pre- 
destination, is  a  most  dangerous  downfall,  whereby  the  devil  doth  thrust 
them  either  into  desperation,  or  into  wretchlessness  of  most  unclean 
living,  no  less  perilous  than  desperation. 

Furthermore,  we  must  receive  God's  promises  in  such  wise  as  they  be 
generally  set  forth  to  us  in  Holy  Scripture  :  And  in  our  doings,  that  will 
of  God  is  to  be  followed,  which  we  have  expressly  declared  unto  us  in 
the  word  of  God. 

XVIII.— Of  Obtaining  Eternal  Salvation  only  by  the  Name  of  Christ. 

They  also  are  to  be  had  accursed,  that  presume  to  say,  that  every  man 
shall  be  saved  by  the  law  or  sect  which  he  professeth,  so  that  he  be  dili- 
gent to  frame  his  life  according  to  that  law,  and  the  light  of  nature. 
For  Holy  Scripture  doth  set  out  unto  us  only  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ, 
whereby  men  must  be  saved. 

XIX.— Of  the  Church. 

The  visible  Church  of  Christ  is  a  Congregation  of  faithful  men,  in  the 
which  the  true  word  of  God  is  preached,  and  the  Sacraments  be  duly 
ministered  according  to  Christ's  ordinance,  in  all  those  things  that  of 
necessity  are  requisite  to  the  same. 

As  the  Church  of  Jerusalem,  Alexandria,  and  Antioch,  have  erred,  so 
aiso  the  Church  of  Rome  hath  erred,  not  only  in  their  living  and  man- 
ner of  ceremonies,  but  also  in  matters  of  faith. 


XX.— Of  the  Authority  of  the  Church. 

The  Church  hath  power  to  decree  Ritey  or  Ceremonies,  and  authority 
in  controversies  of  faith  :  And  yet  it  is  not  lawful  for  the  Church  to 
ordain  any  thing  that  is  contrary  to  God's  Word  written  ;  neither  may 
it  so  expound  one  place  of  Scripture,  that  it  be  repugnant  to  another. 
Wherefore,  although  the  Church  be  a  witness  and  a  keeper  of  Holy 
Writ,  yet  as  it  ought  not  to  decree  any  thing  against  the  same,  so  be- 
sides the  same  ought  it  not  to  enforce  any  thing  to  be  believed  for  neces- 
sity of  salvation.  , .  •  • 


THE  THIRTY-NINE  ARTICLES.  373 

XXI.— Of  the  Authority  of  General  Councils. 

General  Councils  may  not  be  gathered  together  without  the  command- 
ment and  will  of  Princes  :  and  when  they  be  gathered  together — foras- 
much as  they  be  an  assembly  of  men,  whereof  all  be  not  governed  with 
the  Spirit  and  Word  of  God — they  may  err,  and  sometimes  have  erred, 
even  in  things  pertaining  unto  God.  Wherefore,  things  ordained  by 
them  as  necessary  to  salvation  have  neither  strength  nor  authority,  un- 
less it  may  be  declared  that  they  be  taken  out  of  Holy  Scripture. 

XXII.— Of  Purgatory. 

The  Romish  doctrine  concerning  Purgatory,  Pardons,  Worshipping, 
and  Adoration,  as  well  of  Images  as  of  Reliques,  and  also  Invocation  of 
Saints,  is  a  fond  thing,  vainly  invented,  and  grounded  upon  no  warranty 
of  Scripture,  but  rather  repugnant  to  the  Word  of  God. 

XXIII. — Of  Ministering  in  the  Congregation. 

It  is  not  lawful  for  any  man  to  take  upon  him  the  office  of  public 
preaching,  or  ministering  the  Sacraments  in  the  Congregation,  before  he 
be  lawfully  called  and  sent  to  execute  the  same.  And  those  we  ought  to 
judge  lawfully  called  and  sent,  which  be  chosen  and  called  to  this  work 
by  men  who  have  public  authority  given  unto  them  in  the  Congrega- 
tion, to  call  and  send  Ministers  into  the  Lord's  vineyard. 

XXIV. — Of  Speaking  in  the  Congregation  in  such  a  Tongue  as  the 
People  Under standeth. 

It  is  a  thing  plainly  repugnant  to  the  Word  of  God,  and  the  custom 
of  the  primitive  Church,  to  have  public  prayer  in  the  Church,  or  to  min- 
ister the  Sacraments,  in  a  tongue  not  understanded  of  the  people. 

XXV.— Of  the  Sacraments. 

Sacraments  ordained  of  Christ,  be  not  only  badges  or  tokens  of  Chris- 
tian men's  profession  ;  but  rather  they  be  certain  sure  witnesses,  and 
effectual  signs  of  grace,  and  God's  good-will  towards  us,  by  the  which 
he  doth  work  invisibly  in  us,  and  doth  not  only  quicken,  but  also 
strengthen  and  confirm  our  faith  in  him. 

There  are  two  Sacraments  ordained  of  Christ  our  Lord  in  the  Gospel, 
that  is  to  say,  Baptism,  and  the  Supper  of  the  Lord. 

Those  five,  commonly  called  Sacraments,  that  is  to  say,  Confirmation, 
Penance,  Orders,  Matrimony,  and  Extreme  Unction,  are  not  to  be  counted 
for  Sacraments  of  the  Gospel,  being  such  as  have  grown  partly  of  the 
corrupt  following  of  the  Apostles,  partly  are  states  of  life  allowed  in  the 
Scriptures  ;  but  yet  have  not  like  nature  of  Sacraments  with  Baptism  and 


374  THE  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH. 

the  Lord's  Supper,  for  that  they  have  not  any  visible  sign  or  ceremony 
ordained  of  God. 

The  Sacraments  were  not  ordained  of  Christ  to  be  gazed  upon,  or  to 
be  carried  about,  but  that  we  should  duly  use  them.  And  hi  such  only 
as  worthily  receive  the  same,  they  have  a  wholesome  effect  or  operation ; 
but  they  that  receive  them  unworthily,  purchase  to  themselves  damna- 
tion, as  St.  Paul  saith. 

XXVI. — Of  the  Unworthiness  of  the  Ministers,  which  Hinders  not  the 
Effect  of  the  Sacraments. 

Although  in  the  visible  Church  the  evil  be  ever  mingled  with  the 
good,  and  sometimes  the  evil  have  chief  authority  in  the  ministration  of 
the  Word  and  Sacraments  ;  yet  forasmuch  as  they  do  not  the  same  in 
their  own  name,  but  in  Christ's,  and  do  minister  by  his  commission  and 
authority,  we  may  use  their  ministry,  both  in  hearing  the  Word  of  God, 
and  in  the  receiving  of  the  Sacraments.  Neither  is  the  effect  of  Christ's 
ordinance  taken  away  by  their  wickedness,  nor  the  grace  of  God's  gifts 
diminished  from  such  as,  by  faith,  and  rightly,  do  receive  the  Sacraments 
ministered  unto  them  ;  which  be  effectual,  because  of  Christ's  institution 
and  promise,  although  they  be  ministered  by  evil  men. 

Nevertheless,  it  appertaineth  to  the  discipline  of  the  Church,  that  in- 
quiry be  made  of  evil  Ministers,  and  that  they  be  accused  by  those  that 
have  knowledge  of  their  offences  ;  and  finally,  being  found  guilty,  by 
just  judgment  be  deposed. 

XXVH.— Of  Baptism. 

Baptism  is  not  only  a  sign  of  profession,  and  mark  of  difference, 
whereby  Christian  men  are  discerned  from  others  that  be  not  christened; 
but  it  is  also  a  sign  of  Regeneration,  or  New  Birth  ;  whereby,  as  by  an 
instrument,  they  that  receive  baptism  rightly,  are  grafted  into  the 
Church  ;  the  promises  of  the  forgiveness  of  sin,  and  of  our  adoption  to 
be  the  sons  of  God  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  are  visibly  signed  and  sealed ; 
faith  is  confirmed,  and  grace  increased,  by  virtue  of  prayer  unto  God. 
The  Baptism  of  young  children  is  in  any  wise  to  be  retained  in  the 
Church,  as  most  agreeable  with  the  institution  of  Christ. 

XXVIII.— Of  the  Lord's  Supper. 

The  Supper  of  the  Lord  is  not  only  a  sign  of  the  love  that  Christians 
ought  to  have  among  themselves  one  to  another  ;  but  rather  it  is  a  Sac- 
rament of  our  Redemption  by  Christ's  death  :  insomuch  that  to  such  as 
rightly,  worthily,  and  with  faith,  receive  the  same,  the  bread  which  we 
break  is  a  partaking  of  the  body  of  Christ ;  and  likewise,  the  cup  of  bless- 
ing is  a  partaking  of  the  blood  of  Christ. 


THE  THIRTY-NINE  ARTICLES.  375 

•fransubstantiation — or  the  change  of  the  substance  of  bread  and  wine 
iii  the  Supper  of  the  Lord — cannot  be  proved  by  Holy  Writ ;  but  is  re- 
pugnant to  the  plain  words  of  Scripture,  overthroweth  the  nature  of  a 
Sacrament,  and  hath  given  occasion  to  many  superstitions. 

The  body  of  Christ  is  given,  taken,  and  eaten  in  the  Supper,  only  after 
an  heavenly  and  spiritual  manner.  And  the  mean,  whereby  the  Body 
of  Christ  is  received  and  eaten  in  the  Supper,  is  Faith. 

The  Sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper  was  not  by  Christ's  ordinance  r*f 
served,  carried  about,  lifted  up,  or  worshipped. 

XXIX.— Of  the  Wicked  which  Eat  not  the  Body  of  Christ  in  the  Use 
of  the  Lord's  Supper. 

The  wicked,  and  such  as  be  void  of  a  lively  faith,  although  they  do 
carnally  and  visibly  press  with  their  teeth,  as  St.  Augustine  faith,  the 
Sacrament  of  the  Body  and  Blood  of  Christ ;  yet  in  no  wise  are  they 
partakers  of  Christ,  but  rather,  to  their  condemnation,  do  wt  and  drink 
the  sign  or  sacrament  of  so  great  a  thing. 

XXX.— Of  both  Kinds. 

The  Cup  of  the  Lord  is  not  to  be  denied  to  the  Lav-people  ;  for  both 
the  parts  of  the  Lord's  Sacrament,  by  Christ's  ordinance  and  command- 
ment, ought  to  be  ministered  to  all  Christian  men  alike. 

XXXI.—  Of  the  One  Oblation  of  Christ  finished  upon  the  Cross. 

The  offering  of  Christ  once  made,  is  that  perfect  Redemption,  Propi- 
tiation, and  Satisfaction  for  all  the  sins  of  the  whole  world,  both  original 
and  actual :  and  there  is  none  other  satisfaction  for  sin  but  that  alone. 
Wherefore  the  sacrifices  of  Masses,  in  the  which  it  was  commonly  said, 
that  the  Priest  did  offer  Christ  for  the  quick  and  the  dead,  to  have  re- 
mission of  pain  or  guilt,  were  blasphemous  fables,  and  dangerous  de- 
ceits. 

XXXII.— Of  the  Marriage  of  Priests. 

Bishops,  Priests,  and  Deacons,  are  not  commanded  by  God's  Law, 
either  to  vow  the  estate  of  single  life,  or  to  abstain  from  marriage  : 
Therefore  it  is  lawful  for  them,  as  for  all  other  Christian  men,  to  marry 
at  their  own  discretion,  as  they  shall  judge  the  same  to  serve  better  to 
godliness. 

XXXIII. — Of  excommunicated  Persons,  How  they  are  to  be  Avoided. 

That  person,  which  by  open  denunciation  of  the  Church  is  rightly  cut 
off  fi'om  the  unity  of  the  Church,  and  excommunicated,  ought  to  be 
the  whole  multitude  of  the  faithful,  as  an  Heathen  or  Publi- 


376  THE  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH. 

can,  until  he  be  openly  reconciled  by  penance,  and  received  into  the 
Church  by  a  Judge  that  hath  authority  thereunto. 

XXXIV.— Of  the  Traditions  of  the  Church. 

It  is  not  necessary  that  Traditions  and  Ceremonies  be  in  all  places  one, 
or  utterly  like,  for  at  all  times  they  have  been  diverse,  and  may  be 
changed  according  to  the  diversity  of  Countries,  Times,  and  Men's  Man- 
ners, so  that  nothing  be  ordained  against  God's  Word.  Whosoever, 
through  his  private  judgment,  willingly  and  purposely  doth  openly 
break  the  traditions  and  ceremonies  of  the  Church,  which  be  not  repug- 
nant to  the  Word  of  God,  and  be  ordained  and  approved  by  common 
authority,  ought  to  be  rebuked  openly — that  others  may  fear  to  do  the 
like — as  he  that  offendeth  against  the  common  order  of  the  Church,  and 
hurteth  the  authority  of  the  Magistrate,  and  woundeth  the  consciences 
of  the  weak  brethren. 

Every  particular  or  national  Church  hath  authority  to  ordain,  change, 
and  abolish  ceremonies  or  rites  of  the  Church,  ordained  only  by  man's 
authority,  so  that  all  things  be  done  to  edifying. 

XXXV.— Of  Homilies. 

The  Second  Book  of  Homilies,  the  several  titles  whereof  we  have 
joined  under  this  Article,  doth  contain  a  godly  and  wholesome  doctrine, 
and  necessary  for  these  times  ;  as  doth  the  former  Book  of  Homilies, 
which  were  set  forth  in  the  time  of  Edward  the  Sixth ;  and  therefore  we 
judge  them  to  be  read  in  Churches  by  the  Ministers  diligently  and  dis- 
tinctly, that  they  may  be  understanded  of  the  people. 

OF  NAMES  OF  THE  HOMILIES. 

1.  Of  the  right  Use  of  the  Church.    10.  Of  the  Reverent  Estimation  of 

2.  Against  Peril  of  Idolatry.  God's  Word. 

3.  Of  Repairing  and  Keeping  clean    11.  Of  Alms-doing. 

of  Churches.  12.  Of  the  Nativity  of  Christ. 

4.  Of  Good  Works  ;  first  of  Fast-    13.  Of  the  Passion  of  Christ. 

ing.  14.  Of  the  Resurrection  of  Christ. 

5.  Against  Gluttony  and  Drunk-    15.  Of  the  worthy  Receiving  of  the 

enness.  Sacrament  of  the   Body  and 

6.  Against  Excess  of  Apparel.  Blood  of  Christ. 

7.  Of  Prayer.  16.  Of  the  Gifts  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 

8.  Of   the    Place    and   Time  of    17.  For  the  Rogation  Days. 

Prayer.  18.  Of  the  State  of  Matrimony. 

9.  That  Common  Prayer  and  Sac-    19.  Of  Repentance. 

raments  ought  to  be  admin-    20.  Against  Idleness, 
istered  hi  a  known  Tongue.      21.  Against  Rebellion. 


THE  THIRTY-NINE  ARTICLES.  377 

XXXVI.— Of  Consecration  of  Bishops  and  Ministers. 

The  book  of  Consecration  of  Archbishops  and  Bishops,  and  Ordering 
of  Priests  and  Deacons,  lately  set  forth  in  the  time  of  Edward  the  Sixth, 
and  confirmed  at  the  same  time  by  authority  of  Parliament,  doth  con- 
tain all  things  necessary  to  such  consecration  and  ordering  ;  neither 
hath  it  any  thing  that  of  itself  is  superstitious  and  ungodly.  And  there- 
fore, whosoever  are  consecrated  or  ordered  according  to  the  rites  of  that 
book  since  the  second  year  of  the  fore-named  King  Edward,  unto  this 
time,  or  hereafter  shall  be  consecrated  or  ordered  according  to  the  same 
rites,  we  decree  all  such  to  be  rightly,  orderly,  and  lawfully  consecrated 
and  ordered. 

XXXVII.— Of  the  Civil  Magistrates. 

The  King's  Majesty  hath  the  chief  power  in  this  realm  of  England 
and  other  his  dominions,  unto  whom  the  chief  government  of  all  estates 
of  this  Realm,  whether  they  be  ecclesiastical  or  civil,  in  all  causes  doth 
appertain,  and  is  not,  nor  ought  to  be,  subject  to  any  foreign  jurisdic- 
tion. 

Where  we  attribute  to  the  King's  Majesty  the  chief  government,  by 
which  titles  we  understand  the  minds  of  some  slanderous  folks  to  be  of- 
fended, We  give  not  to  our  Prince  the  ministering  either  of  God's  Word 
or  of  the  Sacraments,  the  which  thing  the  Injunctions  also,  lately  set 
by  Elizabeth  our  Queen,  do  most  plainly  testify;  but  that  only  preroga- 
tive which  we  see  to  have  been  given  always  to  all  godly  Princes  in 
Holy  Scriptures  by  God  himself  ;  that  is,  that  they  should  rule  all 
estates  and  degrees  committed  to  thew-  charge  by  God,  whether  they  be 
ecclesiastical  or  temporal,  and  restrain  with  the  civil  sword  the  stubborn 
and  evil-doers. 

The  Bishop  of  Rome  hath  no  jurisdiction  in  this  Realm  of  England. 

The  laws  of  the  Realm  may  punish  Christian  men  with  death  for  hein- 
ous and  grievous  offences. 

It  is  lawful  for  Christian  men,  at  the  commandment  of  the  Magistrate, 
to  wear  weapons  and  serve  in  the  wars. 

XXXVIII.— Of  Christian  Men's  Goods,  which  are  not  Common. 

The  riches  and  goods  of  Christians  are  not  common,  as  touching  the 
right,  title,  and  possession  of  the  same,  as  certain  Anabaptists  do  falsely 
boast.  Notwithstanding,  every  man  ought,  of  such  things  as  he  pos' 
sesseth,  liberally  to  give  alms  to  the  poor,  according  to  his  ability. 

XXXIX.— Of  a  Christian  Man's  Oath. 

As  we  confess  that  vain  and  rash  swearing  is  forbidden  Christian  men 
by  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  James  his  Apostle  ;  so  we  judge  that 


378  THE  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH. 

Christian  religion  doth  not  prohibit  but  that  a  man  may  swear  when  the 
Magistrate  requireth,  in  a  cause  of  faith  and  charity  ;  so  it  be  done,  ac- 
cording to  the  Prophet's  teaching,  in  justice,  judgment,  and  truth. 

THE  HIERARCHY   OF  THE   CHURCH. 

Two  ARCHBISHOPS  are  at  the  head  of  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land, who  take  their  titles  from  the  cathedral  towns  of  Can- 
terbury and  York.  As  their  episcopal  rank  is  equal,  the 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury  is  known  officially  as  the  Primate 
of  all  England,  while  the  Archbishop  of  York  is  similarly 
designated  the  Primate  of  England. 

When  a  bishopric  becomes  vacant,  the  canons  of  the 
cathedral  give  notice  of  it  to  the  sovereign,  and  desire 
leave  to  choose  another.  The  sovereign,  at  the  same  time 
that  he  or  she  sends  the  conge-d?  elire,  recommends  the  in- 
dividual whom  it  is  his  or  her  will  they  should  elect ;  and 
then  the  dean  and  chapter  choose  the  person  so  named.  The 
bishop  so  chosen  is  consecrated,  installed,  renders  homage  to 
the  sovereign,  takes  the  oath,  and  pays  the  first  fruits.  The 
other  prerogatives  which  the  sovereign  enjoys,  as  head  of  the 
church,  are  to  make  ordinances  respecting  ceremonies  and 
exterior  rites  ;  to  call  or  prorogue  the  convocation ;  and  to 
enact  the  decrees  of  synods  into  laws.  But  all  this  still  leaves 
the  sovereign  in  the  state  and  condition  of  a  lay  head,  and 
the  profession  of  faith  says,  that  the  supreme  governing  of 
all  the  states  of  the  kingdom,  whether  ecclesiastical  or 
spiritual,  in  all  cases  whatever,  belongs  to  him,  yet  so  that 
he  is  not  invested  with  a  power  to  preach  the  word  of  God, 
or  administer  the  sacraments. 

The  bishop  is  superior  to  a  priest,  and  a  priest  to  a  deacon. 
The  essential  office  of  a  DEACOTST  is  to  see  that  the  wants  of  the 
poor  are  supplied,  to  assist  the  priest  (or  minister)  at  the  com- 
munion service,  to  bless  those  who  present  themselves  to  be 
married,  to  baptize,  to  bury  the  dead,  to  preach,  and  to  read 
to  the  people  the  Holy  Scriptures,  or  the  homilies.  Their 
ordination  consists  first  in  a  sermon  or  exhortation  preached 
to  them,  which  being  concluded,  the  archdeacon,  or  whoever 


HIERARCHY  OF  THE  CHURCH.  379 

officiates  in  his  stead,  presents  them  to  the  bishop,  who  in- 
quires of  the  said  archdeacon,  whether  he  has  examined  them 
and  found  them  deserving.  He  then  directs  his  speech  to  the 
congregation  present,  both  to  know  if  there  be  any  existing 
impediment  to  the  election,  and  to  recommend  the  candidates 
to  the  prayers  of  the  congregation.  After  some  prayers  and 
litanies,  the  third  chapter  of  St.  Paul's  first  epistle  to  Timo- 
thy, from  v.  8  to  the  end  of  that  chapter,  is  read  to  the  dea- 
cons, or  chapter  vi.  of  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  from  v.  2  to 
8.  Then  they  take  the  oath  of  supremacy,  and  among  several 
questions  put  to  them,  the  bishop  asks  them  whether  they 
have  in  them  an  interior  call  from  the  Holy  Ghost  to  take 
upon  them  the  office  of  a  deacon.  The  answer  to  this  ques- 
tion being  made  in  the  affirmative,  the  bishop  puts  the  New 
Testament  into  their  hands,  and  gives  them  authority  to  read 
and  preach  the  word  of  God  to  the  faithful.  He  receives  the 
communion  himself,  and  gives  it  to  all  whom  he  has  ordained. 
The  whole  ceremony  is  concluded  with  a  prayer  suitable  to 
the  occasion,  and  the  blessing. 

The  ordination  of  PRIESTS  consists  of  prayers,  exhortations, 
and  imposition  of  hands.  By  the  constitutions  of  the  year 
1603,  the  time  appointed  for  giving  orders  was  on  those  Sun- 
days which  follow  the  Ember  weeks  during  the  service,  in 
the  cathedral  or  parochial  churches  where  the  bishops  reside, 
in  the  presence  of  the  archdeacon,  the  dean,  and  two  prebend- 
aries, or  at  least  of  four  grave  persons,  who  must  be  masters 
of  arts,  and  have  lawful  power  to  preach.  They  are  only 
as  witnesses  to  the  ordination,  which  belongs  solely  to  the 
bishop ;  he  alone  has  authority  to  say  to  those  who  are  or- 
dained, "  Receive  the  Holy  Ghost ":  the  other  four  only  pray 
with  the  bishops,  and  lay  their  hands  upon  the  ordained.  To 
become  a  priest,  it  is  necessary  to  be  made  first  a  deacon  ;  but 
both  orders  may  be  received  on  one  and  the  same  day.  After 
the  examination  and  the  exhortation  which  is  immediately 
before  the  communion  service,  the  epistle  is  read,  Acts,  chap. 
xx.  from  v.  17  to  36,  and  if  both  orders  are  to  be  given  on  the 
same  day,  the  third  chapter  of  the  first  epistle  to  Timothy  is 
added.  The  reading  of  the  gospel  follows,  out  of  the  last 


380  THE  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH. 

chapter  of  St.  Matthew,  from  v.  11  to  the  end  of  that  chapter ; 
or  out  of  St.  John,  chap.  xx.  from  v.  10  to  24.  Then  the  Veni 
Creator  is  sung  or  read.  The  rest  differs  but  little  from  the 
deacon's  ordination.  The  congregation  is  desired  to  join  in 
mental  prayer  for  the  happy  success  of  this  ceremony.  Silence 
is  maintained  for  some  short  time ;  then  the  bishop  prays 
aloud,  and  immediately  lays  his  hands,  and  the  priests  then 
present  lay  theirs  upon  those  who  are  ordained,  and  who  are 
kneeling.  The  bishop  uses  at  the  same  time  these  words : 
"  Keceive  the  Holy  Ghost.  Sins  shall  be  forgiven  to  all  those 
to  whom  you  forgive  them.  Be  faithful  dispensers  of  the 
word  of  God  and  of  the  sacraments."  This  being  said,  he 
puts  the  Bible  into  their  hands. 

The  BISHOP  is,  under  Christ,  according  to  the  doctrine  of 
the  Church  of  England  the  first  pastor  of  the  church.  Sub- 
ordinate ministers  are  only  his  deputies.  When  he  is  absent, 
the  priest  may  bless  the  people,  but  whenever  he  is  present 
at  the  divine  service,  it  belongs  to  him  to  pronounce  the 
blessing.  There  are  two  archbishops  and  twenty-four  bishops 
in  England.  They  enjoy  the  dignity  of  barons,  and  take  place 
before  those  of  the  laity.  Thus  the  Bishop  of  London,  being 
the  first  bishop,  is  likewise  the  first  baron.  All  are  peers  of 
the  realm,  and  sit  in  the  House  of  Lords,  except  the  Bishop 
of  the  Isle  of  Man,  who  is  named  by  and  holds  of  a  subject. 
The  archbishops  are  called  Your  Grace,  which  title  is  also 
bestowed  on  dukes.  The  bishops  are  styled  Right  Reverend 
Fathers  in  God. 

At  the  consecration  of  bishops  or  archbishops,  the  third 
chapter  of  St.  Paul's  first  epistle  to  Timothy,  from  v.  1  to  8,  is 
read  ;  then  some  verses  out  of  chap.  x.  or  xxi.  of  St.  John's 
gospel ;  the  creed  is  said  ;  the  bishop-elect  is  presented  by 
two  other  bishops  to  the  archbishop  of  the  province,  or  to 
another  bishop  officiating  for  him.  "  Right  Reverend  Father 
in  God,"  they  say,  "  we  present  to  you  this  pious  and  learned 
man,  to  be  consecrated  bishop."  The  sovereign's  order  for 
his  consecration  is  produced  and  read  openly.  The  bishop 
elect  takes  the  oath  of  supremacy  and  that  of  obedience. 
The  consecrator  leads  the  congregation  in  prayer,  saying  to 


HIERARCHY  OF  THE  CHURCH.  381 

them :  "  Brethren,  it  is  written  in  the  gospel  of  St.  Luke, 
that  our  Saviour  Christ  continued  the  whole  night  in  prayer, 
before  he  did  choose  and  send  forth  his  twelve  apostles.  It 
is  written  also  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  that  the  disciples 
did  fast  and  pray  before  they  laid  hands  on  Paul  and  Barna- 
bas and  sent  them  forth.  Let  us,  therefore,  following  the  ex- 
ample of  our  Saviour  Christ  and  his  Apostles,  first  fall  to 
prayer."  Then  the  litany  is  said;  and  after  this  passage, 
That  it  may  please  thee  to  illuminate  all  bishops,  etc.,  the 
following  prayer  is  inserted :  "  That  it  may  please  thee  to 
bless  this  our  brother  elected,  and  to  send  thy  grace  upon 
him,  that  he  may  duly  execute  the  office  whereunto  he  is 
called,  to  the  edil'ying  of  thy  church."  The  people  answer, 
"We  beseech  thee  to  hear  us."  The  litany  ends  with  a 
prayer,  after  which  the  archbishop,  sitting  in  his  chair,  says 
to  him  that  is  to  be  consecrated,  "Brother,  forasmuch  as  the 
Holy  Scripture  and  the  ancient  canons  command  that  we 
should  not  be  hasty  in  laying  on  hands,  and  admitting  any 
person  to  government  in  the  Church  of  Christ,  which  he  has 
purchased  with  no  less  price  than  the  effusion  of  his  own 
blood  ;  before  I  admit  you  to  this  administration,  I  will  ex- 
amine you."  The  question  ends  with  a  prayer,  which  is  fol- 
lowed by  the  hymn  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  or  the  Veni  Creator, 
said  or  sung,  at  the  end  of  which  the  archbishop  repeats 
another  long  prayer.  Then  the  archbishop  and  bishops  pres- 
ent lay  their  hands  upon  the  head  of  the  elected  bishop,  the 
archbishop  saying :  "  Receive  the  Holy  Ghost ;  and  remem- 
ber that  thou  stir  up  the  grace  of  God  which  is  given  thee 
by  this  imposition  of  our  hands."  Still  keeping  one  hand  on 
the  head  of  the  bishop-elect,  with  the  other  he  delivers  him 
the  Bible,  saying,  "  Give  heed  unto  reading,  exhortation,  and 
doctrine  ;  think  upon  the  things  contained  in  this  book.  Be 
to  the  flock  of  Christ  a  shepherd,  not  a  wolf ;  hold  up  the 
weak  ;  be  so  merciful ;  so  minister  discipline."  Then  the 
archbishop  and  the  new  bishops,  with  others,  receive  the  com- 
munion ;  and  the  whole  ceremony  concludes  with  a  prayer 
by  way  of  collect,  to  desire  Almighty  God  to  pour  down  his 
blessing  on  the  new  bishop. 


382  THE  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH. 

English  bishops  have  their  own  vicars  and  officials  ;  but 
the  officials  are  better  known  in  England  by  the  name  of 
chancellors.  These  are  the  true  and  chief  officials,  but  there 
are  some  commissioners  who  are  often  mistaken  for  them. 
Their  archdeacons,  who  in  ancient  times  were  only  the  first 
among  deacons,  are  now  in  the  English  Church  above  priests. 
Bishops  are  called  reverend,  archbishops  most  reverend, 
archdeacons  venerable,  while  common  priests  have  no  title 
bestowed  upon  them.  The  archdeacon's  chief  function  is  to 
visit  the  diocese  by  procuration  in  default  of  the  bishop  or 
vicar,  at  least  once  in  three  years.  No  one  can  be  made  a 
deacon  before  twenty-three,  nor  a  priest  before  twenty-four, 
nor  a  bishop  before  thirty. 

The  convocation  of  the  clergy  is  a  kind  of  parliament. 
The  archbishops  and  bishops  are  the  upper  house  ;  the  lower 
is  composed  of  the  subordinate  clergy,  viz. :  twenty-six  deans, 
sixty  archdeacons,  five  hundred  and  seventy-six  canons,  be- 
sides curates  and  deacons.  They  meet  upon  the  concerns  of 
the  Church,  tithes,  raising  taxes,  ecclesiastical  laws,  which 
must  afterwards  be  approved  by  the  sovereign  and  parlia- 
ment. They  hold  likewise  national  synods,  which  keep  an 
exact  correspondence  in  their  deliberations,  and  make  no 
absolute  definition,  but  with  a  unanimous  consent. 


DIVINE   SEEVICE  IN   THE   CHURCH. 

The  customs  established  in  the  performance  of  divine  ser- 
vice, and  appointed  by  the  English  liturgy  are :  That  all 
priests  and  deacons  are  required  to  say  daily  the  morning 
and  evening  prayers.  The  order  of  both  is  the  same.  They 
begin  with  several  passages  of  Scripture,  which  the  minister 
says  aloud.  These  passages  are  followed  by  an  exhortation 
to  prepare  for  the  general  confession  of  sins,  which  is  said 
kneeling,  by  the  minister  and  the  whole  congregation.  The 
Church  of  England  uses  three  different  forms  of  absolution  : 
one  in  the  morning  and  evening  prayer,  another  at  the  visi- 
tation of  the  sick,  and  a  third  at  the  communion  service. 
After  the  absolution,  the  priest  and  congregation,  all  kneel- 


SACRAMENT  OF  THE  LORD'S  SUPPER.  383 

ing,  say  the  Lord's  prayer,  which  is  followed  by  some  re- 
sponses, a  psalm,  some  lessons  out  of  the  Old  Testament,  as 
set  down  in  the  calendar  at  the  beginning  of  the  liturgy,  the 
singing  or  reciting  of  the  Te  Deum  or  Benedicite  omnia; 
another  lesson  out  of  the  New  Testament,  a  hymn,  or  a 
psalm ;  the  creed  said  or  sung,  during  which  the  people 
stand ;  the  Lord's  prayer  a  second  time ;  several  responses, 
three  collects,  a  prayer  for  the  sovereign,  another  for  the 
royal  family,  a  third  for  the  clergy,  St.  Chrysostom's  prayer, 
and  the  blessing.  The  rubric  says,  that  the  minister  must 
stand  when  he  reads  the  lessons,  and  turn  himself  towards  the 
congregation,  that  he  may  be  heard  the  better  ;  this  is  very 
rational,  for  those  lessons,  the  decalogue,  etc.,  are  an  instruc- 
tion to  the  people ;  but  when  he  addresses  himself  to  God 
by  prayer,  by  saying  or  singing  a  psalm,  or  by  confession, 
he  must  then  turn  from  the  people  and  look  towards  the 
upper  end  of  the  chancel,  which  is  the  chief  and  most  rever- 
ential part  of  the  church.  The  prayers,  collects,  and  lessons 
often  vary,  on  some  days,  as  Christmas,  Epiphany,  etc.  The 
Athanasian  creed  is  said  or  sung  instead  of  that  of  the  Apos- 
tles' or  of  Nice.  Sunday  morning,  Wednesday,  and  Friday, 
the  long  litany  is  said  or  sung.  Particular  prayers  are  said 
likewise  on  special  occasions,  as  for  rain,  for  fair  weather, 
for  a  time  of  famine,  or  great  dearth,  for  success  in  war, 
against  popular  commotions,  epidemic  or  contagious  dis- 
tempers ;  every  day  also  in  Ember  weeks,  for  those  who  are 
to  be  ordained,  for  the  parliament  while  it  sits ;  which 
prayers  are  all  either  to  obtain  mercy  from  God,  or  to  give 
him  thanks  for  favors  received. 


SACRAMENT  OF  THE  LORD'S  SUPPER. 

The  communion  is  one  of  the  principal  sacraments  of  the 
Church  of  England,  for  which  purpose  the  altar,  for  this 
name  is  often  given  by  the  members  of  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land to  the  communion  table,  ought  to  have  a  clean  white 
linen  cloth  upon  it,  and  to  stand  in  the  body  of  the  church, 
or  in  the  chancel,  where  morning  and  evening  prayers  are 


384  THE  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH. 

appointed  to  be  said.  At  all  other  times  the  said  table  is 
covered  with  silk,  and  set  in  a  decent  place  altar- wise.  The 
priest,  standing  at  the  north  side  of  the  table,  repeats  the 
Lord's  prayer,  with  a  collect,  then  rehearses  distinctly  the 
ten  commandments ;  after  each,  the  people,  kneeling,  say, 
"  Lord,  have  mercy  on  us,  and  incline  our  hearts  to  keep  this 
law."  This  is  followed  by  a  collect  for  the  sovereign,  which 
the  priest  says  standing ;  the  collect  of  the  day,  the  epistle, 
and  gospel,  at  which  last  the  people  stand,  as  they  do  like- 
wise at  the  singing  or  reciting  the  Nicene  or  Constantinopoli- 
tan  creed,  which  is  done  immediately  after  the  gospel  Then 
the  curate  declares  unto  the  people  what  holidays  and  fast- 
ing days  are  in  the  week  following  to  be  observed ;  and,  if 
occasion  be,  publishes  the  banns  of  matrimony,  reads  briefs, 
citations,  and  excommunications. 

Then  follows  the  sermon,  which  being  ended,  alms  are 
taken  for  the  poor,  or  church  purposes.  This  is  followed  by 
prayers  and  exhortations ;  after  which,  the  priest  stands  up 
before  the  table,  and  having  so  ordered  the  bread  and  wine 
that  he  may  with  the  more  readiness  and  decency  break  the 
bread  before  the  people,  and  take  the  cup  into  his  hands, 
repeats  the  prayer  of  consecration,  which  begins  the  third 
part  of  the  communion  service  ;  the  wording  of  it  is  very  re- 
markable, and  runs  thus  : — "  Hear  us,  O  merciful  Father, 
and  grant  that  we,  receiving  these  thy  creatures  of  bread  and 
wine,  according  to  Jesus  Christ's  holy  institution,  in  remem- 
brance of  his  death  and  passion,  may  be  partakers  of  his 
most  blessed  body  and  blood,  who  in  the  same  night  that  he 
was  betrayed  took  bread,  and  when  he  had  given  thanks,  he 
break  it,  and  gave  it  to  his  disciples,  saying,  '  Take,  eat,  this 
is  my  body  which  is  given  for  you,  do  this  in  remembrance 
of  me.'  Likewise,  after  supper,  he  took  the  cup,  and  when 
he  had  given  thanks,  he  gave  it  to  them,  saying, '  Drink  ye 
all  of  this,  for  this  is  my  blood  of  the  new  testament,  which 
is  shed  for  you,  for  the  remission  of  sins.  Do  this  as  oft  as 
ye  shall  drink  it  in  remembrance  of  me.' " 

The  priest  first  receives  the  communion  in  both  kinds  him- 
self, then  proceeds  to  deliver  the  same  to  the  bishops,  priests, 


THE  SACRAMENT  OF  BAPTISM.  335 

and  deacons  (if  any  be  present) ;  and  after  that,  to  the 
people  also  in  order  into  their  hands,  all  meekly  kneeling. 

The  priest  repeats  a  prayer  when  he  gives  the  bread,  and 
another  when  the  cup  is  given  to  any  one.  If  the  consecrated 
bread  or  wine  be  exhausted  before  all  have  communicated, 
the  priest  is  to  consecrate  more.  If,  on  the  contrary,  there 
remains  any  when  all  have  communicated,  the  minister  re- 
turns to  the  Lord's  table,  and  reverently  places  upon  it  what 
remains  of  the  consecrated  elements,  covering  the  same  with 
a  clean  linen  cloth.  Here  begins  the  fourth  and  last  part  of 
the  communion  service.  The  Lord's  prayer  is  recited  by  the 
minister,  the  people  repeating  after  him  every  petition ; 
then  follows  another  form  of  thanksgiving;  after  which, 
"  Glory  be  to  God  on  high,"  a  hymn  to  which  antiquity  has 
given  the  appellation  of  angelical.  The  whole  service  is  con- 
cluded by  the  priest  (or  bishop,  if  he  be  present)  dismissing 
the  congregation  with  a  blessing. 


THE   SACKAMENT    OF  BAPTISM. 

The  rubric  says,  that  it  is  most  convenient  baptism  should 
not  be  administered  but  upon  Sundays,  and  other  holydays, 
when  the  greatest  number  of  people  are  assembled  ;  as  well 
for  that  the  congregation  there  present  may  testify  the  re- 
ceiving of  them  that  are  newly  baptized  into  the  number  of 
Christ's  church ;  as  also  because,  in  the  baptism  of  infants, 
every  man  present  may  be  put  in  remembrance  of  his  own 
profession  made  to  God  in  his  baptism,  or  that  made  for  him 
by  his  godfathers  or  godmothers.  Nevertheless,  if  neces- 
sity so  require,  children  may  be  baptized  on  any  other  day. 
Every  male  child  must  have  two  godfathers  and  one  god- 
mother, and  every  female  one  godfather  and  two  godmothers, 
who,  with  the  children,  must  be  present  at  the  font  imme- 
diately after  the  last  lesson  of  the  morning  or  evening 
prayer.  The  priest  coming  to  the  font,  which  is  then  to  be 
filled  with  pure  water,  and  standing  there,  asks  the  usual 
question,  exhorts  the  people  to  pray,  says  two  prayers  for 
the  child,  reads  a  gospel  (Mark  x.  13,  and  following),  ex- 


336  THE  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH. 

plaiiis  it,  gives  God  thanks,  instructs  the  godfathers  and 
godmothers  in  their  duty,  receives  their  renunciation  of 
the  devil  in  behalf  of  the  child,  and  repeats  with  them  the 
profession  of  faith.  After  this  and  a  few  more  prayers,  he 
takes  the  child  into  his  hands,  desires  the  godfathers  and 
godmothers  to  name  him  or  her  ;  and  then,  naming  it  after 
them,  he  sprinkles  it  with  the  water,  saying,  N.,  I  baptize 
thee,  etc.  The  ceremony  ends  with  the  minister's  signing 
the  child  with  the  cross,  repeating  the  Lord's  prayer,  giving 
thanks  to  God,  and  a  second  charge  to  the  godfathers  and 
godmothers. 

CEREMONY   OF  CONFIRMATION. 

In  the  Church  of  England  the  bishops  are  sole  ministers  of 
the  religious  ceremony  of  confirmation.  The  short  cate- 
chism, which  every  person  is  to  learn  before  he  is  brought 
to  be  confirmed  by  the  bishop,  is  to  be  found  in  the  Book  of 
Common  Prayer.  The  Church  of  England  orders  that,  for 
the  instruction  of  the  faithful  beginners,  "The  curate  of 
every  parish  shall  diligently  upon  Sundays  and  holydays, 
after  the  second  lesson  at  evening  prayer,  openly  in  the 
church  instract  and  examine  so  many  children  of  his  parish, 
sent  unto  him,  in  the  catechism.  All  fathers,  mothers,  mas- 
ters, or  mistresses,  shall  cause  their  children,  servants,  and 
apprentices,  who  have  not  learned  their  catechism,  to  come 
to  the  church  at  the  time  appointed,  and  obediently  to  hear 
and  be  ordered  by  the  curate,  until  such  time  as  they  have 
learned  all  that  is  appointed  for  them  to  learn.  The  children 
who  are  sufficiently  instructed  shall  be  brought  to  the  bishop, 
and  every  one  shall  have  a  godfather  or  a  godmother  as  a 
witness  of  their  confirmation.  All  being  placed  and  standing 
in  order  before  the  bishop,  he  or  some  other  minister  appointed 
by  him  shall  read  what  is  called  the  preface  of  confirmation, 
which  briefly  explains  the  nature  and  end  of  it ;  then  he 
makes  them  renew  and  confirm  the  promises  which  were 
made  for  them  by  their  godfathers  and  godmothers  at  bap- 
tism, and  prays  for  them,  that  they  may  receive  the  gifts  of 
the  Holy  Ghost ;  then  all  of  them  kneeling  in  order  before 


MARRIAGE  CEREMONY.  387 

the  bishop,  he  lays  his  hand  upon  the  head  of  every  one  sev- 
erally, repeats  another  prayer,  then  the  Lord's  prayer,  and 
two  collects,  and  dismisses  them  with  his  blessing." 

MAKKIAGE  CEREMONY   OF  THE  CHUKCH. 

According  to  the  ritual  of  the  Church  of  England  the  banns 
of  all  those  who  are  to  be  married  must  be  published  in  the 
church  three  several  Sundays  or  holydays,  in  the  time  of 
divine  service,  immediately  before  the  sentence  of  the  offer- 
tory. If  the  persons  who  are  to  be  married  dwell  in  different 
parishes,  the  banns  must  be  asked  in  both  parishes  ;  and  the 
curate  of  the  one  parish  shall  not  solemnize  matrimony  with- 
out a  certificate  of  the  banns  being  thrice  asked  from  the  cu- 
rate of  the  other  parish.  At  the  day  and  time  appointed  for  the 
solemnization  of  matrimony,  the  persons  to  be  married  come 
into  the  body  of  the  church,  with  their  friends  and  neigh- 
bors, and  there  standing  together,  the  man  on  the  right  hand 
and  the  woman  on  the  left,  the  priest  reads  an  exhortation 
on  the  duty,  condition,  and  chastity  of  a  married  state ;  then 
another,  particularly  directed  to  the  persons  who  are  to  be 
married.  At  which  day  of  marriage  if  any  man  do  allege 
or  declare  any  impediment  why  they  may  not  be  united 
in  matrimony  by  God's  law,  or  the  laws  of  the  realm,  then 
the  solemnization  must  be  deferred  until  such  time  as  the 
truth  be  ascertained.  If  no  impediment  be  alleged,  then  the 
curate  asks  their  mutual  consent,  which  being  declared,  they 
give  their  troth  to  each  other,  taking  alternately  each  other 
by  the  right  hand  and  saying :  "  I,  N".,  take  thee,  N".,  to  be 
my  wedded  wife  (or  husband) ;  to  have  and  to  hold,  from 
this  day  forward,  for  better  for  worse,  for  richer  for  poorer, 
in  sickness  and  in  health,  to  love  and  to  cherish  (the  wife 
says  to  love,  cherish,  and  obey),  till  death  us  do  part,  accord- 
ing to  God's  holy  ordinance,  and  thereto  I  plight  thee  my 
troth."  Then  they  again  loose  their  hands,  and  the  man 
produces  a  ring.  The  priest,  taking  the  ring,  hands  it  to  the 
man,  who  puts  it  upon  the  fourth  finger  of  the  woman's  left 
hand,  and  the  man,  taught  by  the  priest,  says :  "  With  this 


388  THE  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH. 

ring  I  thee  wed,  with  my  body  I  thee  worship."  Both  kneel 
down,  the  minister  says  a  prayer,  joins  their  hands  together, 
and  adds  a  blessing.  Then  going  to  the  Lord's  table,  repeats 
or  sings  a  psalm,  which  being  ended,  the  man  and  the  woman 
kneeling  before  the  Lord's  table,  the  priest,  standing  at  the 
table,  recites  a  litany,  followed  by  some  prayers,  and  an  in- 
struction concerning  the  duties  of  man  and  wife,  and  so  con- 
cludes. The  rubric  adds,  that  if  it  is  convenient  the  new 
married  persons  should  receive  the  holy  communion  at  the 
time  of  their  marriage,  or  at  the  first  opportunity  after  their 
marriage. 

But  though  the  ritual  of  the  Church  of  England  requires 
the  publication  of  the  banns  of  such  persons  who  are  about 
to  marry,  and  though  the  lower  classes  always  have  their 
marriage  banns  published,  yet  it  is  the  custom  of  the  higher, 
and  to  a  great  degree  of  the  middle  classes  also,  to  marry  by 
license,  dispensing  with  the  publication  of  banns.  A  license 
may  be  had  on  application  to  a  surrogate.  In  the  year  1837 
a  new  Marriage  Act  was  passed,  which  made  a  very  consider- 
able change  in  the  marriage  ceremony,  to  those  who  were 
desirous  to  avail  themselves  of  it,  while  it  left  at  liberty  all 
who  preferred  the  former  course  to  pursue  it  as  before. 
Members  of  the  Church  of  England  still  marry  in  the 
churches  by  banns  or  license,  while  Dissenters  more  gener- 
ally avail  themselves  of  the  provisions  of  the  new  act. 

By  the  new  act,  persons  wishing  to  marry  may  be  joined 
together  either  in  dissenting  meeting-houses,  licensed  for  the 
purpose,  or  in  the  offices  of  the  Superintendent-Registrars 
of  the  Poor-Law  Unions,  in  the  districts  of  which  the  parties 
may  live.  The  presence  of  the  registrar  of  the  district,  and 
two  witnesses,  is  indispensable  to  the  lawfulness  and  validity 
of  the  ceremony.  Before  any  marriage  can  be  contracted 
under  the  new  act,  either  a  license  must  be  purchased  of  the 
registrar,  on  giving  seven  days'  notice,  or  three  several  no- 
tices of  such  intended  marriage  must  be  read  and  published 
at  the  Union  Workhouse,  before  the  Poor-Law  Guardians  of 
the  Union,  at  three  of  their  successive  weekly  meetings, 
which  may  be  held,  within  the  twenty-one  days  which  must 


MARRIAGE  CEREMONY.  389 

pass  between  the  day  of  giving  notice  to  the  registrar  and 
the  day  of  marriage.  A  certificate  also  must  be  obtained  of 
the  registrar,  before  the  marriage  can  take  place,  stating  that 
no  one  has  forbidden  the  marriage.  In  cases  where  the  mar- 
riage takes  place  at  the  office  of  the  superintendent-registrar, 
he,  as  well  as  the  registrar  of  the  district,  must  be  present 
with  the  two  witnesses,  and  the  ceremony  must  take  place, 
with  open  doors,  between  the  hours  of  eight  and  twelve  in 
the  forenoon.  An  office  is  appointed,  called  "  The  General 
Register  Office,"  for  keeping  a  register  of  all  births,  deaths, 
and  marriages  in  England,  as  well  as  a  register-general  to 
discharge  the  important  duties  of  the  same. 

Marriage  between  persons  related  to  each  other  within  the 
Levitical  decrees  is  unlawful ;  and  this  prohibition  embraces 
relationship  by  affinity  as  well  as  that  by  consanguinity. 
A  marriage  between  a  man  and  the  sifter  of  his  deceased 
wife,  is,  therefore,  void.  Parliament  has  been  frequently 
urged  to  abolish  this  particular  restriction,  but,  up  to  1886, 
without  success,  although  the  vote  in  favor  of  the  change 
perceptibly  increased  during  several  years  preceding  that 
date. 

In  1894  there  were  reported  2  archbishops,  32  bishops,  17 
suffragan  bishops,  30  deans,  89  archdeacons,  132  residentiary 
canons,  810  rural  deans,  14,300  beneficed  clergy,  and  9,500 
unbeneficed,  making  the  total  clergy  about  23,000.  Both 
archbishops  and  24  of  the  bishops  had  seats  in  the  House 
of  Lords.  The  educational  work  of  the  Church  was  repre- 
sented by  about  11,960  schools  of  all  grades,  with  an  average 
attendance  of  1,677,123  pupils  and  scholars.  There  were  in 
addition  30  training  colleges  for  school  teachers,  and  28 
schools  for  secondary  education.  The  Church  has  an  enor- 
mous endowment.  The  amount  annually  raised  by  volun- 
tary means  averages  £1,000,000  for  church  building  and  res- 
toration, £539,510  for  foreign  missions,  £528,000  for  ele- 
mentary education,  and  £500,000  for  home  missions,  tem- 
perance work,  and  other  activities, — a  total  of  £2,567,510,  or 
$12,478,098.  The  total  revenue  of  the  Church  from  all 
sources  is  estimated  at  £7,250,000,  or  $35,235,000. 


Protestant  Episcopal 


UNITED    STATES. 


EAELY  HISTORY. 

E  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  of  the  United  States 
1  is  a  daughter  of  the  Church  of  England.  The  Church 
of  England  in  the  Colonies  labored  under  many  disad- 
vantages. In  the  absence  of  bishops,  its  ministry  could 
be  replenished  only  by  emigration  from  the  mother  Church 
of  England,  or  by  a  double  voyage  of  candidates  across 
the  Atlantic.  The  same  cause  naturally  led  to  a  relax- 
ation of  discipline.  Although  many  of  the  clergy  in  the 
Colonies  were  exemplary  and  devoted  men,  yet  the  condi- 
tion of  things,  in  those  distant  dependencies,  was  such  as  to 
open  a  refuge  there  for  clergymen  of  doubtful  reputation 
and  antecedents  in  the  Church  of  England.  The  evils  re- 
sulting from  this  state  of  things  led  to  early,  but  unsuccess- 
ful attempts  to  secure  the  introduction  of  bishops  into  the 
American  Colonies. 

The  Episcopal  oversight  of  the  Colonies  was  committed  to 
the  Bishop  of  London.  Commissioners  of  the  Bishop,  who 
were  charged  by  him  with  authority  to  enforce  the  disci- 
pline of  the  Church,  were  appointed  for  Virginia,  Maryland, 
New  York,  and  South  Carolina.  But  the  effort  on  the  part 
of  the  clergy  of  the  Colonies  to  secure  the  Episcopacy  not 

(390) 


ORGANIZATION  AFTER   THE  REVOLUTION.        391 

only  encountered  the  indifference  of  the  mother  Church,  but 
was  also  met  by  violent;  resistance  on  the  part  of  the  other 
denominations.  They  declared  that  Bishops  from  England 
would  come  into  the  Colonies  possessed  of.  all  the  preroga- 
tives which  they  enjoyed  at  home,  and  would  thus  bring 
other  churches  under  Episcopal  jurisdiction,  and  subject 
them  to  the  action  of  ecclesiastical  courts. 

When  the  Revolutionary  War  began  there  were  not  more 
than  eighty  parochial  clergymen  to  the  north  and  east  of 
Maryland.  In  Connecticut  the  Episcopal  Church  received 
an  impulse,  in  the  early  part  of  the  eighteenth  century 
(1722-'27),  from  the  accession  to  its  ranks  of  several  eminent 
Presbyterian  clergymen — some  of  them  members  of  the  fac- 
ulty of  Yale  College— and  soon  became  "  rooted "  in  that 
Colony  "  amid  storms  and  persecutions."  The  larger  part  of 
the  clergy  in  this  and  other  Colonies  were  supported  by  the 
Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel  in  Foreign  Parts. 

ORGANIZATION   OF  THE  CHUKCH  AFTER  THE  REVOLUTION". 

The  Episcopal  Churches  in  the  American  Colonies  estab- 
lished, as  we  have  seen,  by  the  Society  for  the  Propagation 
of  the  Gospel  in  Foreign  Parts,  and  placed  under  the  juris- 
diction of  the  Bishop  of  London,  were  called  collectively 
"the  Church  of  England  in  America."  When  the  Colonies 
became  independent,  the  Episcopal  Churches  became,  of  ne- 
cessity, severed  from  all  connection  with  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land. Their  organic  union  with  it  was  dissolved,  but  their 
essential  unity  in  the  ministry,  creeds,  liturgy,  and  articles 
was  maintained. 

At  the  close  of  the  Revolution  the  Episcopal  Church  was 
in  an  exceedingly  feeble  state.  Most  of  its  clergy  in  the 
Northern  States  had  adhered  to  the  parent  government,  and 
had  fled  to  England,  or  to  other  Colonies,  on  the  breaking 
out  of  the  war.  Those  who  remained  and  refused  to  omit 
the  prayers  for  the  king,  or  to  pray  for  Congress,  were 
treated  with  much  violence.  In  many  of  the  Northern 
Colonies  not  one  church  remained  open ;  and  in  Pennsyl- 


392  THE  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH. 

vania  only  the  one  church,  of  which  Dr.  White  (subse^ 
quently  Bishop  White)  was  rector,  was  left  undisturbed. 
In  Virginia  the  loyal  clergy  were  ejected  from  their  livings. 
The  consequence  of  this  state  of  things  was  that  when  peace 
was  proclaimed  in  1783,  the  Episcopal  Church  was  found  to 
have  been  almost  destroyed.  Virginia  had  entered  in  the 
war  with  one  hundred  and  sixty-four  churches  and  chapels, 
and  ninety-one  clergymen  spread  through  her  sixty-one 
counties.  At  the  close  of  the  war  ninety-five  parishes  had 
become  extinct,  and  of  the  ninety-one  clergymen  only 
twenty-eight  remained.  A  similar  state  of  things  existed  in 
Maryland.  But  twenty  of  the  clergy  remained  there,  and 
the  parishes  had  suffered  in  an  equal  proportion  with  those 
of  Virginia.  In  North  and  South  Carolina  the  Church  was, 
if  possible,  in  a  still  worse  condition. 

The  existence  of  separate  States  in  a  Federal  Union,  fur- 
nished an  occasion  for  realizing  the  theory  of  the  Episcopal 
Church,  viz. :  that  of  a  National  Church  consisting  of  dioceses, 
each  one  distinct  from  the  others,  but  all  united  in  one  body. 
Conventions  of  members  of  the  Church,  both  clergy  and 
laity,  began  to  be  held  in  the  several  States ;  and  in  time 
the  Church  in  each  State  was  organized  with  its  own  Con- 
stitution and  Canons,  and  with  a  Bishop  presiding  over  it. 
But  without  waiting  for  the  accomplishment  of  this  result 
the  effort  was  made  to  establish  a  common  organization  by 
the  united  action  of  delegates  authorized  to  represent  the 
Church  in  each  State.  As  to  this  matter,  however,  a  dif- 
ferent policy  prevailed  in  different  quarters.  The  Church 
in  Connecticut  proposed  first  to  complete  itself  by  obtaining 
a  Bishop,  and  afterwards  to  consider  the  question  of  union 
with  others.  The  Churches  in  the  Middle  and  Southern 
States  proposed  first  to  organize  a  common  representative 
government,  and  afterwards  to  seek  Bishops. 

The  first  step  towards  the  forming  of  a  collective  body  of 
the  Episcopal  Church  in  the  United  States  was  taken  at  a 
meeting  of  a  few  clergymen  from  New  York,  New  Jersey, 
and  Pennsylvania,  at  New  Brunswick,  N.  J.,  on  the  13th 
and  14th  of  May,  1784.  Their  plans  were  not  matured  until 


EFFORTS  TO  UNITE  THE  SEPARATE  CHURCHES.    393 

the  5th  of  October  ensuing,  when  an  adjourned  meeting  was 
held  in  New  York  City.  It  consisted  of  fifteen  clergymen 
and  eleven  laymen  from  New  York,  New  Jersey,  Pennsyl- 
vania, Delaware,  Maryland,  and  Virginia.  The  general 
principles  which  they  agreed  should  be  the  basis  of  the 
union  were  as  follows :  The  continuance  of  the  three  orders 
of  the  ministry  ;  the  use  of  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer ; 
the  establishment  of  a  representative  body  of  the  Church, 
consisting  of  the  clergy  and  laity,  who  should  vote  in  sepa- 
rate orders.  They  recommended  to  the  Churches  in  the 
several  States  to  send  clerical  and  lay  deputies  to  a  Conven- 
tion, to  be  held  in  Philadelphia,  on  the  27th  of  September, 
1785. 

EFFORTS   TO   UNITE  THE   SEPARATE   CHURCHES. 

The  clergy  of  Connecticut,  pending  their  proceedings  to 
obtain  a  Bishop,  did  not  feel  at  liberty  to  unite  in  the  general 
organization.  As  soon  as  peace  had  made  it  possible  (March 
25,  1783),  the  clergy  had  met  in  convention  and  elected  Dr. 
Samuel  Seabury,  of  New  York,  to  be  their  Bishop.  Dr.  Sea- 
bury  had  sailed  for  England  to  obtain  consecration  there, 
before  the  British  troops  had  evacuated  New  York.  He  made 
application  for  consecration  to  the  Archbishop  of  York,  the 
See  of  Canterbury  being  then  vacant ;  but  the  Archbishop 
could  not  consecrate  a  citizen  of  the  United  States  without 
a  special  Act  of  Parliament.  Hence  Dr.  Seabury  had  re- 
course to  the  Scottish  bishops,  who  were  not  connected  with 
the  State,  and  who  could,  therefore,  if  they  were  so  disposed, 
consecrate  a  Bishop  for  the  United  States.  The  application 
of  Dr.  Seabury  was  readily  granted  ;  and  he  was  consecrated 
at  Aberdeen,  November  14,  1784,  by  Bishop  Kilgour,  of  Ab- 
erdeen, Bishop  Petrie,  of  Moray  and  Eoss,  and  Bishop  Skin- 
ner, Coadjutor  of  Aberdeen. 

The  General  Convention  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church 
called  for  September  29,  1785,  met  at  the  appointed  time,  and 
was  composed  of  clerical  and  lay  deputies  from  seven  of  the 
thirteen  States  of  the  Union,  viz. :  New  York,  New  Jersey, 
Pennsylvania,  Delaware,  Maryland,  Virginia,  and  South  Car- 


394  THE  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH. 

olina.  They  made  such  changes  in  the  Prayer-Book  as  were 
necessary  to  accommodate  it  to  changes  in  the  State.  A 
general  Constitution  was  proposed  ;  measures  were  taken  to 
obtain  the  Episcopacy  ;  and  changes  in  the  Prayer-Book  and 
Articles  were  proposed  and  published  in  a  volume  called 
"The  Proposed  Book." 

The  outlines  of  the  Constitution,  as  finally  agreed  upon, 
were  as  follows  :  There  shall  be  a  triennial  convention,  con- 
sisting of  a  deputation  from  each  diocese  of  not  more  than 
four  clergymen  and  four  laymen  ;  they  shall  vote  by  dio- 
ceses, each  order  having  a  negative  on  the  other ;  when 
there  shall  be  a  Bishop  in  the  State  he  shall  be  ex  officio  a 
member  of  the  convention ;  the  different  orders  of  the 
clergy  shall  be  accountable  only  to  the  ecclesiastical  author- 
ity of  their  own  dioceses  ;  previous  to  ordination  there  shall 
be  a  declaration  of  belief  in  the  Holy  Scriptures  and  con- 
formity to  the  doctrines  and  worship  of  the  Church.  The 
convention  appointed  a  committee  to  correspond  with  the 
Archbishops  and  Bishops  of  the  Church  of  England,  with  a 
view  to  obtain  the  Episcopate.  The  convention  then  ad- 
journed to  meet  in  Philadelphia  on  the  20th  of  June  of  the 
following  year. 

The  address  of  the  committee  to  the  English  prelates  was 
forwarded  to  John  Adams,  then  the  American  Minister  in 
England,  with  the  request  that  he  should  present  it  to  the 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury.  The  Governors  of  New  York, 
Maryland,  Pennsylvania,  and  Virginia,  for  which  States  it 
was  contemplated  that  Bishops  should  be  consecrated,  also 
sent  certificates  testifying  to  and  approving  the  acts  of  the 
convention.  In  the  spring  of  1786,  the  committee  received 
an  answer  signed  by  two  Archbishops,  and  seventeen  of  the 
twenty  Bishops  of  England.  It  was  courteous  in  its  tone, 
and  expressed  a  desire  to  comply  with  the  request,  but  de- 
layed compliance  until  they  could  be  advised  of  the  altera- 
tions which  were  to  be  made  in  the  Prayer-Book.  The 
General  Convention  held  in  June,  1786,  and  the  subsequent 
one  which  met  in  Wilmington  in  October,  made  such  satis- 
factory representations  to  the  English  Bishops  that  all  ob- 


CONSECRATION  OF  AMERICAN  BISHOPS.        395 

stacles  to  the  consecration  of  the  American  Bishops  were 
removed.  Accordingly,  Dr.  White,  of  Pennsylvania,  and 
Dr.  Provoost,  of  New  York,  sailed  to  England ;  and  were 
consecrated  in  the  Chapel  of  Lambeth  Palace  on  Sunday, 
February  4, 1787,  by  the  two  Archbishops  and  the  Bishops 
of  Bath  and  Wells,  and  Peterborough.  Dr.  Madison  was 
consecrated  for  Virginia  in  1790  by  the  Archbishop  of  Can- 
terbury, and  the  Bishops  of  London  and  Rochester.  Thus 
the  Episcopate,  in  the  line  of  succession  from  the  English 
Church,  was  finally  secured  to  the  American  branch ;  and 
these  three  Bishops  representing  the  line  of  the  Church  of 
England,  uniting,  in  1792,  with  the  Bishop  of  Connecticut 
representing  the  line  of  the  Scottish  Church,  consecrated  at 
Trinity  Church,  N.  Y.,  Dr.  Claggett,  for  Maryland,  through 
whom  every  subsequent  Bishop  of  this  branch  traces  his 
Episcopal  succession.  In  the  Convention  of  1789,  in  Phil- 
adelphia, after  the  provision  for  the  power,  on  the  part  of 
the  House  of  Bishops,  of  originating  acts  and  of  a  negative 
on  the  proceedings  of  the  lower  house,  the  Prayer-Book  re- 
ceived certain  modifications,  some  of  which  had  long  been 
desired  by  many  eminent  bishops  and  divines  in  the  English 
Church,  and  thus  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in  the 
United  States  was  finally  established  with  the  Constitution, 
Ritual,  and  Discipline  which  it  has  since,  with  a  few  unim- 
portant modifications,  retained. 

The  organization  of  the  Church  is  singularly  analogous  to 
that  of  the  Republic.  Every  regular  member  of  a  parish  is 
a  voter  for  the  vestry,  which  administers  the  affairs  of  the 
parish.  The  vestry,  thus  elected,  select  a  clergyman,  fix  his 
salary,  and  manage  all  the  temporalities  of  the  church.  At 
an  annual  meeting  of  the  vestry  lay  delegates  are  appointed 
to  a  Diocesan  Convention,  in  which  the  clergy  and  laity 
have  an  equal  voice,  and  which  legislates  for  the  Church  in 
the  diocese.  A  Diocesan  Convention  stands  to  the  General 
Convention  as  State  legislatures  do  to  Congress. 

The  General  Convention  is  composed  of  two  houses — the 
House  of  Bishops  and  the  House  of  Clerical  and  Lay  Dep- 
uties—each house  having  a  veto  on  the  other. 


396  THE  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH. 

The  doctrines  of  the  Church  are  found  systematically 
stated  in  the  Creeds  and  the  XXXIX.  Articles,  which  are  the 
Articles  of  the  Church  of  England  adapted  to  the  changed 
relation  to  the  civil  authority.  The  same  adaptation  was 
necessary  in  regard  to  services  provided  by  the  Prayer-Book, 
in  which  some  other  alterations  were  also  made,  designed 
chiefly  to  avoid  repetition  and  obsolete  phraseology.  In  sub- 
stance the  two  Prayer-Books  are  the  same  :  the  only  import- 
ant difference  being  in  the  Liturgy,  properly  so  called,  or 
Communion  Office,  in  which  the  American  Book  adds  to  the 
words  of  Institution  recited  in  the  Consecration  Prayer  of 
the  English  Book,  the  Oblation  and  Invocation  derived  from 
the  Communion  Office  of  the  Scottish  Church. 


SUBSEQUENT   HISTOEY   OF  THE   CHUECH. 

Since  the  final  settlement  of  the  Episcopal  Church  in  the 
United  States  it  has  made  rapid  progress.  At  that  period 
there  were  but  three  bishops,  and  the  number  of  the  clergy 
was  less  than  two  hundred.  Nearly  one  hundred  years 
later,  or  in  1886,  it  published  to  the  world  the  following 
grand  record  of  advancement :  Bishops,  active,  66  ;  retired, 
4 ;  clergymen,  3,729  ;  parishes  and  missions,  4,565  ;  families 
represented  in  membership,  192,019  ;  individual  members, 
760,207 ;  communicants,  397,192 ;  Sunday-school  teachers, 
36,001 ;  Sunday-school  scholars,  326,203  ;  aggregate  of  con- 
tributions and  offerings,  for  the  year,  $9,017,155.16.  There 
were  then  66  dioceses  and  missionary  jurisdictions.  Seventy 
new  churches  were  consecrated  during  the  year,  and  50,602 
persons  baptized.  The  most  important  of  the  church  institu- 
tions were  the  General  Theological  Seminary,  New  York  City 
(est.  1817) ;  Hobart  College,  Geneva,  N.  Y. ;  University  of 
the  South,  Sewanee,  Tenn. ;  a  theological  seminary  at  Nash- 
otah,Wis. ;  Racine  (Wis.)  College ;  Trinity  College,  Hartford, 
Conn,  (chartered  1823) ;  Theological  Seminary  and  Kenyon 
College,  Gambier,  O.  (Inc.  1824,  1839) ;  Griswold  College, 
Davenport,  la.  (founded  1859) ;  and  the  Western  Theological 
Seminary,  Chicago,  111. ;  there  were  13  Sisterhoods,  2  orders 


SUBSEQUENT  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH.        397 

of  deaconesses,  2  orders  of  Sisters,  and  1  community  con- 
nected  with  the  church. 

In  accordance  with  the  provisions  of  the  Constitution,  a 
General  Convention  has  been  regularly  held  every  three 
years,  and  a  few  special  conventions,  which  are  also  provided 
for  in  cases  of  emergency,  have  also  been  convened.  In  the 
Northern  States  the  progress  of  the  Church  has  been  steady 
and  rapid.  But  in  the  South  it  continued  long  feeble.  In 
the  General  Convention  of  1811  the  Church  of  Maryland 
was  reported  as  "  still  in  a  deplorable  condition,"  and  the 
Church  in  Virginia  was  declared  to  be  "  in  danger  of  her 
total  ruin."  In  the  next  General  Convention  of  1814  the 
same  representations,  with  regard  to  the  Southern  dioceses, 
were  repeated.  In  Delaware  the  condition  was  "  truly  dis- 
tressing, and  the  prospect  gloomy."  In  Maryland  the 
Church  still  continued  "in  a  state  of  depression  ";  in  many 
places  "  her  ministers  had  thrown  off  their  sacred  profes- 
sion," "  her  liturgy  was  either  contemned  or  unknown,"  and 
"her  sanctuaries  desolate."  From  the  reports  made  in  the 
convention  in  1820  the  Church  appears  to  have  received  a 
new  impulse.  The  General  Theological  Seminary,  begun  in 
New  York  in  1817,  and  subsequently  transferred  to  New 
York  again,  had  been  established  at  New  Haven,  and  a  Gen- 
eral Missionary  Society  organized.  "  The  Church  was  now 
rapidly  extending  on  every  side  and  the  clergy  lists  record 
over  three  hundred  names." 

In  the  Convention  of  1829  seventeen  dioceses  were  repre- 
sented by  forty-seven  clerical  deputies,  and  thirty-seven  lay 
deputies,  from  fifteen  dioceses,  and  by  nine  bishops. 
Thirteen  bishops,  fifty-one  clerical  and  thirty-eight  lay 
deputies  made  up  the  Convention  of  1832,  which  convened 
in  New  York  on  the  17th  of  October.  The  Convention  of 
1835  was  one  of  the  most  important  that  was  ever  held ;  and 
was  a  turning-point  in  the  policy,  and  a  starting-point  for 
an  accelerated  progress  of  the  Church.  Fourteen  bishops 
and  one  hundred  and  twenty  deputies,  sixty-nine  clerical 
and  fifty-one  lay,  representing  twenty-one  dioceses,  com- 
posed the  convention.  Illinois,  with  the  Rt.  Rev.  Philander 


398  THE  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH. 

Chase,  was  received  into  union.  The  Constitution  of  the 
Board  of  Missions  was  established,  making  every  baptized 
member  of  the  church  a  member  of  the  missionary  organiza- 
tion. Provision  was  made  for  Missionary  Bishops,  and  for  the 
division  of  dioceses.  The  Canons  were  revised  and  reported 
in  one  body.  Arrangements  were  made  for  securing  histor- 
ical documents  of  the  churches,  and  the  Rev.  Dr.  Hawks  was 
appointed  their  conservator.  From  this  period  the  prog- 
ress of  the  Church  was  much  more  rapid  than  before.  Under 
the  zealous  labors  of  Bishops  Moore  and  Meade,  the  Church 
in  the  diocese  of  Virginia  revived,  and  became  one  of  the 
most  prosperous  in  the  union.  In  Maryland,  also,  and  in 
North  and  South  Carolina  a  similar  revival  of  spiritual  life 
and  of  missionary  zeal  was  awakened. 

The  Convention  of  1853  was  memorable  for  the  memorial 
presented  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Muhlenberg  and  other  prominent 
divines,  in  favor  of  Liturgical  relaxation  and  Church  com- 
prehension. It  resulted  in  the  appointment  of  a  commission 
having  the  consideration  of  these  subjects  committed  to 
them.  Notwithstanding  the  earnest  desire  of  some  of  the 
most  eminent  of  the  bishops  and  clergy  for  the  promotion 
of  this  object,  nothing  farther  was  effected  than  the  develop- 
ment of  the  fact  that  some  of  the  first  minds  of  the  Church 
anxiously  desired  larger  liberty  in  the  use  of  the  Liturgy, 
and  more  flexibility  in  all  the  agencies  for  Church  exten- 
sion. 

The  Convention  of  1862  met  in  New  York  in  troublous 
times.  No  bishops  or  delegates,  of  course,  appeared  from 
the  seceded  States.  The  introduction  of  resolutions  having 
reference  to  the  disturbed  state  of  the  country,  occasioned 
lengthy  debate,  and  absorbed  a  large  part  of  the  session. 
One  portion  of  the  Convention  desired  that  an  emphatic 
testimony  should  be  given  to  the  sin  of  rebellion,  and  to  the 
duty  of  supporting  the  government  in  putting  it  down ;  and 
another  portion  were  anxious  that  the  Convention  should 
limit  its  action  to  strictly  ecclesiastical  and  religious  ques- 
tions; and  thus  interpose  no  obstacles  to  the  subsequent 
reunion  of  the  separated  dioceses.  This  reunion  in  fact 


THE  "MISSION  SERVICE"  OF  1885-'86.  399 

took  place  in  the  next  Convention  of  1865.  The  Churches  in 
the  seceded  States  had  become  formally  separated  by  their 
independent  action  during  the  civil  war,  in  organizing  a 
Council,  framing  a  Constitution  and  Canons,  and  proceeding 
to  the  consecration  of  a  Bishop,  with  an  express  disavowal 
of  the  authority  of  the  General  Constitution  of  the  Church. 
But  a  reconciliation  was  effected ;  and  the  Bishop  of  Ala- 
bama, who  had  been  consecrated  during  this  period,  was 
received  into  the  Episcopate  of  the  Church  of  the  United 
States,  by  signing  an  equivalent  to  the  promise  of  conform- 
ity taken  by  the  other  Bishops  at  their  consecration. 

The  ritualistic  tendencies  of  some  of  the  churches  in  Eng- 
land found  their  counterpart  in  the  United  States.  In  both 
countries  the  supreme  authorities  of  the  Church  warned, 
presented,  and  disciplined  their  clergy  for  violations  of  the 
prescribed  ceremonials ;  yet  in  almost  every  large  city  there 
were  found  in  1865  strong  "High  Church"  and  "Low 
Church  "  advocates,  and  churches  in  which  extremely  ritual- 
istic customs  were  observed.  Both  the  Presbyterian  and 
the  Protestant  Episcopal  Churches  in  the  United  States  have 
been  divided  into  two  parties  on  the  question  of  church  gov- 
ernment. In  each  case  there  was  a  separation,  and  in  the 
Presbyterian  alone  a  reunion.  In  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
Church  the  parties  were  diametrically  opposed.  After  many 
years  of  controversy  a  separation  occurred  in  1873,  and  a  new 
church,  taking  the  name  of  the  Reformed  Episcopal  Church, 
(quod  vide),  was  organized  in  New  York  City,  with  the  Rev. 
George  David  Cummins,  D.D.,  as  its  first  Bishop. 

THE  "MISSION  SERVICE"  OF  1885-'86. 

A  number  of  the  bishops  and  clergy  of  the  Church  desired 
for  a  long  time  that  some  of  her  clergy  should  devote  them- 
selves to  special  evangelistic  work.  From  time  to  time  com- 
mittees were  appointed  to  report  to  "the  next  General 
Convention"  the  desirableness  of  an  order  of  Evangelists, 
freed  from  parochial  cares  and  duties,  to  itinerate  among 
the  "  feeble  parishes,"  and  also  to  visit  Zion's  waste  places. 


400  THE  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH. 

Fearing  that  their  services  might  result  in  religious  excite- 
ment, and  be  followed  by  a  speedy  reaction,  and  that  "  re- 
vival services  might  interfere  with  the  conservative  and 
quiet  ways "  of  the  Episcopal  Church,  the  matter  was  de- 
ferred from  one  General  Convention  to  another,  and  no 
canon  authorizing  the  appointment  of  an  "  order  of  Evan- 
gelists "  had  been  adopted  up  to  January  1, 1886. 

But,  as  individual  bishops  have  the  power  to  appoint 
clergymen  to  do  evangelistic  work,  some  resolved  to  do  so. 
A  committee  to  consider  the  subject  and  formulate  a  plan 
was  appointed  in  1884.  The  committee,  headed  by  Assistant 
Bishop  Potter,  of  New  York,  prepared  and  published  the 
following  reasons  for  the  projected  missions : 

1.  A  large  class  of  well-to-do  and  refined  people,  who  have  ceased  to 
be,  or  never  have  been,  Church-goers. 

2.  Formal  communicants. 

3.  The  irreligion  of  the  young  men  of  our  well-to-do  families. 

4.  The  evils  in  the  life  of  men  and  women  in  fashionable  society. 

5.  The  feeble  recognition  on  the  part  of  masters  and  mistresses  of  the 
need  of  Church  attendance  by  then*  servants,  resulting  largely  from  a 
want  of  care  for  the  spiritual  welfare  of  servants. 

6.  The  evils  of  Class  Churches. 

7.  The  evils  which  come  from  the  instability  of  Church  connec- 
tion. 

8.  The  lack  of  opportunity  for  private  prayer,  consequent  upon  the 
condition  of  our  tenement  and  boarding  houses,  and  the  fact  that  few 
churches  are  constantly  open. 

9.  The  want  of  definite,  positive  instruction  in  religious  duties,  and 
in  what  practical  Christian  living  consists. 

10.  The  lack  of  personal  spiritual  ministry  to  the  rich. 

11.  The  drain  upon  the  mind,  souls,  and  bodies  of  two  classes :    (1)  of 
those  who  give  themselves  up  to  the  demands  of  society  life ;  (2)  of  those 
laden  down  with  too  much  work — unfitting  both  classes  for  a  healthful 
Christian  life.     Among  the  causes  of  this  drain  we  specify,   (a)  late 
hours;    (b)  stores  open  late  Saturday  nights;     (c)  no  Saturday  half 
holidays. 

12.  The  religious  deprivation  suffered  by  the  large  and  rapidly  increas- 
ing portion  of  the  population  called  to  labor  at  night,  in  connection  with 
the  homeless  and  the  vicious  classes  abroad  under  cover  of  darkness. 

13.  The  wrongs  inflicted  by  employers  upon  their  employes. 

14.  The  lust  of  wealth,  issuing  in  the  manifold  evils  of  unscrupulous 


THE  "MISSION  SERVICE"   OF  1885-'86.  401 

competition ;  over- work,  under-pay,  scamped  work,  and  mutual  enmity 
and  discontent  between  employer  and  employe. 

15.  The  immorality  and  irreligion  caused  by  the  unrighteous  denial 
to  a  large  and  increasing  class  of  one  day's  rest  in  seven. 

16.  The  prevalence  of  the  sins  of  intemperance  and  impurity. 

17.  The  special  religious  difficulties  caused  by  the  constant  flow  of 
immigrants. 

18.  The  hindrance  to  the  growth  of  the  Christian  life  caused  by  our 
luxuriousness  and  selfishness. 

19.  The  ostentatious  display  by  Church-goers  of  all  classes. 

20.  The  want  of  public  spirit  in  its  bearing  upon  both  Church  and 
State. 

According  to  the  recommendations  of  the  committee, 
"  missions  "  were  conducted  in  many  of  the  largest  Protest- 
ant Episcopal  churches  in  the  country  throughout  the  winter 
of  1885-'86.  Eloquent "  missioners  "  were  employed  ;  special 
services  were  held  for  children ;  and  the  great  innovation  for 
this  conservative  Church  was  proved  beyond  a  doubt  to  be 
both  popular  and  fruitful. 

The  official  reports  of  the  Church  for  1893  showed :  Dio- 
ceses 53,  missionary  jurisdictions  18,  foreign  missions  7, 
bishops  78,  clergy  4,369,  lay  readers  1,495,  parishes  and  mis- 
sions 5,872,  communicants  577,814,  Sunday-school  teachers 
44,371,  pupils  404,822,  parish  school  teachers  405,  pupils 
10,120,  hospitals  33,  orphanages  31,  homes  79,  dispensaries  2, 
and  reformatories  6.  During  the  previous  year  the  Domestic 
Missionary  Society  aided  818  missionaries,  to  the  amount  of 
$342,611.  The  foreign  field  had  225  stations  and  outstations 
in  Africa,  China,  Japan,  and  Haiti,  and  a  mission  school  in 
Greece,  with  499  helpers  and  75  presbyters  and  deacons,  of 
whom  58  were  natives.  In  China  there  were  5  missionary 
physicians,  41  other  lay  workers  of  all  grades,  372  native 
lay  readers  and  teachers,  29  boarding-schools  with  782  pu- 
pils, 77  day-schools  with  2,929  pupils,  and  a  total  of  5,223 
children  under  instruction.  In  Haiti  there  were  14  clergy, 
19  mission  stations,  216  Sunday-school  pupils,  and  141  day- 
school  pupils.  Mexico  had  5  clergy,  23  congregations,  and 
11  day-schools  with  400  pupils.  Under  charge  of  a  bishop  of 
the  American  Church  there  were  in  Europe  16  churches,  19 
clergy,  and  853  communicants. 


(Ufte 


d>fturcft. 


OEIGIN. 

THIS  denomination  originated  in  New  York  City  in 
1873.  The  Dean  of  Canterbury,  Church  of  England, 
was  a  delegate  to  the  World's  Conference  of  the  Evangelical 
Alliance  which  met  in  October  of  that  year  in  New  York. 
During  the  conference  he  participated  one  Sunday  in  the 
celebration  of  the  communion  service  in  conjunction  with  a 
number  of  clergymen  representing  several  non-Episcopal 
bodies.  The  attention  of  Bishop  Potter  was  called  to  the 
occurrence  and  letters  were  sent  to  the  Dean  and  Archbishop 
of  Canterbury,  expressing  regrets  for  his  action.  Assistant 
Bishop  Cummins,  of  Kentucky,  defended  the  Dean  and  ac- 
knowledged that  he  also  had  participated  in  a  communion 
service  outside  his  own  church,  and  challenged  the  citation 
of  any  law  of  the  Church  prohibiting  such  participation.  A\ 
very  heated  controversy  arose,  which  was  carried  on  in  the' 
pulpit  and  in  the  newspaper  press,  and  it  was  emphasized! 
by  Bishop  Potter  publishing  a  letter  commending  his  sub- 
ordinate for  censuring  the  Dean  and  explaining  the  objec- 
tions to  such,  mixed  communions.  . 

(402) 


THE  FOUNDER  OF  THE  NEW  CHURCH.  403 

OEGANIZATION   OF  THE  FEW   CHUKCH. 

This  letter  was  followed  by  the  resignation  of  Bishop 
Cummins  of  his  office  in  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church, 
on  Nov.  10,  in  a  long  letter  to  Bishop  Smith,  of  the  Diocese 
of  Kentucky,  in  which  he  fully  explained  his  position.  In 
it  he  declared,  among  the  reasons  for  his  course,  that  when- 
ever called  upon  to  officiate  in  certain  churches,  he  had  been 
most  painfully  impressed  by  the  conviction  that  he  was 
sanctioning  and  endorsing  by  his  presence  and  official  acts 
the  dangerous  errors  symbolized  by  the  services  customary 
in  ritualistic  churches,  and  that  he  could  no  longer  by  par- 
ticipation in  such  services  be  a  partaker  of  other  men's  sins, 
and  must  clear  his  own  soul  of  all  complicity  in  such  errors. 
A  call  was  issued  five  days  later  for  a  meeting  to  be  held 
on  Dec.  2,  at  Association  Hall,  New  York  City.  A  large 
number  of  laymen  and  ministers,  who  for  various  reasons 
had  withdrawn  from  the  church,  presented  themselves  at 
the  appointed  time,  and  the  "  Reformed  Episcopal  Church  " 
was  organized.  The  Rt.  Rev.  George  David  Cummins,  D.D., 
was  unanimously  elected  Presiding  Bishop,  and  the  Rev. 
Charles  Edward  Cheney,  of  Chicago,  was  elected  an  ad- 
ditional Bishop,  to  be  known  as  Missionary  Bishop  of  the 
Northwest,  A  Declaration  of  Principles,  several  provisional 
rules,  and  a  Constitution,  to  be  in  force  until  the  first  meet- 
ing of  the  General  Council,  were  adopted.  A  prominent 
feature  of  the  latter,  as  amended,  was  the  reference  to  the 
communion  service  in  these  words  : 

"  Our  fellow-Christians  of  all  other  branches  of  Christ's 
Church,  and  all  who  love  our  Divine  Lord  and  Saviour 
Jesus  Christ  in  sincerity,  are  affectionately  invited  to  the 
Lord's  table." 

THE  FOUNDER  OF  THE  CHUKCH. 

Dr.  Cummins  was  born  in  Delaware,  Dec.  11,  1822.  He 
was  educated  at  Dickinson  College,  Carlisle,  Pa.,  and  grad- 
uated from  that  institution  in  1841.  He  entered  upon  the 
study  of  theology  with  Robert  Emory,  a  Methodist  minister, 
and  spent  two  years  as  a  preacher  "  on  trial "  in  the  Method- 


404  THE  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH. 

1st  Episcopal  Church.  He  afterwards  joined  the  Protestant 
Episcopal  Church,  and  was  ordained  a  deacon  in  that 
church  by  Bishop  Lee,  in  October,  1845  ;  a  priest  by  the 
same  Bishop  in  July,  1847  ;  and  was  successively  appointed 
to  the  following  parishes  :  Christ  Church,  Norfolk,  Va. ;  St. 
James  Church,  Richmond,  Va. ;  Trinity  Church,  Washing- 
ton, D.  C. ;  St.  Peter's  Church,  Baltimore,  Md. ;  and  Trinity 
Church,  Chicago,  111.  While  in  charge  of  the  last-named 
parish  he  was  elected  Assistant  Bishop  of  Kentucky-  and 
was  consecrated  in  Christ  Church,  Louisville,  in  November, 
1866.  He  officiated  efficiently  until  the  events  occurred  that 
led  to  his  withdrawal  from  the  church  in  1873.  He  died 
June  26, 1876. 

DECLARATION   OF  PRINCIPLES. 

I.  The  Eeformed  Episcopal  Church,  holding  "  the  faith  once  delivered 
unto  the  saints,"  declares  its  belief  in  the  Holy  Scriptures  of  the  Old  and 
New  Testaments  as  the  Word  of  God,  and  the  sole  Eule  of  Faith  and 
Practice  ;  in  the  Creed,  "  commonly  called  the  Apostles'  Creed  " ;  in  the 
Divine  institution  of  the  Sacraments  of  Baptism  and  the  Lord's  Supper  ; 
and  in  the  doctrines  of  grace  substantially  as  they  are  set  forth  in  the 
Thirty-nine  Articles  of  Religion. 

II.  This  Church  recognizes  and  adheres  to  Episcopacy,  not  as  of  divine 
right,  but  as  a  very  ancient  and  desirable  form  of  church  polity. 

III.  This  Church,  retaining  a  Liturgy  which  shall  not  be  imperative 
or  repressive  of  freedom  in  prayer,  accepts  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer, 
as  it  was  revised,  proposed,  and  recommended  for  use  by  the  General 
Convention  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  A.D.  1785,  reserving 
full  liberty  to  alter,  abridge,  enlarge,  and  amend  the  same,  as  may  seem 
most  conducive  to  the  edification  of  the  people,  "  provided  that  the  sub- 
stance of  the  faith  be  kept  entire." 

IV.  This  Church  condemns  and  rejects  the  following  erroneous  and 
strange  doctrines,  as  contrary  to  God's  Word  : 

First,  That  the  Church  of  Christ  exists  only  in  one  order  or  form  of 
ecclesiastical  polity. 

Second,  That  Christian  ministers  are  "  priests  "  in  another  sense  than 
that  in  which  all  believers  are  "  a  royal  priesthood." 

Third,  That  the  Lord's  Table  is  an  altar  on  which  the  oblation  of  the 
Body  and  Blood  of  Christ  is  offered  anew  to  the  Father. 

Fourth,  That  the  presence  of  Christ  in  the  Lord's  Supper  is  a  presence 
in  the  elements  of  Bread  and  Wine. 

Fifth,  That  Regeneration  is  inseparably  connected  with  Baptism. 


MISSIONARY  JURISDICTIONS.  405 

At  the  close  of  the  first  year  of  its  existence,  the  new 
church  had  40  ministers,  36  churches,  and  upward  of  3,000 
communicants.  On  June  1,  1885,  there  were  reported, 
bishops,  10  ;  ministers,  61 ;  Sunday-school  teachers,  960  ; 
Sunday-school  scholars,  11,267  ;  communicants,  7,877 ;  value 
of  church  property,  less  incumbrances,  $1,009,843.  The 
church  was  divided  into  the  Synods  of  New  York  and  Phila- 
delphia, the  Synod  of  Canada,  the  Synod  of  Chicago,  and  the 
Missionary  Jurisdictions  of  the  Pacific,  of  the  South,  of  the 
Northwest  and  West,  and  the  Special  Missionary  Jurisdic- 
tion of  the  South.  It  also  had  in  Great  Britain  2  bishops, 
13  presbyters,  2  deacons,  17  parishes,  718  Sunday-school 
scholars,  and  418  communicants. 


MISSIONARY   AND   SYNODICAL   JURISDICTIONS. 

The  First  Synod  in  the  Dominion  of  Canada  comprised  the 
churches  in  the  several  Canadian  Provinces,  except  British 
Columbia,  and  was  in  charge  of  Bishop  Edward  Wilson, 
D.D. 

The  Missionary  Jurisdiction  of  the  Pacific  comprised  the 
Canadian  province  of  British  Columbia,  and  all  the  States  and 
Territories  of  the  United  States  west  of  the  Rocky  Mount- 
ains, and  was  in  charge  of  Bishop  Edward  Cridge,  B.A., 
Cantab. 

The  Synod  of  New  York  and  Philadelphia  comprised  the 
churches  in  the  New  England  States,  and  in  the  States  of 
New  York,  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  and  Delaware,  and 
was  in  charge  of  Bishop  William  R.  Nicholson,  D.D. 

The  Missionary  Jurisdiction  of  the  South  comprised  the 
District  of  Columbia,  the  State  of  Maryland,  and  all  other 
of  the  United  States  lying  east  of  the  Mississippi  River  and 
south  of  the  Ohio  River,  not  embraced  in  the  Synod  of  New 
York  and  Philadelphia,  and  in  the  Special  Missionary  Juris- 
diction of  the  South,  and  was  in  charge  of  Bishop  James  A. 
Latane,  D.D. 

The  Special  Missionary  Jurisdiction  of  the  South  com- 
prised all  the  colored  parishes  and  congregations  in  the 


406  THE  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH. 

Southern  States,  and  was  under  the  charge  of  Bishop  P.  F. 
Stevens. 

The  Missionary  Jurisdiction  of  the  Northwest  and  West 
comprised  the  States  of  Ohio,  Michigan,  Indiana,  Illinois — 
not  including  the  Synod  of  Chicago — Wisconsin,  Minne- 
sota, and  all  other  of  the  States  and  Territories  of  the  United 
States  lying  west  of  the  Mississippi  River,  and  east  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains,  and  was  in  charge  of  Bishop  Samuel 
Fallows,  D.D. 

The  Synod  of  Chicago  comprised  the  following  churches  : 
Christ's  Church,  Chicago ;  Emmanuel  Church,  Chicago  ; 
St.  Matthew's  Church,  Chicago  ;  Grace  Church,  Chicago  ; 
St.  John's  Church,  Chicago  ;  Trinity  Church,  Englewood  ; 
Christ  Church,  Peoria  ;  St.  John's  Church,  Chillicothe  ; 
Church  of  the  Epiphany,  Detroit,  Michigan,  and  was  in 
charge  of  Bishop  Charles  Edward  Cheney,  D.D. 

The  General  Synod  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland  comprised 
England,  Scotland,  and  Ireland,  under  the  charge  of  Bishops 
John  Sugden,  B.A.,  and  A.  S.  Richardson,  D.D. — Rev. 
P.  X.  Eldridge,  Christ  Church  Parsonage,  Peterborough, 
being  Secretary — had  a  separate  and  independent  existence, 
granted  by  resolution  of  the  General  Council,  May  26, 1878. 

THE  BISHOPS   AND   OFFICEES. 

The  bishops  living  on  Jan.  1, 1894,  were :  Charles  Edward 
Cheney,  D.D.,  consecrated  by  Bishop  Cummins  and  five 
Presbyters,  in  Christ  Church,  Chicago,  HI.,  Dec.  14,  1873  ; 
William  R.  Nicholson,  D.D.,  consecrated  by  Bishops  Cum- 
mins, Cheney,  Simpson — of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
— and  nine  Presbyters,  in  the  Second  Reformed  Episcopal 
Church,  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  Feb.  24,  1876;  Edward  Cridge, 
B.  A.  ,Cantab. ,  consecrated  by  Bishops  Cheney,  Mcholson,Car- 
man — of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church — and  nine  Presby- 
ters, in  Emmanuel  Church,  Ottawa,  Ontario,  July  17,  1876 ; 
Samuel  Fallows,  D.D.,  consecrated  at  the  same  time  and  place 
as  Bishop  Cridge,  and  by  the  same  Bishops  and  Presbyters  ; 


THE  BISHOPS  AND  OFFICERS.  407 

P.  F.  Stevens,  consecrated  by  Bishops  Nicholson  and  Fallows, 
assisted  by  several  Presbyters,  in  the  Second  Reformed 
Episcopal  Church,  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  June  22, 1879 ;  James 
A.  Latane,  D.D.,  consecrated  at  the  same  time  and  place  as 
Bishop  Stevens,  and  by  the  same  Bishops  and  Presbyters  ; 
Edward  Wilson,  D.D.,  consecrated  by  Bishops  Nicholson 
and  Latane,  assisted  by  several  Presbyters,  in  the  Second 
Reformed  Episcopal  Church,  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  July  1, 1880  ; 
and  Thomas  W.  Campbell. 

The  officers  of  the  General  Council  for  1885-'7  were :  Pres- 
ident and  Presiding  Bishop,  Bishop  James  A.  Latane,  D.D., 
of  Baltimore,  Md. ;  Secretary,  Charles  D.  Kellogg,  New  York 
City ;  Assistant  Secretary,  Rev.  Joseph  B.  North,  Philadel- 
phia, Pa.;  Treasurer,  John  Heins,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

In  1890  there  were  reported  83  organizations,  84  church 
edifices,  and  2  halls  used  for  church  purposes,  8,455  members, 
and  $1,615,101  invested  in  church  property. 


THE 

Presbyteriaq 


DOCTKHSTES   OF  PKESBYTEKIANS. 

T)RESBYTERIANS  hold  in  common  with  many  other 
JL  bodies  of  Christians  the  Calvinistic  system  of  doctrines. 
Their  faith  is  epitomized  in  the  Westminster  Confession. 
They  derive  their  denominational  name  from  the  fact  that 
there  is  no  order  in  the  Church,  as  established  by  Christ  and 
his  Apostles,  superior  to  that  of  Presbyters;  that  all  ministers 
being  ambassadors  of  Christ,  are  equal  by  commission  ;  that 
Presbyter  or  Elder,  and  Bishop,  are  merely  different  names  for 
the  same  person  ;  and  that  Deacons  are  laymen  whose  office  is 
chiefly  to  take  care  of  the  poor.  They  regard  a  Presbytery  as 
a  society  of  clerical  and  lay  Presbyters,  or,  as  they  usually  call 
them,  ministers  and  elders.  They  affirm  that  the  primitive 
form  of  church  government  was  universally  Presbyterian, 
and  that  this  form,  having,  after  the  time  of  the  Apostles, 
been  supplanted  by  Episcopacy,  was  restored  in  various 
parts  of  Europe  after  the  Reformation  had  begun.  They 
acknowledge  no  authority  in  respect  to  the  doctrines  and 
duties  of  the  Christian  church  but  the  will  of  God  as  found 
in  the  sacred  Scriptures ;  they  maintain  that  God  alone  is 
Lord  of  the  conscience,  and  hath  left  it  free  from  the  doc- 
trines and  commandments  of  men  ;  that  the  rights  of  pri- 
(408) 


THE  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CHURCH.  409 

vate  judgment,  in  all  matters  that  respect  religion,  are  uni- 
versal and  inalienable ;  that  all  ecclesiastical  power  is  only 
ministerial  and  declarative ;  that  no  church  judicatory  ought 
to  pretend  to  make  laws  to  bind  the  conscience  in  virtue  of 
their  own  authority,  and  that  all  their  decisions  ought  to 
be  founded  upon  the  word  of  God.  Ecclesiastical  discipline 
is  purely  moral  and  spiritual  in  its  object,  and  ought  not  to 
be  attended  with  any  civil  effects ;  hence  it  can  derive  no 
force  whatever  but  from  its  own  justice,  the  approbation  of 
an  impartial  public,  and  the  favor  and  blessing  of  the  great 
Head  of  the  church. 


THE  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

The  officers  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  are  bishops  or 
pastors,  ruling  elders,  and  deacons.  The  pastor  is  the  spirit- 
ual teacher  of  the  congregation.  He  is  expected  to  preach 
the  gospel  in  the  church  on  the  Lord's  day,  to  instruct  the 
people  by  occasional  lectures,  to  superintend  the  catechis- 
mal  teaching  of  the  young,  and  to  visit  the  sick  and  bereaved, 
and  console  them  by  spiritual  counsel  adapted  to  their  ne- 
cessities. Ruling  elders  are  elected  by  the  people  as  their 
representatives  in  the  ecclesiastical  courts,  and  to  co-operate 
with  the  pastor  in  watching  over  the  spiritual  interests  of 
the  congregation.  Deacons  are  officers  whose  duty  is  the 
care  of  the  poor,  and  the  reception  and  disbursement  of  the 
charitable  and  other  funds  of  the  congregation. 

The  SESSION  is  the  primary  court  of  the  church,  and  con- 
sists of  the  bishop  or  pastor,  and  the  ruling  elders.  The 
bishop  is  the  president,  and  has  the  title  of  "  Moderator  of 
the  session."  The  session  is  charged  with  the  duty  of  watch- 
ing over  the  spiritual  interests  of  the  congregation.  It  can 
summon  offenders  to  an  account  for  their  irregularities,  or 
their  neglect  of  Christian  duty.  It  can  investigate  charges 
presented  by  others,  and  admonish,  rebuke,  or  suspend  or  ex- 
clude from  the  Lord's  table,  those  who  are  found  to  deserve 
censure,  accord  mg  to  the  degree  of  their  culpability.  It  is  the 
business  of  the  session  also  to  appoint  a  delegate  of  its  own 


410  THE  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH. 

body,  to  attend,  with  the  pastor,  the  higher  judicatories  of 
the  church.  It  is  required  of  the  session  to  keep  a  fair  rec- 
ord of  all  its  proceedings,  as  also  a  register  of  marriages, 
baptisms,  persons  admitted  to  the  Lord's  Supper,  deaths, 
and  other  removals  of  church  members,  and  to  transmit 
these  records,  at  stated  periods,  to  the  presbytery  for  their 
inspection. 

A  PRESBYTERY  consists  of  all  the  ministers,  and  one  rul- 
ing elder  from  each  church  within  a  certain  dktrict.  Three 
ministers,  and  any  number  of  elders  who  may  be  present, 
constitute  a  quorum.  The  presbytery  has  power  to  receive 
and  issue  appeals  from  church  sessions,  and  references 
brought  before  them  in  an  orderly  manner ;  to  examine, 
license,  and  ordain  candidates  for  the  holy  ministry  ;  to  in- 
stall, remove,  and  judge  ministers  ;  to  examine  and  approve 
or  censure  the  records  of  church  sessions  ;  to  resolve  ques- 
tions of  doctrine  or  discipline,  seriously  and  reasonably  pro- 
posed; to  condemn  erroneous  opinions  which  injure  the 
purity  or  peace  of  the  church  ;  to  visit  particular  churches 
for  the  purpose  of  inquiring  into  their  state,  and  redressing 
the  evils  that  may  have  arisen  in  them  ;  to  unite  or  divide 
congregations,  at  the  request  of  the  people,  or  to  form  or 
receive  new  congregations ;  and,  in  general,  to  perform 
whatever  may  be  deemed  necessary  to  the  spiritual  welfare 
of  the  churches  under  their  care. 

A  SYNOD  consists  of  several  presbyteries  united.  Not 
less  than  three  presbyteries  are  necessary  to  compose  a 
synod.  It  is  not  made  up  of  representatives  from  the  pres- 
byteries, as  presbyteries  are  of  representatives  from  the  ses- 
sions, except  in  Synods  which  have  adopted  the  delegate 
system.  As  a  rule,  each  member  of  all  the  presbyteries 
included  in  its  bounds  is  a  member  of  the  synod,  so  that  a 
synod  is  nothing  different  from  a  larger  presbytery,  consti- 
tuted by  a  combination  of  several  presbyteries  into  one. 
The  synod  reviews  the  records  of  presbyteries,  approving  or 
censuring  their  proceedings,  erecting  new  presbyteries,  unit- 
ing or  dividing  those  which  were  before  erected,  taking  a 
general  care  of  the  churches  within  its  bounds,  and  propos- 


CEREMONIES  OF  THE  CHURCH.  411 

ing  such  measures  to  the  General  Assembly  as  may  be  f  01 
advantage  to  the  whole  church.  The  synod  is  a  court  of  ap- 
peal for  the  presbyteries  within  its  bounds,  having  the  same 
relation  to  the  presbyterial  courts  which  the  presbyteries 
have  to  the  sessions. 

The  GENERAL  ASSEMBLY  is  the  highest  judicatory  in  the 
Presbyterian  Church.  It  is  constituted  of  an  equal  delega- 
tion of  bishops  or  pastors  and  elders  from  each  presbytery 
in  the  following  proportion,  viz. :  each  presbytery  consisting 
of  not  more  than  twenty-four  ministers,  is  entitled  to  be 
represented  by  one  minister  and  one  ruling  elder  ;  and  each 
presbytery  consisting  of  more  than  twenty-four  ministers,  is 
entitled  to  be  represented  by  one  minister  and  one  elder  for 
each  twenty-four  ministers,  or  for  each  additional  fractional 
number  of  ministers  not  less  than  twelve.  These  delegates 
are  styled  Commissioners  to  the  General  Assembly.  The 
General  Assembly  meets  annually  in  such  cities  as  may  be 
selected  at  preceding  sessions. 

DUTIES   OF  MEMBERS  AND   CEREMONIES   OF  THE  CHUECH. 

As  the  Presbyterian  Church  has  been  the  parent  of  many 
independent  denominations,  that  are  now  flourishing  and 
honored  in  all  parts  of  the  world,  and  as  the  branches  have 
adhered  almost  wholly  to  the  discipline  and  practices  of  the 
parent  church,  the  following  exposition  of  the  duties  of  the 
members  and  the  ceremonies  of  the  church  will  be  found 
replete  with  interest : 

I.— THE  SANCTIFICATION  OF  THE  LORD'S  DAY. 

1.  Preparation  is  to  be  made  for  observing  it. 

2.  The  whole  day  is  to  be  kept  holy  to  the  Lord. 

3.  Families  are  to  make  such  arrangements  as  to  allow  servants  and 
all  the  household  to  enjoy  its  privileges. 

4.  Every  person  and  family  is  to  prepare  for  the  public  worship  of 
God  by  prayer  and  holy  meditation. 

5.  The  people  are  to  attend  upon  public  worship  af  the  stated  hour. 

6.  The  remainder  of  the  day,  after  the  public  services  are  over,  is  to 
be  spent  in  prayer  and  praise,  and  devotional  reading  and  teaching  the 
young,  and  works  of  charity. 


4i2  THE  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH. 

II. — THE  ASSEMBLING  OF  THE  CONGREGATION  AND  THEIR  BEHAVIOR 
DURING  DIVINE  SERVICE. 

1.  The  people  are  charged  to  assemble  in  a  grave  and  reverent  manner. 

2.  To  join  in  the  services  without  allowing  their  attention  to  be  dis- 
tracted from  the  solemn  duties  appropriate  to  the  time  and  place. 

III. — THE  PUBLIC  READING  OF  THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES. 

1.  The  reading  of  the  Holy  Scriptures  is  a  part  of  public  worship. 

2.  The  Holy  Scriptures  are  to  be  publicly  read  in  the  vulgar  tongue, 
so  that  the  people  may  understand. 

3.  The  portion  to  be  read  is  to  be  selected  by  the  officiating  pastor  or 
teacher  in  the  exercise  of  Christian  discretion. 

IV. — THE  SINGING  OF  PSALMS. 

1.  It  is  enjoined  on  Christians  as  a  duty  to  praise  God  in  the  singing 
of  psalms  and  hymns. 

2.  Sacred  music  is  to  be  cultivated,  so  that  the  spirit  of  true  devotion 
may  be  united  with  a  proper  exercise  of  the  understanding. 

3.  The  whole  congregation  should  be  furnished  with  books,  that  all 
may  take  part  in  singing. 

4.  The  proportion  of  time  to  be  spent  in  singing  is  to  be  left  to  the 
discretion  of  the  minister. 

V. — PUBLIC  PRAYER. 

1.  Public  worship  to  be  commenced  with  a  brief  invocation  of  the 
divine  blessing. 

2.  After  singing  a  psalm  or  hymn  and  reading  the  Scriptures,  a  more 
full  and  comprehensive  prayer  is  to  be  offered. 

3.  There  should  be  a  prayer  after  sermon,  which  should  have  relation 
to  the  subject  treated  of  in  the  discourse. 

4.  It  is  enjoined  upon  ministers  to  prepare  themselves  for  an  accept- 
able and  edifying  performance  of  this  duty. 

VI. — PREACHING  THE  WORD. 

1.  Preaching  the  word  is  an  institution  of  God,  and  demands  great 
attention. 

2.  The  subject  of  a  sermon  should  be  some  verse  or  verses  of  Scrip- 
ture; and  its  object  to  explain,  defend,  and  apply  some  part  of  the  sys- 
tem of  divine  truth ;    or,  to  point  out  the  nature,  and  state  the  bounds 
and  obligation  of  some  duty. 

3.  The  method  of   preaching  requires  much  study  and  prayer,  and 
ministers  ought  not  to  indulge  themselves  in  loose  extemporary  hai" 


CEREMONIES  OF  THE  CHURCH.  413 

angues.     They  are  to  avoid  ostentation,  and  to  adorn  their  doctrines 
by  their  lives. 

4.  Sermons  are  not  to  he  too  long  and  tedious. 

5.  The  sermon  being  ended,  the  minister  shall  pray  and  return  thanks 
to  Almighty  God,  a  psalm  or  hymn  shall  be  sung,  and  the  assembly 
dismissed  with  the  apostolic  benediction. 

6.  No  person  must  be  permitted  to  preach  in  any  pulpit  except  by  the 
consent  of  the  pastor  or  church  session. 

VII.—  THE  ADMINISTRATION  OF  BAPTISM. 

1.  Baptism  is  to  be  administered  by  none  but  a  minister  of  Christ. 

2.  It  is  usually  to  be  administered  in  the  church  in  the  presence  of  the 
congregation. 

3.  Children  are  to  be  presented  by  one  or  both  of  their  parents,  or  hi 
case  of  adopted  children  or  servants,  they  are  to  be  presented  by  those  who 
are  really  responsible  for  their  religious  training.      Godfathers  and 
Godmothers  are  rejected  by  the  Presbyterian  Church,  as  unauthorized, 
and  inconsistent  with  the  design  of  the  ordinance,  as  binding  those  who 
are  charged  with  the  spiritual  training  of  the  young. 

4.  Before  baptism  let  the  minister  use  some  words  of  instruction 
respecting  the  institution,  nature,  use,  and  ends  of  this  ordinance,  show- 
ing ' '  That  it  is  instituted  by  Christ ;  that  it  is  a  seal  of  the  righteousness 
of  faith ;  that  the  seed  of  the  faithful  have  no  less  right  to  this  ordinance 
under  the  gospel  than  the  seed  of  Abraham  to  circumcision  under  the 
Old  Testament ;  that  Christ  commanded  all  nations  to  be  baptized ;  that 
he  blessed  little  children,   declaring  that  of  such  is  the  kingdom  of 
heaven ;  that  children  are  federally  holy,  and  therefore  ought  to  be  bap- 
tized ;  that  we  are,  by  nature,  sinful,  guilty,  and  polluted,  and  have  need 
of  cleansing  by  the  blood  of  Christ,  and  by  the  sanctifying  influences  of 
the  Spirit  of  God." 

The  minister  is  also  to  exhort  the  parents  to  the  careful  performance 
of  their  duty;  requiring  "That  they  teach  the  child  to  read  the  word  of 
God;  that  they  instruct  it  in  the  principles  of  our  holy  religion,  as  con- 
tained in  the  Scriptures  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments ;  an  excellent 
summary  of  which  we  have  in  the  Confession  of  Faith  of  this  Church, 
and  in  the  Larger  and  Shorter  Catechisms  of  the  Westminster  Assembly, 
which  are  to  be  recommended  to  them  as  adopted  by  this  Church  as 
their  direction  and  assistance  in  the  discharge  of  this  important  duty ; 
that  they  pray  with  it,  and  for  it ;  that  they  set  an  example  of  piety  and 
godliness  before  it ;  and  endeavor,  by  all  the  means  of  God's  appoint- 
ment, to  bring  up  their  child  in  the  nurture  and  admonition  of  the 
Lord." 

5.  Then  the  minister  is  to  pray  for  a  blessing  to  attend  this  ordinance, 
after  which,  calling  the  child  by  its  name,  he  shall  say,  "I  baptize  thee 


414  THE  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH. 

in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost." 
As  he  pronounces  these  words,  he  is  to  baptize  the  child  with  water,  by 
pouring  or  sprinkling  it  on  the  face  of  the  child,  without  adding  any 
other  ceremony;  and  the  whole  shall  be  concluded  with  prayer. 

Vm.— THE  ADMINISTRATION  OF  THE  LORD'S  SUPPER. 

1.  The  times  for  celebrating  the  Lord's  Supper  are  to  be  determined 
by  the  minister  and  elders.     In  some  portions  of  the  Church  it  is  ob- 
served only  semi-annually;  more  generally,  however,  as  often  as  once 
in  three  months ;  in  others,  once  in  two  months,  and  in  a  few  monthly. 

2.  The  ignorant  and  scandalous  are  hot  admitted.     In  the  Presby- 
terian Church  in  the  United  States  it  is  not  deemed  necessary  to  protect 
the  table  of  the  Lord  from  unworthy  communicants  by  requiring  tickets 
of  admission.     It  is  found  that  very  seldom  does  any  one  offer  to  ap- 
proach without  being  a  regularly  acknowledged  communicant. 

3.  Public  notice  is  given  of  the  intention  to  celebrate  the  Lord's  Sup- 
per one  Lord's  day  previous  to  the  administration  of  the  ordinance,  and 
a  lecture  is  delivered  on  some  convenient  season  in  the  course  of  the 
week,  that  by  preparatory  instruction  and  devotion  the  church  may 
come  in  a  suitable  manner  to  this  holy  feast. 

4.  When  the  service  has  been  introduced  with  appropriate  devotional 
exercises  or  a  sermon,  the  bishop  or  pastor  shows  that  this  is  an  ordin- 
ance of  Christ,  by  reading  the  words  of  the  institution,  either  from  one 
of  the  Evangelists,  or  from  1  Cor.  xi.  chapter,  which,  as  to  him  may 
appear  expedient,  he  may  explain  and  apply. 

5.  The  table  on  which  the  elements  are  placed,  being  decently  covered, 
the  bread  in  convenient  dishes,  and  the  wine  in  cups,  and  the  commun- 
icants   orderly  and  gravely  sitting  around  the  table,  or  in  their  seats 
before  it,  the  minister  sets  the  elements  apart  by  prayer  and  thanksgiv- 
ing.    He  then  takes  the  bread  and  breaks  it,  in  the  presence  of  the  peo- 
ple, saying:    "Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  on  the  same  night  in  which  he 
was  betrayed,  having  taken  bread  and  blessed  and  broken  it,  gave  it  to 
his  disciples ;  as  I,  ministering  in  his  name,  give  this  bread  to  you,  say- 
ing (while  the  elders  commence  the  distribution),  '  Take,  eat,  this  is  my 
body  which  is  broken  for  you.    This  do  in  remembrance  of  me.' " 

After  having  given  the  bread  with  due  care  that  none  have  been  neg- 
lected, he  takes  the  cup  and  says :  ' '  After  the  same  manner  our  Saviour 
took  the  cup,  and  having  given  thanks,  as  hath  been  done  in  his  name, 
he  gave  it  to  his  disciples,  saying  (while  the  minister  repeats  these  words 
he  gives  the  cup  to  the  elders),  "This  cup  is  the  New  Testament  hi  my 
blood,  which  is  shed  for  many,  for  the  remission  of  sins.  Drink  ye  all 
of  it.' "  The  pastor  and  elders  may  communicate  at  such  times  as  are 
convenient.  The  service  is  commonly  concluded  with  exhortation  and 


CEREMONIES  OF  THE  CHURCH.  415 

prayer,  and  singing  a  hymn,  and  pronouncing  the  apostolical  bene- 
diction. 

IX. — THE  ADMISSION  OF  PERSONS  TO  SEALING  ORDINANCES. 

1.  Children  born  within  the  pale  of  the  visible  church  and  baptized  in 
infancy,  are  to  be  admitted  to  the  Lord's  Supper,  when  they  arrive  at  the 
proper  age,  if  they  give  evidence  of  true  piety.     The  rite  of  confirmation 
is  rejected  as  without  warrant  in  the  word  of  God. 

2.  The  years  of  discretion  are  to  be  judged  of,  by  the  elders  in  indi- 
vidual cases,  as  they  arise,  and  the  session  is  to  judge  of  the  qualifica- 
tions of  those  who  make  application  to  be  admitted  to  sealing  ordinances. 

3.  Those  thus  admitted  must  be  previously  examined  by  the  session  as 
to  their  knowledge  and  piety. 

4.  Unbaptized  persons  applying  for  admission  to  sealing  ordinances, 
shall  make  a  public  profession  of  their  faith  in  the  presence  of  the  con- 
gregation. 

X. — THE  MODE  OF   INFLICTING  CHURCH    CENSURES. 

1 .  Christ  has  given  the  church  power  by  its  proper  officers  to  exercise 
discipline  over  offenders  for  their  good,  and  the  general  purity  of  the 
church. 

2.  When  any  member  of  a  church  shall  have  been  guilty  of  a  fault 
deserving  censure,  the  judicatory  shall  proceed  with  tenderness  to  restore 
their  offending  brother. 

3.  When  gentler  means  fail,  they  must  proceed  to  rebuke  the  delin- 
quent,  or  to  suspend  him  from  the  privilege  of  the  Lord's  table. 

4.  After  such  suspension  it  is  the  duty  of  the  bishop  and  the  elders  to 
converse  with  him  kindly,  as  well  as  to  pray  in  private  that  God  would 
grant  him  repentance. 

5.  When  an  offender  has  been  adjudged  to  be  cut  off  from  the  com> 
munion  of  the  church,  it  is  proper  that  the  sentence  be  publicly  pro> 
nounced  against  him. 

6.  The  design  of  excommunication  is  to  operate  on  the  offender  as  a 
means  of  reclaiming  him;  to  deliver  the  church  from  the  scandal  of  his 
offence ;  and  to  inspire  all  with  fear  by  the  example  of  his  punishment. 

7.  When  an  excommunicated  person  shall  give  to  the  session  satisfac- 
tory evidence  of  true  repentance,  they  may,  with  the  advice  and  con- 
currence of  the  presbytery,  restore  him. 

XI. — THE  SOLEMNIZATION  OF  MARRIAGE. 

1.  Marriage  is  not  a  sacrament. 

2.  Christians  ought  to  marry  in  the  Lord;  therefore  it  is  fit  that  their 
marriage  be  solemnized  by  a  minister  of  the  gospel. 

3.  Marriage  is  to  be  between  one  man  and  one  woman  only;  and  they 


416  THE  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH. 

are  not  to  be  within  the  degrees  of  consanguinity  or  affinity  prohibited 
by  the  word  of  God. 

4.  The  parties  ought  to  be  of  such  years  of  discretion  as  to  be  capable 
of  making  their  own  choice. 

5.  Parents  ought  not  to  compel  their  children  to  marry  contrary  to 
their  inclinations,  nor  deny  their  consent  without  just  and  important 


6.  Marriage  is  of  a  public  nature,  involving  the  interests  of  the  com- 
munity and  of  families.     It  is  therefore  enjoined  on  all  ministers  of  the 
gospel,  not  to  solemnize  a  marriage  without  being  well  assured  that  no 
just  objections  lie  against  it. 

7.  When  marriage  is  solemnized  a  competent  number  of  witnesses 
must  be  present. 

8.  When  the  parties  present  themselves,  the  minister  is  to  ask  if  there 
be  any  person  present  who  can  show  any  reason  why  these  persons  may 
not  be  joined  together  in  the  marriage  relation.     No  objections  being 
made,  he  is  then  to  address  himself,  severally,  to  the  parties  to  be  mar- 
ried, in  the  following  or  like  words: — "You,  the  man,  declare,  in  the 
presence  of  God,  that  you  do  not  know  any  reason,  by  pre-contract  or 
otherwise,  why  you  may  not  lawfully  marry  this  woman."    Upon  his 
having  answered  affirmatively,  he  addresses  himself  to  the  bride  in 
similar  terms,  "You,  the  woman,  declare,  in  the  presence  of  God,  that 
you  do  not  know  any  reason,  by  pre-contract  or  otherwise,  why  you  may 
not  lawfully  marry  this  man. "    Upon  her  declaring  that  she  does  not, 
he  is  to  begin  with  prayer  for  the  blessing  of  God.     Then,  after  such 
suitable  prefatory  address  as  he  may  judge  fit,  he  causes  the  bridegroom 
and  bride  to  join  then*  right  hands,  and  pronounces  the  marriage  cove- 
nant first  to  the  man,  in  these  words :  ' '  You  take  this  woman,  whom  you 
hold  by  the  hand,  to  be  your  lawful  and  married  wife ;  and  you  promise 
and  covenant  in  the  presence  of  God,  and  these  witnesses,  that  you  will 
be  unto  her  a  loving  and  faithful  husband,  until  you  shall  be  separated 
by  death. " 

When  the  man  has  given  his  assent,  the  minister  addresses  himself  to 
the  bride,  in  these  words :  ' '  You  take  this  man,  whom  you  hold  by  the 
\hand,  to  be  your  lawful  and  married  husband;  and  you  promise  and 
covenant  in  the  presence  of  God,  and  these  witnesses,  that  you  will  be 
unto  him  a  loving,  obedient,  and  faithful  wife,  until  you  shall  be  sepa- 
rated by  death." 

Her  assent  being  given,  the  minister  says,  ' '  I  pronounce  you  husband 
and  wife,  according  to  the  ordinance  of  God.  Whom,  therefore,  God 
hath  joined  together,  let  not  man  put  asunder."  He  then  concludes  the 
whole  with  prayer,  sometimes  adding  the  benediction.  The  Presby- 
terian Church,  however,  does  not  bind  her  ministry  to  this  precise  form 
of  marriage.  They  may  vary  it  to  gratify  the  parties,  if  the  principles 
brought  to  view  in  this  formula  are  only  expressed. 


CEREMONIES  OF  THE  CHURCH.  417 


XII. — THE  VISITATION  OF  THE  SICK. 

1.  It  is  enjoined  on  the  sick  to  send  for  their  minister. 

2.  The  minister  shall  teach  the  sick  to  make  a  spiritual  improvement 
of  "  the  chastening  of  the  Lord." 

3.  He  shall  instruct  the  ignorant  in  the  nature  of  repentance  and  faith. 

4.  He  shall  exhort  to  self-examination. 

5.  If  the  sick  signify  any  scruple,  doubt,  or  temptation,  the  minister 
shall  endeavor  to  remove  them. 

6.  If  the  sick  be  stupid  and  regardless  of  spiritual  things,  he  shall  en- 
deavor to  awaken  his  mind. 

7.  If  the  spirit  of  the  sick  appear  to  be  broken  with  a  sense  of  sin,  and 
under  an  apprehension  of  the  want  of  the  divine  favor,  he  shall  adminis- 
ter consolation  and  encouragement  from  the  all-sufficiency  of  the  right- 
eousness of  Christ,  and  the  supporting  promises  of  the  gospel. 

Xm.— THE  BURIAL  OF  THE   DEAD. 

1.  When  any  person  departs  this  life,  let  the  corpse  be  taken  care  of  in 
a  decent  manner;  and  be  kept  a  sufficient  and  proper  time  before  inter- 
ment. 

2.  The  body  is  to  be  decently  and  solemnly  attended  to  the  grave. 
Sometimes  the  corpse  is  first  taken  to  the  church,  and  a  funeral  sermon  is 
delivered.     More  commonly,  however,  there  is  a  brief  service  of  reading 
the  Scriptures,  prayer,  and  exhortation,  at  the  house  of  the  deceased  per- 
son.    These  services  are  by  some,  and  in  pleasant  weather,  performed  at 
the  grave. 

XIV. — FASTING  AND  OBSERVATION  OF  THE  DAYS   OF  THANKSGIVING. 

1.  There  is  no  holy  day  to  be  observed  except  the  Lord's  day. 

2.  Nevertheless,  days  of  special  f asting  and  thanksgiving  are  indicated 
by  peculiar  providences. 

3.  Such  days  may  be  observed  by  individuals,  or  families,  or  single 
congregations,  or  by  a  number  of  congregations,  as  the  proper  authority, 
that  is,  the  people  or  their  representatives,  may  appoint. 

4.  It  must  be  left  to  the  discretion  of  individuals,  families,  churches, 
presbyteries,  etc.,  to  judge  when  a  fast  or  thanksgiving  may  be  proper 
for  each.     If  the  civil  power  appoint  such  a  day,  as  good  citizens  and 
Christians  we  are  to  observe  it  religiously. 

5.  Public  notice  is  to  be  given  beforehand  of  days  of  public  fasting 
and  thanksgiving. 

6.  The  services  are  to  be  adapted  to  every  special  occasion. 

7.  On  the  fast  day,  the  minister  is  to  point  out  the  authority  and 
providences  demanding  such  an  observance,  to  confess  the  sins  with 
their  aggravations  that  have  brought  down  the  judgments  of  heaven, 

27 


418  THE  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH. 

and  to  lead  the  people,  as  far  as  may  be,  to  humiliation  and  mourning 
before  God. 

8.  On  days  of  thanksgiving,  he  is  to  give  similar  information  respect- 
ing the  authority  and  providences  that  call  to  the  observance  of  them, 
and  to  adapt  his  services  to  the  promotion  of  a  spirit  of  thankfulness 
and  praise. 

XV.— SECRET  AND  FAMILY  WORSHIP. 

1.  It  is  a  duty  enjoined  on  each  person  to  pray  in  secret  alone,  and  of 
each  family  to  hold  daily  family  worship. 

2.  Secret  worship  is  enjoined  by  our  Lord.   It  should  consist  of  prayer, 
reading  the  Holy  Scriptures,  meditation,  and  serious  self-examination. 

3.  Family  worship  ought  to  be  performed,  ordinarily,  by  every  family, 
morning  and  evening. 

4.  The  head  of  the  family  who  is  to  perform  this  service  ought  to  be 
careful  that  all  the  members  of  his  household  duly  attend. 

5.  The  heads  of  families  are  to  be  careful  to  instruct  their  children 
and  servants  in  the  principles  of  religion. 

THE   ORDINATION   OF   CHURCH   OFFICERS. 

ELDERS  and  DEACONS  are  elected  by  a  majority  of  the 
people  of  a  congregation.  When  an  elder  or  deacon  elect 
shall  have  signified  his  willingness  to  accept  the  office,  a  day 
is  appointed  for  his  ordination.  The  day  being  arrived, 
after  sermon  the  bishop  or  minister  proposes  to  the  can- 
didate, in  the  presence  of  the  congregation,  the  following 
questions : 

1.  Do  you  believe  the  Scriptures  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments  to  be 
the  word  of  God,  the  only  infallible  rule  of  faith  and  practice? 

2.  Do  you  sincerely  receive  and  adopt  the  Confession  of  Faith  of 
this  church  as  containing  the  system  of  doctrine  taught  in  the  Holy 
Scriptures  ? 

3.  Do  you  approve  of  the  government  and  discipline  of  the  Presby- 
terian Church  ? 

4.  Do  you  accept  the  office  of  ruling  elder  (or  deacon,  as  the  case  may 
be),  in  this  congregation,  and  promise  faithfully  to  perform  all  the 
duties  thereof  ? 

5.  Do  you  promise  to  study  the  peace,  unity,  and  purity  of  the 
church? 

These  questions  having  been  answered  in  the  affirmative, 
the  minister  addresses  to  the  members  of  the  church  the 
following  question : 


ORDINATION  OF  CHURCH  OFFICERS.  419 

Do  you,  the  members  of  this  church,  acknowledge  and  receive  this 
brother  as  a  ruling  elder  (or  deacon),  and  do  you  promise  to  yield  him 
all  that  honor,  encouragement,  and  obedience  in  the  Lord,  to  which 
the  office,  according  to  the  word  of  God  and  the  constitution  of  this 
church,  entitles  him  ? 

These  questions  having  been  answered  in  the  affirmative, 
the  minister  proceeds  to  set  the  candidate  apart  to  his  office 
by  prayer,  after  which  the  members  of  the  session  take  the 
newly  ordained  elder  by  the  hand,  saying,  "  We  give  you 
the  right  hand  of  fellowship,  to  take  part  of  this  office  with 
us." 

The  Presbytery  licenses  candidates  for  the  sacred  office, 
that  the  people  may  be  able  to  judge  whether  they  are  suit- 
able persons  to  become  pastors  in  the  church.  Before  pro- 
ceeding to  licensure,  the  Presbytery  requires  satisfaction  with 
respect  to  the  piety  and  learning  of  the  candidate.  For  this 
purpose  he  must  sustain  an  examination  in  respect  to  per- 
sonal piety  before  the  Presbytery.  In  addition  to  this,  and 
an  examination  on  the  arts  and  sciences,  he  must  exhibit 
instances  of  his  learning  and  ability  in  several  written  com- 
positions, as, 

1.  An  exegesis  in  Latin,  on  some  important  head  hi  divinity. 

2.  A  critical  exercise  on  some  difficult  portion  of  Scripture. 

3.  An  expository  lecture  adapted  to  popular  instruction;  and 

4.  A  popular  sermon. 

If  the  Presbytery  be  satisfied  with  his  "trials,"  they  pro- 
ceed to  license  him  in  the  following  manner :  The  modera- 
tor proposes  to  him  these  four  questions  : 

1.  Do  you  believe  the  Scriptures  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments  to 
be  the  word  of  God,  and  the  only  infallible  rule  of  faith  and  practice  ? 

2.  Do  you  sincerely  receive  and  adopt  the  Confession  of  Faith  of  this 
church,  as  containing  the  system  of  doctrine  taught  in  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures? 

3.  Do  you  promise  to  study  the  peace,  unity,  and  purity  of  the 
church  ? 

4.  Do  you  promise  to  submit  yourself,  in  the  Lord,  to  the  government 
of  this  presbytery,  or  of  any  other  presbytery,  in  the  bounds  of  which 
you  may  be  called  ? 


420  THE  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH. 

These  questions  having  been  answered  in  the  affirmative, 
the  moderator  proceeds  to  license  him  in  the  following 
words : 

In  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  by  that  authority  which  he 
has  given  to  the  church  for  its  edification,  we  do  license  you  to  preach 
the  gospel,  wherever  God  in  his  providence  may  call  you ;  and  for  this 
purpose  may  the  blessing  of  God  rest  upon  you,  and  the  Spirit  of  Christ 
fill  your  heart.  Amen. 

When  a  BISHOP  or  PASTOK  is  to  be  ordained,  after  the 
preliminary  examinations  have  been  passed  through  in 
much  the  same  method  as  in  cases  of  licensure,  and  a  ser- 
mon has  been  preached  to  the  congregation,  the  moderator 
of  the  presbytery  propounds  several  questions  to  the  candi- 
date. The  first  three  are  the  same  as  those  proposed  to  an 
elder.  The  remainder  are  as  follows : 

4.  Do  you  promise  subjection  to  your  brethren  hi  the  Lord  ? 

5.  Have  you  been  induced,  as  far  as  you  know  your  own  heart,  to 
seek  the  office  of  the  holy  ministry  from  love  to  God  and  a  sincere  desire 
to  promote  his  glory  in  the  gospel  of  his  Son  ? 

6.  Do  you  promise  to  be  zealous  and  faithful  in  maintaining  the  truth 
of  the  gospel,  and  the  purity  and  peace  of  the  church,  whatever  perse- 
cution or  opposition  may  arise  unto  you  on  that  account  ? 

7.  Do  you  engage  to  be  faithful  and  diligent  in  the  exercise  of  all  pri- 
vate and  personal  duties,  which  become  you  as  a  Christian  and  a  minis- 
ter of  the  gospel ;  as  well  as  in  all  relative  duties,  and  the  public  duty 
of  your  office ;  endeavoring  to  adorn  the  profession  of  the  gospel  by 
your  conversation,  and  walking  with  exemplary  piety  before  the  flock 
over  which  God  shall  make  you  overseer  ? 

8.  Are  you  now  willing  to  take  charge  of  this  congregation,  agreeably 
to  your  declaration  in  accepting  then*  call  ?    And  do  you  promise  to 
discharge  the  duties  of  a  pastor  to  them  as  God  shall  give  you  strength  ? 

These  questions  having  been  answered  in  the  affirmative, 
the  moderator  proposes  to  the  people  the  following : 

1.  Do  you,  the  people  of  this  congregation,  continue  to  profess  your 
readiness  to  receive  A.  B.,  whom  you  have  called  to  be  your  minister  ? 

2.  Do  you  promise  to  receive  the  word  of  truth  from  his  mouth,  with 
meekness  and  love,  and  to  submit  to  him,  in  the  due  exercise  of  dis- 
cipline ? 


ORDINATION  OF  CHURCH  OFFICERS.  421 

3.  Do  you  promise  to  encourage  him  in  his  arduous  labor,  and  to 
assist  his  endeavors  for  your  instruction  and  spiritual  edification  ? 

4.  And  do  you  engage  to  continue  to  him,  while  he  is  your  pastor, 
that  competent  worldly  maintenance  which  you  have  promised,  and 
whatever  else  you  may  see  needful  for  the  honor  of  religion,  and  his 
comfort  among  you  ? 

The  people  having  answered  these  questions  by  holding 
up  their  right  hands,  the  candidate  kneels  down,  and  the 
moderator,  by  prayer  and  with  the  laying  on  of  the  hands  of 
the  presbytery  upon  his  head,  according  to  the  apostolic  ex- 
ample, solemnly  ordains  him  to  the  holy  office  of  the  gospel 
ministry.  Prayer  being  ended,  he  rises  from  his  knees ;  and 
the  minister  who  presides  first,  and  afterwards  all  the  other 
members  of  the  presbytery,  in  their  order,  take  him  by  the 
right  hand,  saying,  "  We  give  you  the  right  hand  of  fellow- 
ship, to  take  part  of  this  ministry  with  us." 


Presbyterian 


SCOTLAND   AND    ENGLAND. 


THE   KIRK   OF   SCOTLAND. 

T1HE  conversion  of  the  inhabitants  of  what  is  now  Scot- 
land to  the  Christian  faith  began,  it  is  probable,  to- 
wards the  close  of  the  second  century,  for  Tertullian  writing 
about  205  A.D.,  testifies  that  "portions  of  Britain  inaccessible 
to  the  Romans  have  been  subdued  by  Christ,"  and  from  the 
first  establishment  of  Christianity  in  that  country  till  the 
Reformation  in  the  reign  of  Mary,  mother  of  James  I.  and 
of  Mary  I.  of  England,  their  church  government  was  epis- 
copacy ;  but  the  Presbyterian  discipline  was  not  finally  es- 
tablished in  Scotland  until  the  reign  of  King  William  and 
Mary,  A.D.  1689,  when  episcopacy  was  totally  abolished.  The 
Westminster  Confession  of  Faith  was  then  received  as  the 
standard  of  the  national  creed,  to  which  all  ministers,  and 
principals  and  professors  in  universities,  are  obliged  to  sub- 
scribe as  the  confession  of  their  faith,  before  receiving  induc- 
tion into  office. 

The  Church  of  Scotland  is  remarkable  for  its  uncommon 
simplicity  of  worship.  It  possesses  no  liturgy,  no  altar,  no 
instrumental  music,  no  surplice,  no  fixed  canonical  vestment 
of  any  kind.  It  condemns  the  worship  paid  to  saints,  and 
observes  no  festival  days.  Its  ministers  enjoy  a  parity  of 
rank  and  of  authority.  It  enforces  that  all  ministers,  being 

(422) 


THE  ECCLESIASTICAL  JUDICATORIES.  423 

ambassadors  of  Christ,  are  equal  in  commission ;  that  there 
is  no  order  in  the  church,  as  established  by  the  Saviour, 
superior  to  presbyters  ;  and  that  bishop  and  presbyter, 
though  different  words,  are  of  the  same  import.  It  acknowl- 
edges no  earthly  head.  Its  judicatories  are  quite  distinct 
from,  and  independent  of,  any  civil  judicatory ;  insomuch, 
that  the  decisions  of  the  one  are  often  contrary  to  those  of 
the  other,  yet  both  remain  unaffected  and  unaltered.  When, 
for  example,  a  clergyman  has  been  presented  to  a  parish  by 
a  patron,  and  induction  and  ordination  have  followed  on 
that  presentation,  if  afterwards  it  be  found  that  the  patron, 
who  had  given  the  presentation,  had  not  that  right,  and 
that  it  belongs  to  another,  the  clergyman  may  be  ejected  as 
to  all  the  temporalities  of  the  office ;  but  quoad  sacra,  he 
may  continue  minister  of  the  parish,  and  exercise  all  the 
sacred  functions.  And  though  a  new  presentee  may  obtain 
a  right  to  the  civil  endowments  of  the  benefice,  he  can  per- 
form none  of  the  sacred  duties  while  the  other  chooses  to 
avail  himself  of  his  privilege. 

THE  ECCLESIASTICAL  JUDICATOKIES. 

There  are  four  ecclesiastical  judicatories, — namely,  the 
Kirk  Session,  the  Presbytery,  the  Synod,  and  the  General 
Assembly,  from  each  of  which  there  is  a  power  of  appeal 
to  the  other ;  but  the  decision  of  the  General  Assembly  is 
supreme. 

The  lowest  court  is  the  Kirk  Session,  which  is  composed 
of  the  minister  of  the  parish,  who  is  the  moderator  or  presi- 
dent of  it,  and  a  number  of  the  most  grave  and  respectable 
laymen,  members  of  the  congregation.  Their  number  varies 
in  different  parishes,  five  or  six  being  about  the  average  num- 
ber ;  and  their  services  are  entirely  gratuitous.  They  are 
something  like  church- wardens  in  England,  only  they  have 
a  spiritual  jurisdiction,  as  it  is  a  part  of  their  duty  to  visit 
the  sick,  etc.  The  Kirk  Session  manages  the  funds  of  the 
poor,  a  duty  in  which  it  formerly  was  assisted  by  deacons,  a 
class  of  men  inferior  to  elders,  as  they  had  no  spiritual 
jurisdiction. 


424  THE  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH. 

The  Presbytery,  the  court  next  in  dignity,  is  composed  of 
the  ministers  of  a  certain  district,  with  an  elder  from  each 
parish.  Their  chief  duty  consists  in  the  management  of 
such  matters  as  concern. the  church  within  their  respective 
bounds.  But  they  may  originate  any  matter,  and  bring  it 
ander  the  view  of  the  Synod  or  General  Assembly.  They 
have  also  the  superintendence  of  education  within  their 
bounds,  such  as  the  induction  of  teachers,  and  the  examina- 
tion of  schools. 

The  Synod  is  the  next  intermediate  court.  Each  one  con- 
sists of  the  clergymen  of  a  certain  number  of  presbyteries, 
with  elders,  as  in  presbyteries.  Presbyteries  meet  generally 
once  a  month ;  synods  twice  a  year,  though  some  remote 
synods,  such  as  that  of  Argyle,  only  once. 

The  General  Assembly  is  the  last  and  supreme  court,  and 
meets  yearly  in  the  month  of  May,  in  Edinburgh.  The  sov- 
ereign presides  by  his  representative,  who  is  always  a  noble- 
man, and  is  denominated  the  Lord  High  Commissioner. 
The  General  Assembly  is  a  representative  court,  consisting  of 
200  members,  representing  presbyteries,  and  156  elders  rep- 
resenting burghs  or  presbyteries,  and  five  ministers  or  elders 
representing  universities,  making  altogether  361  members. 
They  choose  a  moderator  or  president,  out  of  their  own 
number,  distinct  from  the  Royal  Commissioner,  the  duty  of 
the  latter  consisting  merely  in  convening  and  dissolving  the 
court,  and  in  forming  the  medium  of  communication  be- 
tween it  and  the  throne.  The  moderator  is  now  always  a 
clergyman,  though  previous  to  1688,  laymen  sometimes  held 
that  office. 

THE  SACEAMENTS. 

Baptism  in  this  church  is  practiced  by  none  but  ministers, 
who  do  it  by  sprinkling ;  and  whether  performed  in  private 
or  in  public,  it  is  almost  always  preceded  by  a  sermon. 

The  Lord's  Supper  is  not  administered  so  frequently  in 
Scotland  as  in  some  other  places.  Some  time  before  this 
sacrament  is  observed,  it  is  announced  from  the  pulpit.  The 
week  before,  the  Kirk  Session  meets,  and  draws  up  a  list  of 


THE  SACRAMENTS.  425 

all  the  communicants  in  the  parish,  according  to  the  minis- 
ter's examination-book,  and  the  testimony  of  the  elders  and 
deacons.  According  to  this  list,  tickets  are  delivered  to  each 
communicant,  if  desired,  and  the  ministers  and  elders  also 
give  tickets  to  strangers  who  bring  sufficient  testimonials. 
None  are  allowed  to  communicate  without  such  tickets, 
which  are  produced  at  the  table.  Those  who  never  received 
are  instructed  by  the  minister  in  the  nature  of  the  sacra- 
ments, and  taught  what  is  the  proper  preparation  thereunto. 
The  Wednesday  or  Thursday  before,  there  is  a  solemn  fast, 
and  on  the  Saturday  there  are  two  preparatory  sermons. 
On  Sunday  morning,  after  singing  and  prayer  as  usual,  the 
minister  of  the  parish  preaches  a  suitable  sermon,  and  when 
the  ordinary  worship  is  ended,  he  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ 
forbids  the  unworthy  to  approach,  and  invites  the  penitent 
to  come  and  receive  the  sacrament.  Then  he  goes  into  the 
body  of  the  church,  where  one  or  two  tables,  according  to  its 
width,  are  placed,  reaching  from  one  end  to  the  other,  cov- 
ered with  a  white  linen  cloth,  and  seats  on  both  sides  for  the 
communicants.  The  minister  places  himself  at  the  end  or 
middle  of  the  table.  After  a  short  discourse,  he  reads  the 
institution,  and  blesses  the  elements.  Then  he  breaks  the 
bread,  and  distributes  it  and  the  wine  to  those  that  are  next 
him,  who  transmit  them  to  their  neighbors,  the  elders  and 
deacons  attending  to  serve,  and  see  that  the  whole  is  per- 
formed w&h  decency  and  order.  While  these  communicate, 
the  minister  discourses  on  the  nature  of  the  sacraments  and 
the  whole  is  concluded  with  singing  and  prayer.  The  min- 
ister then  returns  to  the  pulpit,  and  preaches  a  sermon. 
The  morning  service  ended,  the  congregation  are  dismissed 
for  an  hour,  after  which  the  usual  afternoon  worship  is  per- 
formed. On  the  Monday  morning,  there  is  public  worship, 
with  two  sermons  ;  and  these,  properly  speaking,  close  the 
communion-service.  No  private  communions  are  allowed 
in  Scotland. 

Marriage  is  solemnized  nearly  after  the  manner  of  the 
Church  of  England,  with  the  exception  of  the  ring,  which  is 
deemed  a  relic  of  the  Roman  Church.  By  the  laws  of  Scot- 


426  THE  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH. 

land,  the  marriage-knot  may  be  tied  without  any  ceremony 
of  a  religious  nature  ;  a  simple  promise  in  the  presence  of 
witnesses,  or  a  known  previous  cohabitation,  being  sufficient 
to  bind  the  obligation. 

The  funeral  ceremony  is  performed  in  total  silence.  The 
corpse  is  carried  to  the  grave,  and  there  interred  without  a 
word  being  spoken  on  the  occasion. 


THE  SECT   OF  SECEDERS. 

Dissenters  from  the  Kirk,  or  Church  of  Scotland,  call  them- 
selves Seceders  ;  for,  as  the  term  Dissenter  comes  from  the 
Latin  word  dissentio,  to  diifer,  so  the  appellation  Seceder  is 
derived  from  another  Latin  word,  secedo,  to  separate  or  to 
withdraw  from  any  body  of  men  with  which  we  may  have 
been  united.  The  secession  arose  from  various  circum- 
stances, which  were  conceived  to  be  great  defections  from 
the  established  church  of  Scotland.  The  Seceders  are  rigid 
Calvinists,  rather  austere  in  their  manners,  and  severe  in 
their  discipline.  Through  a  difference  as  to  civil  matters, 
they  have  divided  themselves  into  two  classes,  Burghers 
and  Anti-burghers.  Of  these  the  latter  are  the  most  con- 
fined in  their  sentiments,  and  associate  therefore  the  least 
with  any  other  body  of  Christians.  The  Seceders  originated 
tinder  two  brothers,  Ealph  and  Ebenezer  Erskine,  of  Stir- 
ling, about  the  year  1780.  It  is  worthy  of  observation,  that 
the  Rev.  George  Whitfield,  in  one  of  his  visits  to  Scotland, 
was  solemnly  reprobated  by  the  Seceders,  because  he  re- 
fused to  confine  his  itinerant  labors  wholly  to  them.  The 
reason  assigned  for  this  monopolization  was,  that  they  were 
exclusively  God's  people.  Mr.  Whitfield  smartly  replied, 
that  they  had,  therefore,  the  less  need  of  his  services  ;  for 
his  aim  was  to  turn  sinners  from  the  error  and  wickedness 
of  their  ways  by  preaching  among  them  glad  tidings  of  great 


The  Burgess'  oath,  concerning  which  the  Seceders  differed, 
is  administered  in  several  of  the  royal  boroughs  of  Scotland, 
and  runs  thus  : 


THE  FREE  CHURCH  OF  SCOTLAND.  427 

"  I  protest  before  God  and  your  lordships,  that  I  profess 
and  allow  with  my  heart  the  true  religion  presently  professed 
within  this  realm,  and  authorized  by  the  laws  thereof;  I 
shall  abide  thereat,  and  defend  the  same  to  my  life's  end, 
renouncing  the  Roman  religion  called  papistry."  The 
Messrs.  Erskine  and  others  maintained  there  was  no  incon- 
sistency in  Seceders  taking  this  oath,  because  the  established 
religion  was  still  the  true  religion,  in  spite  of  the  faults  at- 
taching to  it,  and  hence  were  called  Burghers.  Messrs. 
Moncrieff  and  others  thought  the  swearing  to  the  religion, 
as  professed  and  authorized,  was  approving  the  corruptions, 
therefore  the  oath  was  inconsistent  and  not  to  be  taken ; 
hence  Anti-burghers.  The  Seceders  are  strict  Presbyterians, 
having  their  respective  associate  synods,  and  are  to  be  found 
not  only  in  Scotland,  but  also  in  Ireland  and  in  the  United 
States  of  America.  Both  classes  have  had  among  them 
ministers  of  considerable  learning  and  piety. 

There  is  also  a  species  of  Dissenters  from  the  Church  of 
Scotland  called  Relief,  whose  only  difference  from  the  Kirk 
is,  the  choosing  of  their  own  pastors.  They  arose  in  1752, 
and  are  respectable  as  to  numbers  and  ability.  The  Relief 
are  Calvinists  as  well  as  Presbyterians,  but  liberal  in  their 
views,  admitting  to  their  communion  pious  Christians  of 
every  denomination.  They  revere  the  union  of  faith  and 
charity. 

THE  FEEE  CHURCH  OF   SCOTLAND. 

In  1835,  an  attempt  was  made  by  the  Church  of  Scotland 
to  place  itself  on  a  more  popular  basis,  by  giving  to  the 
heads  of  families,  communicants,  a  veto  upon  the  nomina- 
tion of  the  patron ;  but,  the  ecclesiastical  action  by  which 
this  was  sought  to  be  effected,  having  been  declared  by  the 
courts  to  be  a  civil  act  beyond  the  jurisdiction  of  the  church 
and  no  disposition  being  manifested  by  the  Parliament  to 
aid  in  removing  the  difficulty,  a  number  of  its  most  distin- 
guished members,  in  1843,  withdrew  in  a  body,  and  formed 
the  "  Free  Church  of  Scotland."  The  late  eminent  Doctors 
Chalmers,  Candlish,  Cunningham,  and  many  others  distin- 


428  THE  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH. 

guished  for  their  learning  and  piety,  took  part  in  securing 
the  division.  No  fewer  than  474  ministers  and  professors 
completed  their  separation  by  the  "deed  of  demission." 
The  new  church  set  to  work  bravely,  erecting  new  houses  of 
worship  for  their  congregations,  establishing  a  school  in 
connection  with  each,  founding  high  grade  educational  in- 
stitutions, and  entering  upon  a  very  active  domestic  and 
foreign  missionary  service.  It  was  estimated  in  1885  that 
her  communion  embraced  about  one-third  of  the  whole  pop- 
ulation of  the  kingdom. 

The  United  Presbyterian  Church  of  Scotland,  organized 
at  Edinburgh,  May  13,  1847,  consists  of  what  were  called  the 
Seceders  and  Relief  Churches.  The  Church  of  Scotland  has 
always  enjoyed  a  high  reputation  as  a  working  denomina- 
tion ;  and  in  this  respect  the  various  bodies  that  have  sprung 
from  it  have  worthily  imitated  the  parent. 

THE   PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH  IN   ENGLAND. 

The  first  Presbyterian  congregation  in  England  was  formed 
at  Wandsworth,  near  London,  in  1572.  In  the  reign  of 
Charles  I.,  1645,  it  was  proposed  in  the  treaty  of  Uxbridge, 
to  make  the  Established  Church  of  England  Presbyterian, 
and  the  proposition  was  carried  into  effect,  by  way  of  trial 
in  1646.  Three  years  later  the  Presbyterian  discipline  was 
sanctioned  by  Parliament,  and  the  Established  Church  was 
Presbyterian  until  Episcopacy  was  revived  with  the  resto- 
ration of  Charles  II.  in  1660.  The  successors  of  the  old 
Presbyterian  congregations  in  England  have  in  general  be- 
come either  Unitarians  or  Independents.  The  congregations 
which  are  at  the  present  day  adherents  of  the  Presbyterian 
form  of  church  government  belong  to,  or  maintain  friendly 
relations  with,  the  Presbyterian  churches  of  Scotland.  The 
Synod  of  English  Presbyterians  is  a  separate  organization, 
and  holds  the  principles  of  the  Free  Church  of  Scotland. 
There  are  also  many  United  Presbyterians  in  England,  who 
represent  the  union  of  the  Seceder  and  Relief  Churches, 
effected  in  1847. 


I. 


©Jfte 


United 


EARLY   HISTORY. 

THE  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  is  com- 
monly regarded  as  the  offspring  of  the  Kirk  of  Scot- 
land, although  it  has  spread  from  three  centres  ;  for  it  was 
established  by  the  Dutch  in  New  York,  by  the  Scotch-Irish 
in  Virginia  and  New  Jersey,  and  by  the  Huguenots  in  Caro- 
lina. The  first  Dutch  church  was  organized  in  New  Amster- 
dam in  1619  ;  Scotch-Irish  Presbyterians  settled  on  the  Eliz- 
abeth Eiver,  Ya.,  between  1670  and  1680,  and  a  church  was 
organized  at  Snow  Hill,  Md.,  in  1684 ;  the  Huguenots  were 
driven  from  France  in  1685,  and  they  began  founding 
churches  in  this  country  shortly  after  that  date.  By  the 
year  1700  the  number  of  Presbyterians  from  these  three 
sources  had  so  scattered  and  increased  that  they  began  to 
take  steps  towards  an  organization  similar  to  that  in  Scot- 
land. The  primary  ecclesiastical  union  of  the  American 
Presbyterians  occurred  in  1705,  when  the  Presbytery  of 
Philadelphia  was  formed  with  seven  ministers,  representing 
Ireland,  Scotland,  and  England.  This  Presbytery  having 
become  much  enlarged,  and,  in  consequence  of  the  increas- 
ing migration  of  persons  from  Scotland,  Wales,  and  Ireland, 

(429) 


430  THE  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH. 

having  also  become  widely  disseminated,  it  was  decided  at 
their  meeting  in  September,  1716,  to  subdivide  their  body 
into  four  subordinate  meetings  or  presbyteries,  all  of  which 
were  constituent  members  of  the  general  body,  thenceforward 
denominated  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia.  The  first  meeting 
of  this  Synod  was  held  on  Sept.  17, 1717,  and  was  composed 
of  thirteen  ministers  and  six  elders. 

While  various  acquisitions  tended  to  enlarge  the  Presby- 
terian body,  they,  at  the  same  time,  greatly  diminished  its 
harmony.  It  soon  became  apparent  that  entire  unity  of 
sentiment  did  not  prevail  among  them  respecting  the  exami- 
nation of  candidates  for  the  ministry  on  experimental  relig- 
ion, and  also  respecting  strict  adherence  to  presbyterial 
order,  and  the  requisite  amount  of  learning  in  those  who 
sought  the  ministerial  office.  Frequent  conflicts  occurred  in 
different  Presbyteries.  Parties  were  formed.  Those  who 
were  most  zealous  for  strict  orthodoxy,  for  adherence  to 
presbyterial  order,  and  for  a  learned  ministry  were  called 
the  "  Old  Side,"  while  those  who  laid  a  greater  stress  on  vital 
piety  than  on  any  other  qualification,  were  called  the  "  New 
Side,"  or  "New  Lights." 

The  spirit  of  harmony  was  broken  in  1727,  but  a  partial 
compromise  was  effected  two  years  later  by  the  "  adopting 
act."  In  1739  party  feeling  again  broke  out  in  consequence 
of  the  Whitfield  visit  and  revival.  The  "New  Side"  de- 
sired to  introduce  the  celebrated  revivalist  into  their  pulpits, 
while  the  "  Old  Side  "  viewed  him  as  heterodox  in  his  prin- 
ciples, and  refused  to  countenance  his  preaching.  As  a 
culmination  of  the  troubles  the  Synod  was  rent  asunder,  and 
in  1741  the  Synod  of  New  York,  composed  of  "  New  Side  " 
men,  was  set  up  in  opposition  to  that  of  Philadelphia,  which 
retained  the  original  name  and  comprehended  all  the  "  Old 
Side  "  men  who  belonged  to  the  general  body. 

These  Synods  remained  in  a  state  of  separation  for  seven- 
teen years.  At  length,  however,  a  plan  of  reunion  was 
agreed  upon.  Several  years  were  spent  in  negotiation. 
Mutual  concessions  were  made,  the  articles  of  union  in  de- 
tail were  happily  adjusted,  and  the  Synods  were  united 


OLD  AND  NEW  SCHOOL  RUPTURE.  431 

under  the  title  of  the  "  Synod  of  New  York  and  Philadel- 
phia," in  the  year  1758. 

After  this  time  the  Presbyterian  body  went  on  increasing 
in  numbers,  harmony,  and  general  edification  until  the  close 
of  the  Revolutionary  War,  when  it  could  reckon  about  one 
hundred  and  seventy  ministers  and  a  few  more  churches. 
At  the  meeting  of  the  Synod  of  New  York  and  Philadelphia 
in  May,  1785,  finding  the  independence  of  the  United  States 
established,  that  judicatory  began  to  take  steps  for  revising 
the  public  standards  of  the  Church.  In  1788  the  work  of 
revising  and  arranging  the  standards  was  completed,  and 
they  were  then  ordered  to  be  printed  and  distributed  for 
the  government  of  all  the  judicatories  of  the  Church. 

Under  the  new  arrangement  the  body  was  divided  into 
four  Synods,  viz.  :  the  Synod  of  New  York  and  New  Jersey  ; 
the  Synod  of  Philadelphia  ;  the  Synod  of  Virginia ;  and  the 
Synod  of  the  Carolinas  ;  and  over  these,  as  a  bond  of  union, 
was  constituted  a  "  General  Assembly,"  modeled  in  all  its 
essential  particulars  after  the  General  Assembly  of  the 
Church  of  Scotland. 

The  next  year  (1789),  the  first  General  Assembly  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  met  in  Philadel- 
phia, and  was  opened  with  a  sermon  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Wither- 
spoon,  who  presided  until  the  first  moderator  of  that  body 
(the  Rev.  Dr.  Rogers)  was  chosen.  At  this  time  there  were 
188  ministers  belonging  to  the  whole  Presbyterian  body,  and 
419  churches.  These  were  distributed  into  four  Synods  and 
seventeen  Presbyteries,  embracing  a  large  number  of  vacant 
congregations. 

THE  "OLD  SCHOOL"  AND  "FEW  SCHOOL"  RUPTURE. 

Affinities  and  a  fraternal  confidence  between  Presbyterians 
and  Congregationalists  had  led  to  an  admixture  of  Congre- 
gationalism in  Presbyterian  judicatories.  The  Old  School 
insisted  that  this  admixture,  as  unconstitutional,  should 
cease.  The  New  School  contended  for  its  toleration  and  ex- 
tension. The  Old  School  preferred  strictly  ecclesiastical 


432  THE  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH. 

agencies  for  conducting  the  missionary  and  other  general 
evangelical  work  of  the  Church,  urging,  particularly,  the 
establishment  of  a  Presbyterian  Board  of  Foreign  Missions. 
The  New  School  desired,  in  union  with  Congregationalists, 
to  confide  this  work  to  voluntary  associations,  the  foreign 
part  of  it  to  the  American  Board  of  Commissioners.  The 
Old  School  held  that  certain  errors,  inconsistent  with  sound 
doctrine,  were  prevalent  in  the  Church,  and  endeavored  to 
visit  with  discipline  several  prominent  ministers  charged 
therewith.  The  New  School  resisted  the  discipline  proposed, 
arguing  that  some  of  the  views  alleged  to  be  erroneous  were 
irreconcilable  with  the  Calvinistic  system,  and  denying  that 
the  others  were  really  entertained  by  the  parties  accused, 
or  were  seriously  prevalent.  This  difference  as  to  doctrine 
was  by  far  the  most  serious  difference  between  the  parties. 
An  open  rupture  occurred  in  1837,  when  the  Old  School  ma- 
jority in  the  General  Assembly  disowned  four  Synods,  as  so 
far  Congregationalized  that  they  could  no  longer  be  acknowl- 
edged as  Presbyterian  bodies,  whereupon  the  New  School 
adherents  in  the  General  Assembly  of  1838  refused  to  recog- 
nize an  organization  of  this  judicatory  which  excluded  repre- 
sentatives from  the  disowned  constituency,  and  formed  ano- 
ther Assembly.  It  is  but  just  to  state  that  the  New  School 
acquiesced  in  the  separation  with  great  reluctance.  While 
each  party  adhered  firmly  to  its  own  view  of  the  questions  at 
issue,  the  New  School  body  urged  that  there  was  no  occasion 
for  a  disruption.  The  relative  strength  of  the  two,  when 
they  separated,  cannot  be  definitely  ascertained.  The  un- 
divided Church  made  the  following  report  in  ]  837 :  Synods, 
23  ;  presbyteries,  135  ;  ministers,  2,140  ;  licentiates,  280  ; 
candidates,  244 ;  churches,  2,865  ;  members,  220,557.  The 
first  tabular  statement  of  the  denomination  called  the  "New 
School"  appeared  in  1839,  showed  85  presbyteries,  1,286 
churches,  and  100,850  communicants.  An  examination  of 
the  roll  afterwards,  revealed  the  fact  that  ten  presbyteries 
were  improperly  included  in  this  exhibit  and  should  be  de- 
ducted, which  would  place  the  number  of  presbyteries  at  75 
and  of  communicants  at  97,033. 


WITHDRAWAL  OF  SYNODS.  433 

The  statistical  report  of  the  Old  School  in  1840  showed 
17  synods,  96  presbyteries,  1,763  churches,  and  126,583  com- 
municants. 

To  test  their  claim  to  the  true  succession  and  their  title  to 
the  funds  and  institutions  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  the 
New  School  commenced  a  suit  in  March,  1839,  in  the  Supreme 
Court  of  Pennsylvania,  before  Judge  Rogers  and  a  jury  at 
nisi  prius.  The  verdict  was  in  favor  of  the  New  School.  A 
new  trial  was  obtained,  in  which  this  decision  was  entirely  re- 
versed, and  the  whole  case  settled  in  favor  of  the  Old  School. 
The  two  bodies  can  hardly  be  said  to  have  fairly  started  upon 
their  career  as  distinct  denominations  until  1843.  Their 
relative  strength  at  that  time  was,  New  School,  1,263  min- 
isters, and  1,496  congregations  ;  Old  School,  1,434  ministers, 
and  2,092  congregations.  Right  here  should  be  noted  a  dis- 
play of  Christian  feeling  on  the  part  of  the  New  School  body, 
which  must  ever  redound  to  its  credit.  In  1846  the  two  as- 
semblies met  in  Philadelphia  at  the  same  time,  and  the  New 
School  made  a  proposition  to  the  other  body  for  a  recogni- 
tion of  each  other,  as  bodies  of  Christian  brethren,  by  com- 
muning together  at  the  Lord's  table.  This  proposition  the 
Old  School  found  it  inexpedient  to  accept,  to  the  general  re- 
gret of  both  schools.  They  rejected  it  kindly,  yet  decisively. 

WITHDRAWAL   OF   SOUTHERN  AND  WESTERN   SYNODS. 

In  the  year  1858  the  Southern  synods,  in  the  heat  of  the 
slavery  controversy,  separated  from  their  brethren  of  the 
North,  carrying  with  them  about  200  New  School  churches 
and  10,000  members.  Simultaneously  with  the  opening  of 
the  Civil  War,  the  Southern  synods  of  the  Old  School  branch 
withdrew  and  organized  a  separate  church.  Thus  were  lost 
10  synods,  45  presbyteries,  1,134  churches,  and  76,000  com- 
municants. Again,  after  the  war  of  the  Rebellion  the  action 
of  the  General  Assembly  upon  the  state  of  the  country  and 
of  the  church  gave  great  offence  to  many  persons,  particular- 
ly in  the  border  States.  The  Presbytery  of  Louisville,  Ky., 
issued  a  "  Declaration  and  Testimony,"  to  which  they  solicit- 


434  THE  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH. 

ed  tlie  signatures  of  all  who  agreed  with  them.  The 
was  that  in  1865  the  larger  portion  of  the  churches  in  Ken- 
tucky, and  about  one-half  of  those  of  Missouri,  embracing 
some  10,000  members,  ceased  to  be  enrolled  as  an  integral 
part  of  the  church.  Adding  this  to  the  other  loss  of  1861, 
and  we  find  a  total  loss  of  86,000  members.  Yet,  to  counter- 
balance these  appalling  losses,  the  church,  in  the  ten  years, 
1859-'69,  gained  65,000  members,  thus  leaving  her,  in  1869, 
but  21,000  members  short  of  her  number  in  1859.  The  above 
decade  was  a  prosperous  one  with  the  New  School  church. 
The  summary  for  1869  exhibited  the  following  results  :  min- 
isters, 1,848  ;  churches,  1,631 ;  communicants,  172,560,  —  a 
gain  of  about  300  ministers,  100  churches,  and  35,000  mem- 
bers. Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  at  the  time  of  re-union  both 
bodies  were  in  a  highly  prosperous  and  satisfactory  condi- 
tion. The  crudities  and  objectionable  features  which  were 
manifest  in  the  early  history  of  the  Church  were  eliminated, 
and  there  now  appeared  no  visible  reason  why  they  should 
not  become  the  most  influential  and  effective  of  Protestant 
denominations  in  this  country.  Their  consolidation  was  all 
that  was  needed  to  accomplish  this  result,  and  in  1869  this 
was  consummated. 


EE-UNION   OF  THE   OLD   AND   NEW   SCHOOL   CHURCHES. 

The  causes  that  led  to  re-union  may  be  very  easily  explain- 
ed. The  principal  actors  in  the  separation  of  1837  had  passed 
away;  their  gradually  increasing  intercourse  had  brought 
about  a  friendly  feeling  between  the  two  bodies ;  and  the 
issues  which  led  to  the  separation  had  in  the  main  died  out. 
Yet  in  1862  the  Old  School  Assembly  still  declined  to  talk 
of  re-union,  though  it  unanimously  agreed  to  open  a  corre- 
spondence by  delegates.  No  doubt  this  correspondence  was 
a  great  advance  towards  organic  unity.  But,  although  the 
subject  was  brought  every  year  to  the  notice  of  both  Assem- 
blies, nothing  more  definite  was  accomplished  until  1866, 
when  the  first  joint  committee  was  appointed  to  confer  upon 
"the  desirableness  and  practicability  of  re-union."  The 


RE-UNION  OF  OLD  AND  NEW  SCHOOL  CHURCHES.  435 

Presbyterian  National  Union  Convention  of  November,  1867, 
held  in  Philadelphia,  gave  a  perceptible  impulse  to  the  whole 
movement.  It  developed  a  growing,  enthusiastic,  and  irre- 
sistible feeling  in  favor  of  re-union,  which  had  the  effect  to 
turn  many  opponents  into  friends  of  the  measure.  In  ]  869 
the  report  of  the  Joint  Committee  on  Re-union  was  per- 
fected and  adopted  by  both  Assemblies.  The  only  points 
in  it  which  we  deem  necessary  to  mention  here  are  the  fol- 
lowing : 

1.  The  two  bodies  "shall  be  re-united  as  one  Church,  under  the  name 
and  style  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  of  America, 
possessing  all  the  legal  and  corporate  rights  and  powers  pertaining  to 
the  Church  previous  to  the  division  in  1838,  and  all  the  legal  and  cor- 
porate rights  and  powers  which  the  separate  Churches  now  possess." 

2.  ' '  The  re-union  shall  be  effected  on  the  doctrinal  and  ecclesiastical 
basis  of  our  common  standards;  the  Scriptures  of  the  Old  and  New 
Testaments  shall  be  acknowledged  to  be  the  inspired  Word  of  God  and 
the  only  infallible  rule  of  faith  and  practice ;  the  Confession  of  Faith 
shall  continue  to  be  sincerely  received  and  adopted  as  containing  the 
system  of  doctrine  taught  in  the  Holy  Scriptures ;  and  the  government 
and  discipline  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  shall  be 
approved  as  containing  the  principles  and  rules  of  our  polity. " 

The  re-union  was  consummated  at  the  General  Assembly 
which  met  in  Philadelphia,  May  19, 1870.  An  "  Old  School 
man,"  Rev.  Dr.  Backus,  was  chosen  moderator,  and  a  "New 
School  man,"  Rev.  Dr.  Hatfield,  stated  clerk.  It  was  then 
unanimously  resolved  to  celebrate  the  great  event  by  mak- 
ing a  special  offering  for  the  Lord's  work  of  $5,000,000.  The 
whole  church  was  animated  with  the  spirit  of  the  resolution, 
and  at  the  meeting  of  the  General  Assembly  in  May,  1871, 
the  result  of  the  year's  effort  was  reported  at  the  handsome 
sum  of  $7,607,499.91,  all  of  which  was  immediately  applied  to 
church  work. 

But  still  there  remained  an  important  body  of  Presbyte- 
rians outside  the  fold — those  of  the  Southern  and  Border 
States  who  withdrew  in  1861  and  1866— and  became  known 
as  the  Southern  Presbyterian  Church,  and  in  1870  the  Gener- 
al Assembly  addressed  itself  to  the  task  of  persuading  this 


436  rHE  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH. 

body  to  crown  the  work  of  re-union  by  connecting  itself 
again  with  the  parent  Church.  A  committee  was  appoint- 
ed, and  armed  with  resolutions  expressive  of  the  cordial 
desire  of  the  body  they  represented  for  the  speedy  establish- 
ment of  fraternal  relations  with  the  Southern  Presbyterian 
Church,  repaired  to  Louisville,  Ky.,  where  the  last-named 
body  was  sitting.  Their  overtures,  however,  were  unsuc- 
cessful, and  further  efforts  in  this  direction  were  postponed. 


STATISTICS   OF  THE  CHURCHES   FOE  1893. 

The  following  statistics  will  show  the  condition  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  of  America,  as 
the  Northern  branch  is  officially  known,  in  1893 :  Synods  31, 
presbyteries  221,  ministers  6,509,  elders  25,399,  deacons  8,356, 
churches  7,292,  communicants  855,089,  Sunday-school  mem- 
bers 909,062,  and  total  contributions  $14,916,311.  The  con- 
tributions included  $1,028,585  for  home  missions,  $849,355 
for  foreign  missions,  $261,835  for  aid  for  colleges,  $818,666 
for  church  erection,  $170,800  for  education,  $138,374  for 
Sunday-school  work,  $123,587  for  freedmen,  $10,514,429  for 
congregational  purposes,  and  $1,263,624  for  miscellaneous 
expenses.  During  the  preceding  year  the  Board  of  Foreign 
Missions,  with  stations  in  various  parts  of  the  world,  had 
210  American  and  420  native  ministers,  386  American  and 
1,108  native  lay  missionaries,  384  churches  with  30,479  mem- 
bers, 771  secular  schools  with  29,011  pupils,  26,393  pupils  in 
Sunday-schools,  and  167  native  students  for  the  ministry. 
The  Board  of  Home  Missions  employed  1,479  missionaries 
and  360  missionary  teachers,  had  93,504  mission  church  and 
132,651  congregational  members  under  its  charge,  and  2,190 
Sunday-schools  with  141,236  members.  During  the  year 
111  church  buildings  were  erected,  107  new  churches  were 
organized,  and  52  older  ones  had  become  self-supporting. 

The  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States,  as  the 
Southern  branch  is  officially  known,  reported  in  1893  as  fol- 
lows :  Synods  13,  presbyteries  72,  ministers  1,271,  churches 
2,562,  ruling  elders  8,089,  deacons  6,385,  communicants 


STATISTICS  OF  THE  CHURCHES  FOR  1893.       437 

188,546,  baptized  non-communicants  37,275,  teachers  in  Sun- 
day-schools 16,647,  scholars  119,754,  and  total  contributions 
$1,943,580.  The  contributions  included  $808,784  for  pastors' 
salaries,  $621,792  for  congregational  purposes,  $120,954  for 
foreign  missions,  $45,762  for  sustentation,  $84,136  for  evan- 
gelistic work,  $53,527  for  education,  $28,711  for  church  erec- 
tion, $14,131  for  the  invalid  fund,  $11,720  for  colored  evan- 
gelization, $14,982  for  Presbyterial  purposes,  and  $124,776 
for  miscellaneous  expenses.  During  the  year,  34  churches 
were  aided  from  the  Church  Erection  and  Loan  Fund,  and 
36  white  congregations  from  the  regular  Loan  Fund ;  237 
ministers  and  licentiates  serving  weak  congregations  were 
assisted  from  the  Sustentation  Fund ;  9  ministers  and  3 
teachers  among  the  Indians,  and  44  ministers  in  evangelistic 
work  were  aided  from  the  Evangelistic  and  Indian  Missions 
Fund  ;  and  145  additions  were  made  to  the  beneficiaries  of 
the  Invalid  Fund.  Evangelistic  work  was  carried  on  among 
the  colored  people  in  all  the  Southern  States  excepting 
Arkansas  and  West  Virginia. 

In  the  above  narrative  a  number  of  important  historical 
events  are  purposely  omitted,  because,  as  they  resulted  in 
the  organization  of  new  churches  that  have  lived  and  are 
now  doing  a  large  work,  they  are  deserving  of  special  men- 
tion as  independent  bodies.  These  will  be  separately  con- 
sidered. 


II. 


Uqiteel 


THE    ASSOCIATE    PRESBYTERIAN    CHURCH. 

THIS  church  originated  in  a  separation  from  the  Estab- 
lished Church  of  Scotland,  in  the  year  1733.  Corrup- 
tions in  the  doctrines  of  the  church  and  tyranny  in  her 
government  were  the  grounds  alleged  for  the  action.  In 
the  above  year  the  causes  which  had  long  been  increasing  in 
strength,  were  brought  to  an  issue  by  the  presentation  of  a 
protest  to  the  General  Assembly  against  certain  acts,  by  Rev. 
Messrs.  E.  Erskine,  Wilson,  Moncrieff,  and  Fisher.  This 
protest  excited  considerable  ill-feeling  in  the  Assembly,  and 
having  refused  to  withdraw  it,  these  four  ministers  were 
"suspended  from  the  exercise  of  the  ministerial  functions 
and  all  parts  thereof."  This  occurred  in  August. 

In  the  succeeding  November  it  was  found  that  the  four 
brethren  had  continued  to  exercise  their  ministry,  and  the 
order  of  the  Assembly  then  was  to  proceed  to  a  higher 
censure.  The  remarkable  proceedings  of  the  ecclesiastical 
courts,  and  the  undaunted  bearing  of  the  accused,  awakened 
a  wide-spread  sympathy  for  them.  Seven  synods  sent  up 
communications  in  their  favor,  and  some  presbyteries  sent 
petitions  of  a  like  character. 

Finally  it  was  decided,  by  a  large  majority,  to  "  Loose  the 

(438) 


THE  ASSOCIATE  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH.        439 

relation  of  the  said  four  ministers  to  their  charges,  and  de- 
clare them  no  longer  ministers  of  this  church,  and  to  prohibit 
all  ministers  of  this  church  to  employ  them  in  any  min- 
isterial function."  Seven  ministers  of  the  commission 
protested  against  this  senteoce.  When  the  sentence  was 
announced  to  the  four  brethren  they  handed  in  a  paper, 
declaring  themselves  under  the  necessity  of  seceding  from 
the  church.  They  soon  after  met  as  a  presbytery,  and  pub- 
lished what  has  generally  been  distinguished  as  the  Extra- 
judicial  Testimony.  They  declined  to  act  judicially  for 
about  three  years  after  their  secession,  hoping  that  the  breach 
would  be  healed,  but  towards  this  end  no  substantial  progress 
was  made. 

In  1736  the  four  seceding  ministers  proceeded  to  judicial 
acts,  and  near  the  close  of  that  year  published  their  "  Ju- 
dicial Testimony."  They  appointed  Mr.  Wilson  professor 
of  theology,  and  at  his  death  Mr.  Moncrieff  filled  the  chair. 
In  May,  1739,  a  libel  was  framed  against  them  by  a  commis- 
sion of  the  Assembly  and  laid  before  the  Assembly  itself. 
It  charged,  in  substance,  their  secession  and  their  acting  as 
an  independent  court  of  Christ.  Being  summoned,  the  se- 
ceders,  now  eight  in  number,  appeared  as  a  constituted  pres- 
bytery at  the  bar  of  the  Assembly  and  formally  denied  its 
authority.  The  next  year  the  Assembly  passed  an  act  of 
deposition  against  them,  and  they  were  ejected  from  their 
places  of  worship. 

Notwithstanding  these  trials  in  their  early  history,  the 
Associate  Presbytery  had  soon  increased  so  much  in  num- 
bers that  they  found  it  necessary  to  constitute  themselves 
into  a  synod,  to  consist  of  three  presbyteries.  This  was 
done  in  1744,  at  which  time  the  whole  number  of  settled 
ministers  was  twenty-six.  Not  long  after  this  a  question 
came  before  them  in  regard  to  the  lawfulness  of  swearing 
certain  Burgess  oaths.  (See  chapter  on  the  Kirk  of  Scotland. ) 
The  synod  was  nearly  equally  divided  upon  this  point.  Two 
years  of  sharp  contention  ensued,  and,  in  1747,  a  breach  took 
place  and  two  distinct  synods  were  formed,  the  General  As- 
sociate or  Anti-burgher  Synod  and  the  Associate  or  Burgher 


440  THE  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH. 

Synod.  After  a  separation  of  over  seventy  years  these  two 
branches  were  re-united  September  8, 1820. 

The  Associate  brethren  were  characterized  by  a  missionary 
spirit  from  the  first,  and  their  particular  attention  was  ad- 
dressed to  the  American  field.  In  1736  a  letter  was  received 
from  Pennsylvania  urgently  requesting  that  either  an  or- 
dained minister  or  a  probationer  be  sent  over  to  labor  in 
that  district.  This  the  presbytery  was  not  then  able  to  do. 
In  1750  petitions  were  again  sent,  addressed  to  the  Anti- 
burgher  Synod,  from  some  of  the  colonists  of  Eastern  Penn- 
sylvania. In  1751  urgent  applications  were  again  made  by 
Rev.  Alex.  Craighead,  of  Pennsylvania,  and  a  number  of 
other  persons,  earnestly  beseeching  the  synod  to  send  min- 
isters to  labor  in  that  part  of  America.  In  1753,  Mr.  Alex- 
ander Gellatly  was  appointed  to  this  important  work,  and 
had  the  honor  to  become  the  first  missionary  of  the  Asso- 
ciate Church  in  this  country.  In  the  latter  part  of  that 
year  he  arrived,  accompanied  by  Rev.  Andrew  Arnot, 
who  was  temporarily  to  assist  him.  Soon  after  their  arri- 
val, according  to  instructions,  they  constituted  themselves 
into  a  presbytery,  named  the  "Associate  Presbytery  of 
Pennsylvania,"  subordinate  to  the  Associate  Anti-burgher 
Synod.  The  Presbyterians  who  had  been  occupying  the 
field  before  them,  invited  them  to  join  with  them,  and 
upon  their  declining  to  do  so  they  issued  a  warning  against 
the  associate  body,  denouncing  them  as  schismatics  and 
separatists. 

In  1758  Matthew  Henderson  arrived  as  a  missionary  from 
Scotland,  and  was  settled  at  Oxford.  In  1761  Mr.  Gellatly 
died,  in  the  forty-second  year  of  his  age.  In  the  same  year 
Mr.  John  Mason  arrived  and  settled  in  New  York.  At  this 
time  the  Associate  Presbytery  of  Pennsylvania  consisted  of 
only  three  ministers. 

Hitherto  all  the  missionaries  sent  had  been  connected  with 
the  Anti-burgher  Synod,  but,  in  1764,  Rev.  Thomas  Clark 
arrived  in  America  with  most  of  his  congregation,  of  Balli- 
bay,  Ireland.  They  were  connected  with  the  Burgher 
Synod.  Arriving  at  New  York,  part  of  the  people  went  to 


THE  ASSOCIATE  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH.        441 

Long  Cane,  S.  C.,  and  the  rest,  with  their  minister,  settled 
at  Salem,  N.  Y.  The  next  year  Dr.  Clark,  having  assented 
to  certain  articles,  was  received  as  a  member  of  the  Asso- 
ciate Presbytery  of  Pennsylvania.  This  union  between 
Burghers  and  Anti-burghers  was,  by  instructions  from  the 
Anti-burgher  Synod,  dissolved  in  1771. 

In  1776  the  Associate  Presbytery  was  so  far  strengthened 
that  it  was  found  expedient  to  divide  it  into  two  presbyte- 
ries. The  Presbytery  of  Pennsylvania  consisted  of  ten  min- 
isters, and  the  Presbytery  of  New  York  consisted  of  three 
ministers.  These  two  were  co-ordinate,  but  both  subordinate 
to  the  Synod  of  Edinburgh.  A  movement  was  set  on  foot 
to  unite  the  two  associate  bodies  and  the  reformed  presby- 
teries into  one  ecclesiastical  body.  This  resulted  in  the 
union  at  Pequa,  Pa.,  June  13,  1782.  Several  ministers  and 
elders  protested  and  appealed  to  the  Associate  Synod  of 
Scotland,  and  their  protest  not  being  admitted  they  with- 
drew, claiming  to  be  the  true  Associate  Presbytery  of  Penn- 
sylvania. The  united  body  took  the  name  of  the  Associate 
Reformed  Church. 

In  1794  the  church  established  a  theological  seminary  in 
Beaver  County,  Pennsylvania,  of  which  Dr.  John  Anderson 
continued  to  be  the  sole  professor  until  1819,  when  he  re- 
signed, owing  to  age.  The  number  of  students  was  very 
small,  the  average  attendance  being  not  more  than  four  or 
five  and  the  highest  number  nine.  In  1800  a  synod  was 
constituted,  consisting  of  four  presbyteries — Philadelphia, 
Cambridge,  Chartiers,  and  Kentucky  (now  Miami).  Its  first 
meeting  was  at  Philadelphia,  May  20,  1801.  The  evil  of 
slaveholding  had  engaged  the  attention  of  the  church  for 
many  years,  and,  in  1811,  at  the  synod  in  Canonsburg,  an 
act  was  passed  declaring  it  a  moral  evil  to  hold  negroes 
in  bondage,  directing  the  members  of  the  church  to  set  them 
at  liberty  or  to  treat  them  as  free  in  the  matters  of  food, 
clothing,  and  wages.  Those  who  refused  were  declared  un- 
worthy of  church  fellowship.  These  provisions  not  being 
complied  with,  the  synod,  in  1831,  passed  an  act  by  which 
all  slaveholders  were  forthwith  excluded  from  her  commun 


442  THE  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH. 

ion.     The  effect  of  this  was  to  entirely  extinguish  the  Asso- 
ciate Presbytery  of  the  Carolinas. 

In  1851  the  Reformed  Dissenting  Presbytery  proposed  a 
union  with  this  church,  which  was  effected.  In  1854  the 
presbyteries  of  Cambridge,  Albany,  and  Vermont  (which,  in 
1840,  had  withdrawn  from  the  church  and  claimed  to  be  the 
true  associate  synod)  re-united  with  it.  In  1858  a  union  was 
effected  between  the  Associate  and  Associate  Reformed 
Churches,  and  they  chose  as  their  name  the  "  United  Pres- 
byterian Church."  When  the  two  bodies  united  the  Asso- 
ciate Church  consisted  of  21  presbyteries,  293  congregations, 
and  23,505  members. 


THE  ASSOCIATE    REFORMED   CHURCH. 

The  Associate  Reformed  Church  had  its  origin  in  a  union 
which  was  agreed  upon  at  Pequa,  Pa.,  June  13,  1782,  be- 
tween the  Associate  and  the  Reformed  Presbyterian 
Churches,  and  took  its  title  from  a  union  of  the  names  of 
the  two  bodies.  The  Associate  was  the  older  of  these 
churches  in  this  country,  and  until  the  war  of  the  Revo- 
lution it  continued  in  subjection  to  the  Synod  of  Scotland. 
The  war  interrupted  their  intercourse  with  the  Synod,  and 
the  Associate  people,  the  earliest  and  warmest  advocates  of 
American  independence,  began  to  agitate  the  question  of 
a  separation  from  the  Synod  and  a  union  of  the  different 
Presbyterian  bodies  in  this  country.  First,  the  Burgher 
and  Anti-burgher  portions  of  the  Associate  church  united. 
Next,  overtures  were  made  to  the  Presbyterian  Synod  of 
New  York  and  Philadelphia  for  a  union,  but  these  resulted 
in  failure.  Afterwards  a  union  with  the  Reformed  (Cove- 
nanter) Presbytery  was  proposed.  Some  twenty  conven- 
tions were  held  in  reference  to  it,  and  at  length  the  Re- 
formed Presbytery,  the  Associate  Presbytery  of  New  York, 
and  nearly  all  the  members  of  the  Presbytery  of  Pennsyl- 
vania united  in  one  organic  body  which  constituted  the  As- 
sociate Reformed  Church.  This  was  consummated  at  Pequa, 
and  the  Synod  was  formally  constituted  in  Philadelphia  on 


THE  ASSOCIATE  REFORMED  CHURCH.          443 

the  30th  of  October,  1782.  The  basis  of  the  union  consisted 
chiefly  in  a  modification  of  the  doctrine  of  the  Westminster 
Confession  of  Faith  concerning  the  power  of  civil  magis- 
trates in  matters  of  religion,  and  an  adaptation  of  the  form 
©f  church  government  to  the  Word  of  God  and  the  circum- 
stances of  the  church  in  this  country.  The  united  body 
then  consisted  of  three  presbyteries  and  fourteen  ministers. 

From  1799  forward  the  church  prospered  and  grew 
rapidly.  Soon  its  churches  were  scattered  over  the  country 
from  the  Canadas  to  the  Carolinas  and  southwest  as  far  as 
Kentucky.  In  October,  1802,  the  Synod  was  divided  into 
four  subordinate  synods,  viz.:  New  York,  Pennsylvania, 
Scioto,  and  the  Carolinas.  On  May  30, 1804,  the  first  Gen- 
eral Synod  met  in  Greencastle,  Pa.,  of  which  Rev.  Alex. 
Dobbin  was  chosen  Moderator. 

The  General  Synod  soon  began  to  transact  all  the  import- 
ant business  of  the  church,  so  that  the  subordinate  synods, 
being  of  little  interest  or  importance,  were  given  up.  This 
centralizing  of  power  produced  trouble ;  unhappy  feelings 
were  excited,  and  in  1820  the  entire  Synod  of  Scioto  with- 
drew all  connection  with  the  General  Synod,  and  the  follow- 
ing year  the  Synod  of  the  Carolinas  asked  to  be  constituted 
an  independent  synod.  In  1821,  overtures  were  made  by  the 
General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  for  an  or- 
ganic union.  A  basis  of  union  was  prepared  by  a  joint  com- 
mittee, and  in  1822  it  was  adopted  by  the  General  Synod  of 
the  Associate  Reformed  Church  by  a  vote  of  seven  to  five. 
The  General  Synod  was  then  declared  dissolved,  and  its 
members  invited  to  seats  in  the  General  Assembly.  Thus 
terminated  the  General  Synod,  but  the  great  mass  of  the 
ministry  and  membership  did  not  acquiesce  in  the  union, 
and  set  themselves  at  once  to  the  work  of  perpetuating  the 
Associate  Reformed  body  on  its  original  grounds. 

The  Associate  Reformed  Synod  of  the  West  had,  in  1820, 
constituted  itself  an  independent  synod.  It  was  then  com- 
posed of  fourteen  ministers  and  eight  elders.  This  now  be- 
came the  nucleus  of  the  church  in  the  West,  and  her  inter« 
ests  again  advanced  rapidly.  Numerous  churches  were 


444  THE  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH. 

organized,  new  presbyteries  were  formed,  and  in  October, 
1839,  a  new  synod  was  formed,  styled  the  Second  Associate 
Reformed  Synod  of  the  West,  which  held  its  first  meeting 
at  Hamilton,  Ohio,  the  following  year.  In  October,  1852,  a 
third  synod  was  organized,  named  the  Associate  Reformed 
Synod  of  Illinois,  whose  first  meeting  was  held  at  Oquacoka, 
111.  These  several  synods  were  placed  under  the  care  of  the 
General  Synod  of  the  Associate  Reformed  Church  of  the 
West.  In  1858  it  had  three  subordinate  synods ;  twenty- 
two  presbyteries ;  360  churches  and  congregations  ;  23,916 
communicants  ;  two  theological  seminaries,  several  colleges, 
higher  schools  and  academies,  and  three  foreign  missionary 
fields.  The  Synod  of  the  Carolinas,  which  in  1821  became 
an  independent  synod,  called  the  Associate  Reformed  Synod 
of  the  South,  numbered  in  1858  eight  presbyteries  and  sixty- 
five  ministers,  and  had  an  efficient  college  and  theological 
seminary  under  its  care  at  Due  West,  South  Carolina.  The 
Synod  of  New  York,  having  never  withdrawn  from  the 
General  Synod,  and  not  having  acceded  in  any  way  to  the 
act  of  union  with  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  1822,  upon 
that  event  occupied  the  ground  and  claimed  the  rights  of 
the  General  Synod.  Until  1855  these  different  synods  had 
been  independent,  though  adhering  to  the  same  standards  ; 
but  on  May  17th  of  that  year  a  union  was  effected  between 
the  Synod  of  New  York  and  the  General  Synod  of  the  West, 
under  the  name  of  the  General  Synod  of  the  Associate  Re- 
formed Church.  The  Synod  of  the  South  continued  its 
separate  existence.  In  1858  a  union  was  effected  between 
the  Associate  and  Associate  Reformed  Churches,  and  the 
united  body  assumed  the  name  of  the  United  Presbyterian 
Church. 


THE  UNITED   PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH. 

The  United  Presbyterian  Church  was  formed  in  Pitts- 
burgh, Pa.,  May  26,  1858,  by  a  union  of  the  Associate  and 
Associate  Reformed  Churches  of  North  America.  These 
churches  claimed  as  their  common  parent  the  Church  of 


THE  UNITED  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH.  445 

Scotland,  and  were  substantially  one  in  doctrine,  worship, 
and  church  government. 

The  members  composing  these  different  churches  were 
intermingled  all  over  the  country,  and  in  their  divided  con- 
dition their  congregations  were  so  small  as  to  be  unable, 
in  many  cases,  to  support  pastors.  The  consequence  was 
that  in  many  portions  of  the  country  these  people  were  not 
able  to  enjoy  the  preached  word  by  ministers  of  their  own 
faith.  To  remedy  this  evil,  and,  if  possible,  to  bring  these 
churches  into  a  closer  relation,  conventions  were  held  in 
1838,  1839,  1841,  1842,  and  1845.  These  actions  had  a  salu- 
tary effect  upon  the  people,  who  were,  with  few  exceptions, 
strongly  favorable  to  union.  They  redoubled  their  efforts 
to  create  an  overwhelming  sentiment  in  favor  of  the  meas- 
ure. The  General  Synod  of  the  Associate  Reformed  Church 
took  up  the  matter  and  appointed  delegates  to  attend  a  fu- 
ture convention,  should  the  sister  churches  or  either  of  them 
concur  in  the  measure.  At  this  time  the  Reformed  Presby- 
terian Church  withdrew  and  no  longer  co-operated  in  the 
efforts  to  effect  a  union  of  the  churches. 

At  length  a  basis,  framed  in  accordance  with  the  general 
principles  which  had  been  approved  by  the  supreme  judica- 
tories  of  the  Associate  and  Associate  Reformed  Churches 
respectively,  was  prepared  by  a  committee,  which,  being 
presented  to  the  synods,  was  by  them  transmitted  in  over- 
ture to  the  presbyteries.  After  revising  the  reports  of  the 
presbyteries  at  the  annual  meeting  of  the  supreme  judica- 
tories,  the  basis  was  adopted  by  them  both,  with  the  under- 
standing that  the  formal  consummation  of  the  union  should 
take  place  at  the  time  of  the  annual  meeting  in  1858. 

On  Wednesday,  May  26, 1858,  the  union  of  the  Associate 
and  the  Associate  Reformed  Churches  was  consummated  in 
Pittsburgh,  Pa.,  and  the  measure  was  hailed  with  rejoicings 
by  the  people  of  both  churches  throughout  the  land. 

Of  the  "  Testimony  of  the  United  Presbyterian  Church," 
we  give  the  following  as  the  substance : 

ARTICLE  1.  The  Scriptures  are  in  every  part  the  inspired  Word  of 


446  THE  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH. 

God,  both  in  language  and  in  sentiment,  and  are  the  only  rule  of  faith 
and  practice. 

ARTICLE  2.  Jesus  Christ  is  Supreme  God,  being  one  in  essence  with 
the  Father,  and  also  the  Son  of  God  in  respect  of  his  natural,  necessary, 
and  eternal  relation  to  the  Father. 

ARTICLE  3.  God  created  man  hi  a  state  of  perfect  holiness  and  with 
perfect  ability  to  obey  him,  and  entered  into  a  covenant  with  him,  hi 
which  covenant  Adam  was  the  representative  of  all  his  natural  poster- 
ity, so  that  hi  him  they  were  to  stand  or  fall  as  he  stood  or  fell. 

ARTICLE  4.  Our  first  parents,  by  breach  of  covenant  with  God,  sub- 
jected themselves  to  his  eternal  wrath  and  brought  themselves  into  a 
state  of  depravity  wholly  inclined  to  sin,  and  unable,  of  themselves,  to 
perform  a  single  act  of  acceptable  obedience  to  God  ;  that  their  posterity 
are  born  in  the  same  state  of  guilt,  depravity,  and  inability,  and  so 
will  continue  until  delivered  therefrom  by  the  grace  of  our  Lord  Jesup 
Christ. 

ARTICLE  5.  That  Jesus  Christ,  by  appointment  of  the  Father  and  by 
his  own  voluntary  act,  placed  himself  in  the  room  of  a  definite  number 
who  were  chosen  in  him  before  the  foundation  of  the  world  ;  so  that  Lc 
was  their  proper  and  legal  surety,  and,  as  such,  in  their  behalf,  satisfied 
the  justice  of  God  and  answered  all  the  demands  which  the  law  had 
against  them,  and  thereby  infallibly  obtained  for  them  eternal  redemp- 
tion. 

ARTICLE  6.  That  in  justification  there  is  an  imputation  to  the  believer 
of  that  righteousness,  or  satisfaction  and  obedience,  which  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  as  surety  of  his  people,  rendered  to  the  law  ;  and  it  is  only 
on  the  ground  of  this  imputed  righteousness  that  his  sins  are  pardoned 
or  his  person  accepted  of  God. 

ARTICLE  7.  That  the  gospel  hi  its  strict  and  proper  sense,  as  distin- 
guished from  the  law,  is  a  revelation  of  grace  to  sinners  as  such  ;  and 
that  it  contains  a  free  and  unconditional  offer  and  grant  of  salvation 
through  Christ  to  all  who  hear  it,  whatever  may  be  their  character  or 
condition. 

ARTICLE  8.  That  saving  faith  is  not  merely  an  assent  of  the  mind  to 
the  proposition  that  Jesus  Christ  is  the  Saviour  of  sinners  ;  but  also  a 
cordial  reception  and  appropriation  of  him  by  the  shiner  as  his  Saviour, 
with  an  accompanying  persuasion  or  assurance  corresponding  to  the 
degree  or  strength  of  his  faith  that  he  shall  be  saved  by  him. 

ARTICLE  9.  That  repentance  is  one  of  the  fruits  of  a  justifying  faith, 
and,  of  course,  cannot  be  regarded  as  a  ground  of  the  shiner's  pardon, 
or  as  necessary  to  qualify  him  for  coming  to  Christ. 

ARTICLE  10.  That  although  the  moral  law  is  of  perpetual  obliga- 
tion, and  ever  binds  the  believer  as  a  rule  of  life,  yet  as  a  covenant,  he 
is,  by  his  justification  through  Christ,  completely  and  forever  set  free 


"THE  TESTIMONY"  OF  THE  U.  P.   CHURCH.      447 

from  it,  and,  consequently,  is  not  required  to  yield  obedience  to  it  as  a 
condition  of  life  and  salvation. 

ARTICLE  11.  That  the  Holy  Spirit  accompanying  the  word  so  acts 
upon  the  soul  as  to  quicken,  regenerate,  and  sanctify  it ;  and  that  with- 
out its  direct  operation  the  soul  would  have  no  ability  to  perceive  in  a 
saving  manner  the  truths  of  God's  Word  or  yield  to  the  motives  which 
it  presents. 

ARTICLE  12.  That  Jesus  Christ  has  a  two-fold  dominion  besides  that 
which  belongs  to  Him  as  God.  These  are  over  the  Church,  of  which 
He  is  the  living  Head  and  Lawgiver,  and  over  all  created  persons  and 
things. 

ARTICLE  13.  That  the  law  of  God  is  supreme  in  its  authority  and 
obligations,  and  where  commands  of  Church  and  State  conflict  we  are 
to  obey  God  rather  than  man. 

ARTICLE  14.  That  slaveholding  is  a  violation  of  the  law  of  God  and 
contrary  to  the  letter  and  spirit  of  Christianity. 

ARTICLE  15.  That  all  associations  which  impose  an  oath  of  secrecy  or 
an  obligation  to  obey  a  code  of  unknown  laws,  are  inconsistent  with 
the  genius  and  spirit  of  Christianity,  and  church  members  ought  not 
to  have  fellowship  with  them. 

ARTICLE  16.  That  the  Church  should  not  extend  communion  in  seal- 
ing ordinances  to  those  who  refuse  adherence  to  her  profession  or  sub- 
jection to  her  government  and  discipline,  or  who  refuse  to  forsake  a 
communion  which  is  inconsistent  with  the  profession  she  makes ;  nor 
should  communion  in  any  ordinance  of  worship  be  held  under  such 
circumstances  as  would  be  inconsistent  with  the  keeping  of  these  ordi- 
nances pure  and  entire,  or  so  as  to  give  countenance  to  any  corruption 
of  the  doctrines  and  institutions  of  Christ. 

ARTICLE  17.  That  public  social  covenanting  is  a  moral  duty,  not  at 
stated  times,  but  upon  extraordinary  occasions,  in  times  of  danger  to 
the  Church,  in  times  of  exposure  to  backsliding,  and  in  times  of  reforma- 
tion. Such  covenant  transactions  bind  posterity  faithfully  to  adhere  to 
and  prosecute  the  object  for  which  they  were  entered  into. 

ARTICLE  18.  That  it  is  the  will  of  God  that  the  songs  contained  in 
the  Book  of  Psalms  be  sung  in  His  worship,  both  public  and  private,  to 
the  end  of  the  world ;  and  in  singing  God's  praise  these  songs  should  be 
employed  to  the  exclusion  of  the  devotional  compositions  of  uninspired 


The  foregoing  declarations  cover  the  views  of  the  United 
Presbyterian  Chnrch  "  in  relation  to  certain  articles  of  divine 
truth  which  have  been  either  denied  by  not  a  few  profess- 
ing Christians,  or  permitted  to  lie  in  obscurity."  By  them 


448  THE  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH. 

they  did  not  design  to  displace  the  Confession  of  Faith,  but 
rather  to  direct  attention  to  it  as  a  document  to  which  the 
Church  had  solemnly  declared  its  adherence. 

The  official  reports  for  the  year  1893  showed :  Synods  10, 
presbyteries  62,  ministers  805,  congregations  935,  pastoral 
charges  759,  communicants  111,119,  Sunday-schools  1,116, 
officers  and  teachers  11,115,  scholars  96,908,  young  people's 
societies  654  with  28,092  members,  mission  stations  207,  and 
total  contributions  $1,400,090,  of  which  $563,020  were  for 
ministers'  salaries,  $437,550  for  congregational  purposes, 
$290,826  for  the  various  Boards  of  the  Church,  and  $108,694 
for  miscellaneous  expenses.  The  Board  of  Missions  to  the 
Freedmen  reported  7  stations,  5  congregations,  9  Sunday- 
schools,  2,678  scholars,  6  ordained  ministers,  48  missionaries 
of  whom  10  were  colored,  Sunday-school  enrollment  2,810, 
and  communicants  418.  The  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  had 
under  its  charge  82  missionaries  of  all  classes  in  Egypt  and 
India,  580  native  workers  of  all  grades,  41  churches,  10,641 
communicants,  264  day-schools  with  12,068  pupils,  and  238 
Sunday-schools  with  6,766  scholars,  and  received  $37,197  in 
contributions  from  the  two  missions. 


III. 

THE  PRESBYTERIAH  CHURCHES 


IN  THE 


UHITED  STATES. 


THE   REFORMED   PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH. 

E  Reformed  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States 
JL  derives  her  origin  from  the  old  Reformation  Church 
of  Scotland.  In  that  country  the  revival  of  evangelical 
religion  may  be  said  to  have  assumed  practical  shape  in 
1559,  when,  under  the  preaching  of  John  Knox,  the  people 
were  brought  to  regard  the  Church  of  Rome  with  such 
hostility  that  the  Queen  Regent  avowed  her  intention  to 
suppress  the  Reformation  with  fire  and  sword.  This  pre- 
cipitated the  crisis,  and  induced  the  Reformers  to  combine 
and  arm  themselves  in  self-defence. 

From  this  time  forward  the  progress  of  the  Reformation 
was  rapid.  In  1560  the  authority  of  the  Pope  was  renounced, 
the  Bible  was  declared  free  to  all,  and  a  Confession  of  Faith 
and  Book  of  Discipline,  giving  to  the  Clmrch  a  Presbyterian 
constitution,  were  adopted.  In  1580  the  Scottish  Reformers 
entered  into  a  solemn  covenant,  which  was  subscribed  and 
sworn  to  by  the  king  and  people  of  all  ranks.  This  was 
called  the  "National  Covenant."  In  subscribing  to  it  the 
covenanters  solemnly  bound  themselves  to  adhere  to  and 
defend  the  true  religion,  as  expressed  in  the  Confession  of 
Faith,  and  to  forbear  from  the  practice  of  the  innovations 
29  (449) 


450  THE  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH. 

recently  introduced,  which,  in  their  belief,  were  "  contrary 
to  the  W  ord  of  God  and  tending  to  the  re-establishment  of 
the  Popish  religion."  Thus  arose  the  Reformed  Presby- 
terian Church. 

The  union  of  the  crowns  of  Scotland  and  England  in  1603 
resulted  in  a  hierarchy  which  was  deemed  dangerous  in  the 
last  degree  to  the  Presbyterian  interests.  This  united  in 
still  closer  bonds  the  friends  of  ecclesiastical  liberty.  When 
King  James  VI.  on  the  death  of  Queen  Elizabeth  of  England, 
became  monarch  of  that  kingdom  also,  he  laid  aside  his 
Presbyterian  principles  and  became  one  of  the  strongest 
asserters  of  arbitrary  power.  He  held  that  the  king  is  the 
Head  of  the  Church,  and  "  that  a  Presbytery  was  fit  only  for 
a  nation  of  republicans." 

In  1617  James  endeavored  to  impose  on  the  Church  of 
Scotland  the  whole  system  of  ceremonies  observed  in  the 
English  Church,  but  upon  the  first  attempt  to  introduce 
them,  so  unmistakable  were  the  murmurings  of  the  people 
that  the  bishops  took  the  alarm  and  laid  them  aside.  The 
English  liturgy  was,  however,  read  every  day  in  the  Royal 
Chapel,  and  for  the  first  time  since  the  Reformation  the 
sound  of  instrumental  music  was  heard  there.  In  1618  an 
assembly  held  in  Perth  passed  certain  acts  for  the  introduc- 
tion to  Scotland  of  some  English  ceremonies.  These  were, 
kneeling  at  sacrament ;  the  private  administration  of  bap- 
tism ;  private  communicating ;  the  observance  of  holidays ; 
and  confirmation.  They  are  known  as  the  "  Five  Articles 
of  Perth " ;  they  were  ratified  by  Parliament  and  became 
the  law  of  the  land.  Their  rigorous  enforcement  followed, 
which  resulted  in  the  banishment  of  many  ministers  emi- 
nent for  piety,  learning,  and  eloquence. 

In  1633  King  Charles  imposed  upon  Scotland  a  "  Service 
Book."  This  was  the  signal  for  a  most  determined  resist- 
ance to  the  innovations  from  all  parts  of  Scotland,  and  the 
result  was  the  great  moral  revolution  of  1638.  In  this  year, 
while  Charles  I.  and  Parliament  were  contending,  the  Prot- 
estants of  Scotland  entered  into  a  solemn  league  and  covenant 
with  the  English  Parliament,  by  which  the  independence 


THE  REFORMED  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH.        451 

of  the  Presbyterian  churches  was  confirmed.  It  was  at  this 
time  that  the  Scottish  Presbyterians  began  to  be  styled 
"Covenanters." 

At  the  accession  of  William  and  Mary  in  1689,  Episco- 
pacy was  established  in  England  and  Ireland,  and  Presby- 
terianism  in  Scotland.  This  retained  the  very  obnoxious 
feature  against  which  the  Covenanters  had  so  long  struggled 
— royal  supremacy  over  the  Church — and  a  portion  of  them 
dissented  from  it,  urging,  1st,  that  the  Solemn  League  and 
Covenant,  which  they  considered  the  constitution  of  the 
empire,  was  entirely  disregarded  in  its  arrangements ;  and, 
2d,  that  the  civil  rulers  usurped  an  authority  over  the 
church  which  virtually  destroyed  her  spiritual  independ- 
ence, and  was  at  variance  with  the  sole  headship  of  the 
Redeemer. 

For  more  than  sixteen  years  the  Covenanters  remained 
without  a  ministry,  organizing  themselves  into  praying  so- 
cieties and  meeting  statedly  for  religious  worship.  In  1706 
the  Rev.  John  MacMillan  left  the  Established  Church  and 
joined  them.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Nairne  followed,  from  the  Se- 
cession Church  in  1743,  and  these  two,  with  ruling  elders, 
constituted  the  "Reformed  Presbytery."  Through  this 
body  the  Reformed  Presbyterians  in  America  received  their 
ministry. 

From  the  early  part  of  the  eighteenth  century  the  per- 
secutions at  home  had  gradually  driven  a  number  of  Cove- 
nanters and  their  families  to  America.  In  1743  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Craighead  collected  the  Covenanters  of  Pennsylvania 
together  and  induced  them  to  bind  themselves  to  abide  by 
and  maintain  their  principles.  In  1752  the  Rev.  Mr.  Cuth- 
bertson  arrived  in  America  from  the  Reformed  Presbytery 
of  Scotland,  and  being  joined  by  Messrs.  Lind  and  Dobbin, 
from  the  Reformed  Presbytery  of  Ireland,  in  1774  a  presby- 
tery was  constituted  and  the  Church  took  her  stand  as  a 
distinct  visible  community  in  the  North  American  Colonies. 

Her  growth  was  slow  until  1782,  which  year  was  signalized 
by  the  union  of  the  presbyteries  of  the  Associate  and  Re- 
formed Churches,  which  gave  origin  to  the  "  Associate  Re- 


452  THE  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH. 

formed  Church  in  the  United  States."  A  portion  of  the 
Associate  Church  and  one  of  her  ministers,  however,  did 
not  approve  of  the  union,  and  a  large  number  of  the  people 
of  the  Reformed  Presbyterian  Church  were  also  opposed 
to  it.  Neither  of  these  bodies  would  enter  into  it  when 
consummated,  and  thus  both,  though  diminished  in  num- 
bers, retained  their  distinctive  organizations.  Hence,  in- 
stead of  the  consolidation  of  two  bodies  into  one,  there  re- 
sulted but  the  addition  of  a  new  body  to  the  original 
number. 

Within  ten  years  from  this  time  four  ministers  emigrated 
from  Europe  to  aid  in  maintaining  the  Reformed  Presby- 
terian cause.  They  were  the  Revs.  Reid,  McGarragh,  King, 
and  McKinney.  In  1798  the  Rev.  Messrs.  McKinney  and 
Gibson,  with  ruling  elders,  proceeded  to  constitute  the 
"Reformed  Presbytery  of  the  United  States  of  North 
America."  Thus  the  Church  took  her  stand  on  American 
ground.  Some  Reformed  Presbyterians  have,  from  time  to 
time,  entertained  the  opinion  that  the  Constitution  and  gov- 
ernment of  the  United  States  are  essentially  infidel  and  im- 
moral, and  that,  therefore,  they  should  be  dissenters  from 
both,  and  principally  on  the  ground  of  maintaining  this 
opinion  a  number  of  ministers  with  adherents,  in  1833,  with- 
drew from  the  General  Synod,  and  up  to  the  present  time 
the  two  bodies  have  maintained  a  separate  existence,  each 
claiming  to  be  the  original  church.  The  seceding  party  of 
1833  assumed  the  name  of  the  "Synod  of  the  Reformed 
Presbyterian  Church,"  while  the  other  body  retains  the 
name  which  the  Church  had  before  the  division,  viz. :  "  The 
General  Synod  of  the  Reformed  Presbyterian  Church." 

The  doctrinal  principles  of  the  Church  are  thoroughly 
Calvinistic.  Their  leading  doctrines  and  order  of  worship 
are  substantially  the  same  as  those  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  proper,  except  in  the  following  respects : 

1.  That  in  singing  God's  praise  the  Psalms  are  to  be  used 
in  social  worship,  to  the  exclusion  of  all  imitations  and  un- 
inspired compositions. 

2.  Sacramental  communion  is  not  to  be  extended  to  those 


THE  CUMBERLAND  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH.      453 

who  do  not  approve  the  principles  of  this  particular  church 
or  submit  themselves  to  her  authority.  Not  that  she 
designs  by  this  to  unchurch  any  other  denomination,  but 
she  does  not  feel  at  liberty  to  allow  every  man  to  be  the 
judge  of  his  own  qualification  for  sealing  ordinances. 

The  following  statistics  will  show  the  condition  of  the  two 
branches  respectively  as  reported  by  the  census  of  1890  : 

Reformed  Presbyterian  Church,  General  Synod.— Number 
of  presbyteries  5,  organizations  33,  church  edifices  33,  com- 
municants 4,602,  and  value  of  church  property  $469,000. 
The  presbyteries  were  the  Northern,  the  Ohio,  the  Phila- 
delphia, the  Pittsburg,  and  the  Western,  of  which  the  Phila- 
delphia was  the  strongest  in  membership,  2,103;  the  West- 
ern the  strongest  in  organizations,  11.  This  branch  was 
represented  in  the  States  of  Illinois,  Indiana,  Iowa,  Kansas, 
New  York,  Ohio,  Pennsylvania,  Tennessee,  and  Vermont. 

Reformed  Presbyterian  Church,  Synod. — Number  of  pres- 
byteries 11,  organizations  115,  church  edifices  115,  com- 
municants 10,574,  and  value  of  church  property  $1,071,400. 
This  branch  was  represented  in  the  States  of  Alabama, 
Colorado,  Illinois,  Indiana,  Iowa,  Kansas,  Maine,  Maryland, 
Massachusetts,  Michigan,  Minnesota,  Missouri,  Nebraska, 
New  York,  Ohio,  Pennsylvania,  Vermont,  West  Virginia, 
and  Wisconsin.  It  was  strongest  in  number  of  organiza- 
tions, 33,  and  members,  3,272,  in  Pennsylvania,  with  New 
York  ranking  second  and  Iowa  third. 

THE   CUMBEELAND   PEESBYTEEIAN   CHUECH. 

Near  the  close  of  the  last  century  a  great  revival  of  re- 
ligion was  developed  among  the  Presbyterians  of  Kentucky. 
The  first  indications  of  it  appeared  in  May,  1797,  in  the 
Gaspar  River  congregation,  under  the  ministry  of  the  Rev. 
James  McGready.  In  September,  1798,  the  congregations 
of  Red  River  and  Muddy  River  were  stirred  up  to  unusual 
religious  ardor.  By  1800  the  revival  had  extended  itself 
into  what  was  then  called  the  Cumberland  country.  Meet- 
ings were  held  in  the  open  air ;  and  multitudes  flocked  to- 
gether from  the  distance  of  fifty  and  even  in  some  instances 
a  hundred  miles.  This  is  said  to  have  been  the  origin  of 
camp-meetings.  As  the  number  of  converts  was  great,  and 


454  THE  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH. 

religion  was  extended  into  destitute  and  neglected  regions, 
a  strong  necessity  was  felt  for  a  more  rapid  multiplication 
of  Christian  ministers. 

At  this  juncture  the  venerable  Rev.  David  Rice,  the  oldest 
Presbyterian  minister  in  Kentucky,  suggested  that  a  number 
of  men,  of  pronounced  piety,  should  be  selected  from  the 
churches,  and  encouraged  to  prepare  themselves  for  the 
work  of  the  ministry,  although  they  might  not  have  and 
might  not  be  able  to  obtain,  that  amount  of  education  re- 
quired by  the  Book  of  Discipline.  As  it  was  believed  that 
the  circumstances  called  for  extraordinary  means,  the  sug- 
gestion was  adopted.  Three  men,  Alexander  Anderson, 
Finis  Ewing,  and  Samuel  King,  were  accordingly  selected. 
They  prepared  written  discourses,  and  presented  themselves 
before  the  Transylvania  Presbytery  in  the  fall  of  1801.  In 
the  Presbytery  the  measure  was  strongly  opposed.  The 
three  men  were  obliged  to  read  their  discourses  privately  to 
Mr.  Rice,  who  reported  favorably  upon  them.  Still  the 
Presbytery  wanted  further  evidences  of  their  fitness,  and 
required  further  discourses  to  be  submitted  at  the  next  ses- 
sion. The  men  again  presented  themselves,  and  after  an  ex- 
amination, Mr.  Anderson  was  received  as  a  candidate  for 
the  ministry  ;  the  others  were  rejected,  but  were  authorized 
to  catechise  and  exhort.  In  the  fall,  however,  of  1802,  they 
were  all  licensed  as  probationers  for  the  ministry,  having 
adopted  the  Confession  of  Faith  of  the  Presbyterian  Church, 
with  the  exception  of  the  idea  of  fatality,  which  appeared 
to  them  to  be  taught  by  the  doctrines  of  election  and  repro- 
bation. 

In  1804  the  Synod  of  Kentucky,  in  reviewing  the  book  of 
records  of  the  Cumberland  Presbytery,  took  notice  of  their 
having  introduced  men  into  the  sacred  office  who  had  not 
acquired  a  regular  education,  and  who  were  understood  to 
have  taken  exceptions  to  the  doctrinal  standards  of  the 
church.  This  led  to  the  appointment  of  a  commission,  with 
full  powers  to  act  in  the  place  of  the  Synod,  both  in  holding 
a  friendly  conference  with  the  Presbytery,  and  in  judicially 
terminating  the  case. 


THE  CUMBERLAND  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH.    455 

The  commission  demanded  that  all  those  persons  who  had 
been  ordained  or  licensed  without  an  examination  on  all  the 
branches  of  learning  and  doctrine  required  in  the  Confession 
of  Faith,  should  appear  before  themselves,  and  submit  to  a 
full  and  regular  examination.  To  this  demand  the  Presby- 
tery declined  to  submit. 

The  commission  then  passed  a  resolution  that  those  who 
had  been  thus  licensed  or  ordained  without  a  full  examina- 
tion should  be  prohibited  from  the  exercise  of  official  func- 
tions, until  such  times  as  they  should  submit  themselves  to 
their  jurisdiction. 

The  members  of  the  Presbytery  continued  to  exercise  their 
ministry,  but  not  without  making  various  efforts  during  a 
period  of  five  years  to  obtain  through  the  General  Assembly 
a  "redress  of  grievances."  Having  failed  in  all  these  en- 
deavors, the  Rev.  Messrs.  Ewing,  King,  and  McAdam,  in 
1810,  declared  themselves  independent,  and  constituted  the 
Cumberland  Presbytery,  which  was  the  germ  of  the  present 
Cumberland  Presbyterian  Church.  In  their  constitution  the 
following  statement  is  made  as  defining  their  position  : 

We,  Samuel  McAdam,  Finis  Ewing,  and  Samuel  King,  regularly 
ordained  ministers  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  against  whom  no  charge 
either  of  immorality  or  heresy  has  ever  been  exhibited  before  any  judica- 
ture of  the  church,  having  waited  hi  vain  more  than  four  years,  in  the 
meantime  petitioning  the  General  Assembly  for  a  redress  of  grievances, 
and  a  restoration  of  our  violated  rights,  have  and  do  hereby  agree  and 
determine  to  constitute  ourselves  into  a  presbytery,  known  by  the  name 
of  the  Cumberland  Presbytery,  on  the  following  conditions : 

All  candidates  for  the  ministry,  who  may  hereafter  be  licensed  by 
this  presbytery,  and  all  the  licentiates  or  probationers  who  may  here- 
after be  ordained  by  this  presbytery,  shall  be  required,  before  such  licen- 
sure  and  ordination,  to  receive  and  accept  the  Confession  of  Faith  and 
Discipline  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  except  the  idea  of  fatality  that 
seoms  to  be  taught  under  the  mysterious  doctrine  of  predestination.  It 
is  to  be  understood,  however,  that  such  as  can  clearly  receive  the  Con- 
fession of  Faith  without  an  exception,  will  not  be  required  to  make  any. 
Moreover,  all  licentiates,  before  they  are  set  apart  to  the  whole  work  of 
the  ministry,  or  ordained,  shall  be  required  to  undergo  an  examination 
hi  English  Grammar,  Geography,  Astronomy,  Natural  and  Moral  Phi- 
losophy, and  Church  History.  It  will  not  be  understood  that  examina- 


456  THE  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH. 

tions  in  Experimental  Religion  and  Theology  will  be  omitted.  The 
presbytery  may  also  require  an  examination  on  any  part,  or  all,  of  the 
above  branches  of  knowledge  before  licensure,  if  they  deem  it  expedient. 

So  rapid  was  their  growth,  that  three  years  after,  in  1813, 
they  became  three  presbyteries,  and  constituted  a  synod.  In 
this  year  a  committee  was  appointed  to  prepare  a  Confession 
of  Faith,  Catechism,  and  Form  of  Church  Government,  in 
conformity  with  the  avowed  principles  of  the  body.  The 
Confession  of  Faith  and  Catechism  are  a  modification  of  the 
Westminster  Confession,  and  contain  substantially  the  fol- 
lowing doctrines :  that  the  Scriptures  are  the  only  infallible 
rule  of  faith  and  practice ;  that  God  is  an  infinite,  eternal, 
and  unchangeable  spirit,  existing  mysteriously  in  three  per- 
sons, the  three  being  equal  in  power  and  glory ;  that  God  is 
the  Creator  and  Preserver  of  all  things  ;  that  the  decrees  of 
God  extend  only  to  what  is  for  his  glory ;  that  he  has  not 
decreed  the  existence  of  sin,  because  it  is  neither  for  his 
glory  nor  the  good  of  his  creatures  ;  that  man  was  created 
upright,  in  the  image  of  God,  but  that  by  the  transgression 
of  the  federal  head,  he  has  become  totally  depraved,  so  much 
so  that  he  can  do  no  good  thing  without  the  aid  of  divine 
grace ;  that  Jesus  Christ  is  the  mediator  between  God  and 
man  ;  that  he  is  both  God  and  man  in  one  person  ;  that  he 
obeyed  the  law  perfectly,  and  died  on  the  cross  to  make 
satisfaction  for  sin  ;  that,  in  the  expressive  language  of  the 
apostle,  he  tasted  death  for  every  man  ;  that  the  Holy  Spirit 
is  the  efficient  agent  in  our  conviction,  regeneration,  and 
sanctification ;  that  repentance  and  faith  are  necessary  in 
order  to  acceptance,  and  that  both  are  inseparable  from  a 
change  of  heart ;  that  justification  is  by  faith  alone ;  that 
sanctification  is  a  progressive  work,  and  not  completed  till 
death  ;  that  those  who  believe  in  Christ,  and  are  regenerated 
by  his  Spirit,  will  never  fall  away  and  be  lost ;  that  there  will 
be  a  general  resurrection  and  judgment,  and  that  the  right- 
eous will  be  received  to  everlasting  happiness,  and  the  wicked 
consigned  to  everlasting  misery. 

Cumberland  Presbyterians  baptize  the  children  of  believ- 
ing parents,  and  adult  persons  who  have  not  been  baptized 


STATISTICS.  457 

in  infancy,  upon  a  credible  profession  of  religion.  They  ad- 
minister baptism  by  affusion,  and  sometimes,  when  the  sub- 
ject has  conscientious  preferences,  by  immersion.  At  the 
session  of  the  synod  in  1828,  three  new  synods  were  erected, 
and  measures  were  taken  for  the  organization  of  a  General 
Assembly.  The  first  meeting  of  the  General  Assembly  occur- 
red at  Princeton,  Ky.,  in  1829. 

The  official  reports  for  the  year  1892  showed :  Presbyteries 
124,  congregations  2,916,  ordained  ministers  1,670,  commu- 
nicants 171,609,  and  total  contributions  $794,576,  of  which 
$9,428  were  for  church  erection,  $9,868  for  ministerial  relief, 
$10,525  for  ministerial  education,  $22,499  for  home  missions, 
and  $20,431  for  foreign  missions. 

A  colored  branch  of  the  Church  was  organized  in  Mur- 
freesborough,  Tenn.,  in  1869  ;  its  first  presbytery  was  formed 
in  1870  ;  its  first  synod  in  1871 ;  and  its  general  assembly  in 
1874.  In  1890  it  had  23  presbyteries,  238  congregations, 
13,439  communicants,  192  church  edifices,  and  church  prop- 
erty valued  at  $202,961. 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  METHODISM. 

E  word  "  Methodist,"  applied  descriptively  to  one  of 
JL  the  largest  and  most  influential  denominations  of  Prot- 
estantism, was  a  derisive  appellation  that  was  used  against 
John  and  Charles  Wesley  when  they  were  sowing  the  seeds 
of  the  great  church  of  to-day.  The  Methodici  were  physi- 
cians in  ancient  Eome,  and  the  allusion  of  scoffers  at  the 
Wesleys'  work  to  that  very  old  word  was  occasioned  by  the 
doctrines  they  taught  and  personally  practiced,  of,  among 
others,  visiting  the  poor  and  sick. 

The  history  of  the  inception  and  subsequent  growth  of 
Methodism  forms  one  of  the  most  entertaining  narratives  in 
the  whole  range  of  ecclesiastical  records.  The  achievements 
of  the  Wesley  brothers  and  their  immediate  followers  are 
now  known  and  honored  "to  the  uttermost  parts  of  the 
earth." 

The  Wesley  brothers  sprang  from  a  family  of  strong  re- 
ligious convictions,  which  gave  to  the  world  several  clergy- 
men distinguished  in  their  day.  John  was  born  at  Epworth, 
Eng.,  June  17  (0.  S.),  1703.  He  entered  Christchurch,  Ox- 
ford, when  seventeen  years  old,  and  was  ordained  in  1725. 
Soon  after  his  ordination  he  went  to  officiate  as  curate  to  his 
father  at  Wroote,  where  he  remained  two  years.  During 

(458) 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  METHODISM.  459 

this  brief  residence  he  received  priest's  orders.  Towards  the 
close  of  1728  he  was  summoned  back  to  college,  in  accordance 
with  a  regulation  that  such  of  the  junior  fellows  as  might  be 
chosen  moderator,  should  perform  the  duties  of  their  office 
in  person.  There  he  found  his  younger  brother,  Charles 
(born  in  1708),  then  an  undergraduate  of  Christchurch,  one 
of  a  small  association  of  students  already  distinguished  in 
the  university  by  the  sarcastic  appellations  of  the  Holy  Club, 
the  Godly  Club,  the  Bible  Moths,  the  Bible  Bigots,  the  Sacra- 
mentarians,  and  the  Methodists.  At  first  their  religious  en- 
thusiasm only  carried  them  the  length  of  devoting  Sunday 
evenings  to  the  reading  of  divinity,  the  other  nights  being 
given  to  secular  study.  Very  soon,  however,  religion  became 
the  sole  business  of  their  meetings.  They  communicated 
once  and  fasted  twice  a  week  ;  they  employed  much  of  their 
time  in  visiting  the  prisons  and  the  sick  ;  gave  away  whatever 
they  could  spare  in  charity ;  observed  among  themselves  a 
regular  system  of  prayer,  meditation,  and  self-examination, 
and,  in  a  word,  exhibited  in  all  things  a  zeal  and  abstraction 
from  the  world  such  as  has  scarcely  been  surpassed  by  the 
most  rigid  order  of  religious  devotees. 

John  Wesley  immediately  joined  this  gathering,  which 
now  (1729)  consisted  of  about  fifteen  individuals,  of  whom 
the  most  remarkable,  besides  the  Wesley  brothers,  were  Mr. 
Morgan,  a  commoner  of  Christchurch;  James  Hervey, 
author  of  the  well-known  "Meditations,"  and  George 
Whitefield,  who  became  the  celebrated  revivalist.  In  the 
spring  of  1735,  Mr.  John  Wesley  was  called  to  attend  his 
dying  father,  who  desired  him  to  present  to  Queen  Caroline 
a  book  he  had  just  finished.  Soon  after  his  return  to  Ox- 
ford, he  went  to  London  on  this  account,  where  he  was 
strongly  solicited  by  Dr.  Burton,  one  of  the  trustees  for  the 
new  colony  at  Georgia,  to  go  there  to  preach  to  the  Indians. 
At  first  he  peremptorily  refused.  He  particularly  men- 
tioned the  grief  it  would  occasion  to  his  widowed  mother. 
The  case  being  referred  to  her,  she  is  said  to  have  made  this 
reply  :  "  Had  I  twenty  sons,  I  should  rejoice  that  they  were 
all  so  employed,  though  I  should  never  see  them  more." 


460  THE  METHODIST  CHURCH. 

His  way  appeared  now  plain,  and  he  made  arrangements 
for  this  enterprise.  On  Tuesday,  October  14, 1735,  he  set 
off  from  London  for  Gravesend,  accompanied  by  Mr.  Ing- 
ham,  Mr.  Delamotte,  and  his  brother  Charles,  who  had  taken 
holy  orders,  to  embark  for  Georgia.  There  was  a  little  com- 
pany of  Germans  on  board,  members  of  the  Moravian 
Church,  with  whose  Christian  deportment  Mr.  Wesley  was 
much  struck,  and  he  immediately  set  himself  to  learn  the 
German  language,  in  order  to  converse  with  them. 

The  piety  and  devotion  which  Mr.  Wesley  and  his  com- 
panions manifested  during  the  voyage  indicated  a  becoming 
impression  of  the  importance  of  their  undertaking.  Charles 
returned  to  England  with  despatches  from  Governor  Ogle- 
thorpe  early  in  1737,  and  John  remained  until  the  close  of 
that  year.  His  work  was  taken  up  by  his  valued  friend, 
Mr.  George  Whitefield,  who  arrived  at  Savannah  on  May  7, 

1738,  and  was  received  by  Mr.  Delamotte  and  many  of  Mr. 
Wesley's  hearers.     It  may  be  proper  to  notice  the  success 
which  attended  Mr.  Whitefield's  labors  in  this  quarter  of 
the  globe.     He  returned  to  England  at  the  close  of  the  same 
year  to  receive  priest's  orders.     On  his  return  to  America  in 

1739,  he  landed  at  Philadelphia,  and  immediately  began  his 
spiritual  labors,  which  he  continued  as  he  passed  through 
the  colonies  of  Virginia,  Maryland,  and  North  and  South 
Carolina,  being  attended  by  considerable  audiences.     Upon 
his  arrival  at  Savannah,  he  found  the  colony  almost  deserted, 
which  moved  him  to  carry  into  effect  his  scheme  of  building 
an  orphan-house,  which  he  had  the  happiness  to  see  com- 
pleted through  his  exertions,  and  the  liberal  donations  of 
his  friends.     Upon  his  third  visit  to  the  western  continent, 
he  took  a  voyage  to  the  Bermuda  Islands,  where  his  minis- 
try was  successfully  attended,  and  some  contributions  made 
for  his  orphan-house  at  Savannah.     Upon  his  sixth  voyage 
to  Georgia,  he  received  the  thanks  of  the  governor  and  prin- 
cipal people  for  the  advantage  which  the  colony  had  derived 
from  his  benevolent  exertions.     In  1769  he  made  his  seventh 
and  last  voyage  to  America  ;  but  although  his  labors  were 
so  extensive,  he  formed  no  separate  congregation. 


EARLY  BRANCHES  OF  THE  CHURCH.     461 

In  the  meantime  John  Wesley,  soon  after  his  arrival  in 
London,  hastened  to  renew  Ms  connection  with  the  Mora- 
vians. In  the  summer  of  1738  he  visited  these  brethren  at 
their  original  seat  of  Herrnhut,  Germany.  He  remained,  in 
belief,  with  this  sect  until  July,  1740,  when  he  separated 
himself  from  them  on  account  of  differences  on  some  funda- 
mental points  of  doctrine. 

The  first  separate  meeting-house  for  the  Methodists  was 
begun  to  be  built  in  the  Horse  Fair,  near  St.  James'  Church, 
Bristol,  May  12, 1739.  Upon  his  withdrawal  from  the  Mora- 
vians and  return  to  London,  John  Wesley  devoted  himself 
to  preaching,  traveling,  writing  books,  and  laboring  in  all 
other  possible  ways  for  the  consolidation  and  extension  of 
the  new  church. 

Mr.  Whitefield  died  Sept.  30, 1770,  at  Newburyport,  near 
Boston,  worn  out  by  his  extraordinary  exertions.  Charles 
Wesley  died  in  London,  March  29, 1788,  while  the  life  of 
his  brother  John  was  prolonged  to  his  eighty-seventh  year, 
and  when  he  died,  in  March,  1791,  he  had  been  sixty-five 
years  in  the  ministry,  and  fifty-two  years  an  itinerant  preacher. 
He  lived  to  see  in  Great  Britain  and  Ireland  about  300  itin- 
erant preachers,  and  1,000  of  what  are  called  local  preachers, 
raised  up  from  the  midst  of  his  own  people,  and  80,000  per- 
sons in  the  societies  under  his  care. 

Whitefield  is  regarded  in  England  as  the  founder  of  the 
Calvinistic  section  of  Methodists.  Of  this  sect  the  original 
chapels  have  become,  not  adopting  any  connectional  bond, 
Independents ;  but  from  it  arose  two  separate  sects,  the 
Countess  of  Huntingdon's  connection,  and  the  Welsh  Cal- 
vinistic Methodists. 

EARLY   BRANCHES   OF  THE  CHURCH. 

In  1793  great  dissensions  sprang  up  among  the  Methodists 
in  England  about  the  sacraments,  as  to  whether  they  should 
or  should  not  be  administered  by  the  ministers,  in  the 
chapels  to  the  members  of  the  society  who  required  them, 
as  a  part  of  Christianity.  These  led  to  secessions  in  Bristol 
and  elsewhere.  In  1795  many  influential  societies  chose 


462          THE  METHODIST  CHURCH. 

delegates,  and  sent  them  to  the  Conference  then  held  at 
Manchester,  for  the  purpose  of  claiming  some  share  in  the 
government  of  Methodism.  This  led  to  concessions  that 
may  be  found  in  the  Plan  of  Pacification.  These  conces- 
sions, however,  did  not  satisfy  all.  The  dissenters  formed 
themselves  into  a  body  under  the  leadership  of  the  Rev. 
Alexander  Kilham,  and,  withdrawing  from  the  church,  estab- 
lished the  "  NEW  CONNEXION,"  in  1797.  By  the  year  1853 
this  body  had  301  chapels,  95  circuits,  814  local  preachers, 
and  16,070  members  ;  while  at  the  close  of  1860  they  reported 
473  chapels,  including  those  in  Ireland  and  Canada,  189 
preachers,  1,204  local  preachers,  29,331  members,  and  60,753 
Sunday-school  scholars.  Thirty  years  later  these  figures  had 
been  increased  as  follows:  514  chapels,  472  societies,  188 
circuit  preachers,  1,271  local  preachers,  29,299  members,  and 
92,703  Sunday-school  scholars. 

THE  BIBLE  CHRISTIAN  METHODISTS  were  consolidated  into 
a  denomination  by  Mr.  O'Bryan,  of  the  North  Cornwall  dis- 
trict. They  were  not  seceders  from  the  Wesleyan  stock,  but 
an  independent  sect  that  gradually  adopted  the  Wesleyan 
tenets.  In  1852  they  had  403  chapels,  113  itinerant  preachers, 
1,059  local  preachers,  and  13,862  members. 

THE  PRIMITIVE  METHODISTS  originated  in  Staffordshire. 
Their  first  camp-meeting  was  held  May  31,  1807. .  It  com- 
menced at  six  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  continued  till 
eight  in  the  evening.  These  camp-meetings  being  disap- 
proved of  by  the  old  connection,  a  separation  took  place,  when 
H.  and  J.  Bourne  enlarged  their  views,  and  the  cause  spread 
in  every  direction.  Societies  were  established  at  Boylstone, 
Todely,  and  Hallington  in  Derbyshire.  A  general  meeting 
was  held  at  Tunstall,  February  13, 1812,  and  a  preparatory 
meeting  at  Nottingham,  August  18, 1819,  when  arrangements 
were  made  for  annual  meetings.  Quarterly  meetings  were 
held  in  March,  June,  September,  and  December,  under  which 
"  the  work  mightily  enlarged. "  Missionary  exertions,  which 
had  been  declining,  were  revived  at  Belper  "very  power- 
fully," while  "  the  praying  people,  in  returning  home,  were 
accustomed  to  sing  through  the  streets  of  Belper ! " 


EARLY  BRANCHES  OF  THE  CHURCH.     463 

It  is  said,  that  this  circumstance  procured  them  the  name 
of  Ranters,  and  the  name  of  Ranter,  which  first  arose  on  this 
occasion,  afterwards  spread  very  extensively.  The  work 
then  spread  to  Derby  and  Nottingham,  whence  circuits  were 
established,  one  circuit  having  been  hitherto  sufficient  for 
the  connection.  The  camp-meetings  also  had  declined,  but 
were  thus  revived. 

In  June,  1860,  the  Primitive  Methodists  in  England  had 
2,267  chapels,  3,268  rented  chapels  and  schools,  675  travel- 
ing preachers,  132,114  members  in  society,  and  167,533  Sun- 
day-school scholars.  In  1883  they  reported  1,147  traveling 
preachers,  15,982  local  preachers,  10,994  elders,  4,437  chapels, 
1,812  other  preaching  places,  4,184  Sunday-schools,  400,597 
scholars,  and  196,480  members. 

In  1829  dissensions  in  Leeds  gave  birth  to  the  PROTEST- 
ANT METHODISTS,  who  declared  that  the  Wesleyans  had 
violated  their  own  laws  by  the  erection  ol  an  organ  in  one 
of  their  own  chapels  in  that  town,  contrary  to  the  decision 
of  a  leaders'  meeting. 

In  1835  the  establishment  of  the  Theological  Institution, 
the  expulsion  of  Dr.  Samuel  Warren,  and  differences  on  the 
rights  of  leaders'  meetings,  gave  existence  to  the  ASSOCIA- 
TION METHODISTS.  This  denomination  was  so  prospered 
that  within  a  period  of  seventeen  years  it  had  secured  329 
chapels  and  171  rooms  and  other  places  for  preaching,  90 
itinerant  ministers,  1,016  local  preachers,  1,353  class  leaders, 
and  19,411  members. 

In  1850  the  WESLEYAN  REFORMERS  were  organized,  in 
consequence  of  the  expulsion,  by  the  Conference,  of  certain 
ministers  accused  of  anonymous  writings  against  the  powers 
claimed  by  the  Conference.  At  a  conference  of  delegates 
in  the  month  of  March,  resolutions  were  adopted  declaring 
that  they  approved  of  and  adhered  to  the  doctrines  of  John 
Wesley  :  and  that  they  denied  the  right  on  any  just  or  Scrip- 
tural ground  of  the  Conference  to  assume  to  be  the  sole 
legislative  body.  They  also  resolved  that  leaders  and  office- 
bearers should  be  chosen  by  the  church;  that  admission 
into  and  expulsion  from  the  church,  and  all  disciplinary 


464  THE  METHODIST  CHURCH. 

acts,  should  be  determined  by  a  leaders'  meeting,  subject  to 
an  appeal  to  the  quarterly  meeting;  that  the  quarterly 
meeting  should  consist  of  the  traveling  preachers  of  the  dis- 
trict and  an  equal  number  of  lay  representatives,  to  be 
chosen  at  the  March  quarterly  meetings ;  and  that  the  Con- 
nectional  Committees  should  consist  equally  of  preachers 
and  lay  members  of  the  society. 

It  was  estimated  that  this  secession  drew  off  100,000 
members  from  the  parent  stock.  Subsequently,  a  large  num- 
ber of  the  Reformers  having  joined  the  Wesleyan  Associa- 
tion in  forming  the  UNITED  METHODIST  FREE  CHURCH,  the 
Reform  Union  numbered  about  60,000  members,  with  up- 
wards of  3,000  places  of  worship,  3,000  preachers,  and  500 
class  leaders.  In  1883  the  Wesleyan  Reform  Union  had  216 
chapels  and  preaching  places,  457  preachers,  480  elders, 
7,950  members,  187  Sunday-schools,  with  3,140  teachers  and 
19,715  scholars.  At  the  third  annual  meeting  of  the  United 
Methodist  Free  Church  in  1859,  there  were  reported  825 
chapels,  422  preaching  places,  163  itinerant  preachers,  2,522 
local  preachers,  2,095  leaders,  50,133  members,  and  97,961 
Sunday-school  scholars  ;  while  in  1884  they  had  1,350  chapels 
and  184  other  preaching  rooms,  373  itinerant  preachers, 
3,330  local  preachers,  4,068  leaders,  75,841  members,  1,350 
Sunday-schools,  with  26,631  teachers  and  196,509  scholars. 

A  summary  of  English  Wesleyans  throughout  the  world, 
excluding  the  United  States,  in  1894,  showed  7,440  ministers 
and  1,315,871  members,  of  whom  1,819  ministers  and  239,557 
members  belonged  to  the  churches  in  Canada. 


1. 
HETHODIST    CHURCHES 

IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


THE   METHODIST   EPISCOPAL   CHURCH   OF  AMERICA. 

IN  the  preceding  chapter  a  description  has  been  given  of 
the  origin  of  the  Methodist  Societies  in  England  under 
the  Wesley  brothers,  and  of  the  first  attempts  to  introduce 
their  peculiar  doctrines  into  the  United  States.  In  1758  John 
Wesley  visited  the  county  of  Limerick,  Ireland,  where  he 
found  a  singular  community,  settled  in  several  villages,  that 
were  not  native  Irish,  but  of  German  descent ;  and  being  for 
nearly  half  a  century  without  pastors  who  could  speak  their 
own  language,  had  become  greatly  demoralized  and  noted 
for  an  utter  neglect  of  religion.  The  Methodist  itinerants 
penetrated  to  their  homes  and  preached  to  them  the  Word 
of  God.  Many  were  converted,  and  the  entire  community 
were  now  a  reformed  and  devout  people.  These  German- 
Irish  were  called  "  Palatines,"  from  the  fact  that  they  had 
been  driven  from  the  Palatinate  on  the  Rhine,  by  the  Papal 
troops  of  Louis  XIV.  They  found  refuge  under  the  kindly 
government  of  Queen  Anne.  In  the  spring  of  1760  a  com- 
pany of  these  Palatines  sailed  from  Limerick  to  Amer- 
ica, A  large  company  gathered  on  the  quay  to  say  fare- 
well lor  the  last  time.  One  of  their  number,  a  young  man 
HtL  thoughtful  look  and  resolute  bearing,  was  evidently  the 
30  (465) 


466  THE  METHODIST  CHURCH. 

leader  of  the  party.  He  was  their  spiritual  adviser  and 
helper,  and  had  often  preached  to  them  the  Word  of  Life  ; 
many  had  been  converted  under  his  preaching,  and  then, 
surrounded  by  his  spiritual  children,  he  once  more  broke 
to  them  the  bread  of  life.  His  name  was  Philip  Embury. 
The  company  landed  at  New  York,  August  10,  1760,  and 
were  scattered  abroad.  It  is  not  known  that  any  meetings 
were  held  by  them  until  in  1766  they  were  joined  by  other 
relatives  and  fellow-countrymen,  and  although  the  religious 
life  of  many  had  declined,  Embury,  at  the  earnest  solicita- 
tion of  his  cousin,  Mrs.  Barbara  Heck,  called  them  to  worship 
in  his  own  house,  on  Barrack  Street,  now  Park  Place,  where, 
after  a  stirring  sermon,  a  class  was  organized.  They  con- 
tinued to  meet  weekly  thereafter,  and  in  a  short  time  Em- 
bury's house  could  not  accommodate  all  the  hearers,  and  he 
hired  a  large  room  in  the  neighborhood,  providing  for  the 
rent  by  gratuitous  contributions,  and  preaching  to  them 
regularly  on  the  Sabbath. 

In  the  year  following  they  were  visited  by  Captain  Thomas 
Webb,  a  quartermaster  in  the  British  army,  stationed  in 
Albany,  N.  Y.,  who  had  been  licensed  by  Wesley  as  a  local 
preacher.  In  1767  a  rigging-loft,  sixty  by  eighteen,  on 
William  Street,  was  rented,  where  Webb  and  Embury 
preached  twice  a  week  to  crowded  assemblies.  It  could 
not  contain  half  the  people  who  desired  to  hear  the  Word 
of  the  Lord  and  to  join  in  the  services  of  his  devout  com- 
pany. 

In  1768  the  first  effort  was  made  to  build  a  church.  A 
site  was  selected  and  leased  on  John  Street,  and  purchased 
two  years  later,  and  a  stone  building,  faced  with  blue  plas- 
ter, sixty  feet  by  forty-two,  was  erected.  Embury  was  chief 
architect,  and  also  worked  on  its  walls  with  other  voluntary 
or  paid  workmen.  On  the  30th  of  October,  1768,  he  ascended 
its  pulpit,  and  dedicated  the  building  by  the  name  of  "  Wes- 
ley Chapel,"  preaching  a  sermon  on  the  occasion  from  Hosea 
x.  12 :  "  Sow  to  yourselves  in  righteousness,  reap  in  mercy, 
break  up  your  fallow  ground;  for  it  is  time  to  seek  the 
Lord  till  he  come  and  rain  righteousness  upon  you." 


METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH  IN  AMERICA.    467 

Thus  did  Embury  establish  the  first  Methodist  church 
in  the  New  World,  being  its  first  preacher,  first  class  leader, 
first  treasurer,  and  first  trustee  of  the  first  society  organized. 
Captain  Webb  made  frequent  excursions  to  other  parts  of 
the  country,  preached,  and  formed  classes  in  Philadelphia, 
Wilmington,  and  New  Castle,  and  extended  his  labors  as  far 
as  Baltimore. 

While  these  two  local  preachers  were  laying  the  founda- 
tions of  a  great  work  in  New  York  and  elsewhere,  Robert 
Strawbridge,  another  Methodist  Irish  emigrant,  had  arrived 
in  the  country  and  settled  on  Sam's  Creek,  in  Frederick 
County,  Maryland.  As  an  evangelist  he  preached  through 
all  that  neighborhood,  and  formed  a  Methodist  Society,  and 
not  long  after  built  a  log  meeting-house  on  Sam's  Creek,  and 
also  founded  societies  in  Baltimore  and  Harford  Counties. 
The  first  chapel  in  the  county  was  built  near  Baltimore,  and 
here  Richard  Owen  was  converted,  who,  after  laboring  as  a 
local  preacher  for  some  years,  entered  the  itinerant  rank  and 
died  in  it,  being  the  first  native  Methodist  preacher  in  this 
country.  Joined  by  Sater  Stephenson,  Nathan  Perigo,  Rich- 
ard Webster,  and  others,  they  carried  Methodism  into  the 
heart  of  Pennsylvania,  aroused  the  population  of  the  eastern 
shore  of  Maryland,  thence  passed  to  Georgetown  and  Alex- 
andria, on  the  Potomac,  through  Fairfax  County,  Virginia, 
and  winning  great  victories  through  Delaware  and  Mary- 
land, and  the  entire  peninsula.  In  1769  Robert  Williams, 
one  of  Wesley's  preachers,  came  to  America  and  gave  him- 
self up  wholly  to  the  work  of  an  evangelist,  and  labored 
with  great  success  in  Petersburg,  Norfolk,  and  through 
Eastern  Virginia  and  North  Carolina.  John  King,  a  local 
preacher,  came  from  England  in  the  same  year  and  began 
his  labors  in  Philadelphia,  and  extended  them  through 
Delaware,  Maryland,  and  New  Jersey. 

On  August  3, 1769,  John  Wesley  announced  in  the  Con- 
ference in  England  the  cry  that  came  from  America  for 
help,  and  asked,  "  Who  is  willing  to  go  ? "  Richard  Board- 
man  and  Joseph  Pillmore  responded  to  the  call,  and  were 
set  apart  and  returned  on  the  Conference  Journal  as  Mis- 


468  THE  METHODIST  CHURCH. 

sionaries  to  America.  They  arrived  in  Philadelphia  in  1769, 
and  were  warmly  welcomed  by  Rev.  George  Whitefield,  who 
was  then  laboring  in  that  city.  They  set  themselves  at  once 
to  systematize  the  work,  and  in  1770  "  America  "  appears  for 
the  first  time  on  Wesley's  printed  minutes,  with  four  preach- 
ers, Boardman,  Pillmore,  Williams,  and  King ;  and  the  fol- 
lowing year  recorded  316  church  members.  In  1771  two 
other  regular  preachers  were  sent  over  by  the  Conference, 
Francis  Asbury  and  Richard  Wright.  The  former,  then  a 
young  man  of  twenty-six,  was  destined  to  be  the  most  influ- 
ential and  successful  of  laborers  and  the  most  historical  of 
its  preachers. 

Other  ministers  arrived  in  1772,  and  on  July  14, 1773,  the 
first  American  Methodist  Conference  was  held  at  Philadel- 
phia, consisting  of  ten  preachers,  with  a  church  membership 
of  1,160.  All  the  preachers  agreed  to  labor  under  the  author- 
ity of  Mr.  Wesley,  and  to  abide  by  his  doctrine  and  disci- 
pline, and  not  to  administer  the  sacraments.  The  Second 
Annual  Conference  met  again  in  Philadelphia,  May  25, 1774, 
Thomas  Rankin  presiding,  with  17  preachers  and  2,073 
members. 

In  the  succeeding  ten  years  the  Societies  were  very  much 
distracted  by  the  political  excitements  growing  out  of  our 
Revolutionary  contest.  The  Societies  were  still  identified 
with  the  Wesleyans  of  England,  and  many  of  the  preachers 
had  left  the  country.  In  1776  all  had  returned  to  England 
except  Mr.  Asbury,  who  found  retirement  at  the  home  of 
Judge  White,  of  Delaware. 

In  1779  the  Seventh  Annual  Conference  assembled  in  Vir- 
ginia. The  ordinance  question  again  came  up.  A  former 
Conference  had  passed  a  resolution  by  which  they  had  agreed 
to  "  exhort  the  people  to  attend  the  established  church  and 
receive  the  ordinances  there  only. "  This  was  very  obnoxious 
to  the  people ;  the  ministers  not  being  ordained  could  not 
administer  the  sacraments  ;  hence  in  many  places  they  were 
destitute  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  and  their  children  were  grow- 
ing up  without  baptism.  After  much  discussion  a  committee 
of  four  of  the  oldest  .preachers  were  appointed  to  ordain  min- 


METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH  IN  AMERICA.    469 

isters.  They  first  ordained  each  other,  and  then  some  of  the 
other  members  of  the  Conference.  Those  thus  ordained  ad- 
ministered the  ordinances  during  the  year.  The  question 
continued  to  agitate  the  Conferences  until  th^  close  of  the 
war,  when  a  special  Conference  was  called  by  Mr.  Wesley  to 
take  measures  to  adapt  this  religious  society  TO  the  new  con- 
dition of  affairs. 

Up  to  this  time  Mr.  Wesley  had  enjoined  at  home  and  in 
the  Colonies  the  necessity  of  loyalty  to  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land. No  sacraments  were  received  or  administered  by  them 
outside  of  the  churches  of  the  establishment.  All  the  Meth- 
odist preachers  except  the  Wesleys  and  a  few  other  clergy- 
men were  unordained  lay  preachers.  Episcopal  churches  are 
still  standing  in  New  York  and  elsewhere  in  which  Embury, 
Pilhnore,  Boardman,  Rankin,  and  Asbury  received  the  sacra- 
ment. Mr.  Wesley  now  foresaw  that  an  independent  society 
was  inevitable,  and  he  at  once  set  to  work  to  give  direction 
to  the  important  movement  that  was  now  assuming  definite 
shape  in  the  new  Republic.  The  preachers  were  clamorous 
for  ordination,  and  satisfying  himself  that  a  Presbyter  and 
a  Bishop  were  one  and  the  same  order  in  the  Church  of 
Christ,  Mr.  Wesley  assumed  the  office  of  Bishop,  and,  assist- 
ed by  other  Presbyters  of  the  Church  of  England,  he  set 
apart  and  ordained  Rev.  Thomas  Coke,  LL.D.,  already  a 
Presbyter  of  the  Church  of  England,  as  "  General  Superin- 
tendent "  of  the  American  Societies.  He  arrived  in  America 
November  3, 1784,  and  summoned  all  the  preachers  to  meet 
him  at  Baltimore  on  December  25th. 

On  that  day  sixty  preachers  assembled  in  a  special,  though 
not  a  regular  General  Conference.  "After  some  delibera- 
tion," says  Mr.  Asbury,  "  it  was  agreed  to  form  ourselves 
into  an  Episcopal  Church."  Rev.  Richard  Whatcoat,  after- 
wards Bishop,  says,  "  We  agreed  to  form  a  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church. " 

Here  the  "  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  of  America  "  was 
launched  forth  as  a  separate  and  distinct  church,  with  Super- 
intendents, Elders,  and  Deacons. 

Dr.  Coke  and  Mr.  Asbury  were  chosen  Superintendents ; 


470  THE  METHODIST  CHURCH. 

the  former  being  already  in  orders,  proceeded  to  ordain 
Francis  Asbury.  On  Saturday  he  was  ordained  Deacon,  on 
Sunday  Elder,  and  on  Monday  was  set  apart  as  General 
Superintendent.  Three  Deacons  and  twelve  Elders  were 
also  ordained.  Articles  of  religion  were  adopted,  and  a  gen- 
eral system  of  government  established.  The  work  was  di- 
vided into  three  Conferences,  and  the  following  year,  1785, 
the  Bishops  met  them,  transacted  the  usual  Conference  busi- 
ness, and  stationed  the  preachers. 

THE   AETICLES   OF   EELIGIOH". 

Its  doctrines  are  embraced  in  twenty-five  "Articles  of 
Religion  "  declaring : 

1st.  Faith  in  the  Holy  Trinity. 

2d.  That  the  Word  or  Son  of  God  was  made  very  man,  possessing 
two  whole  or  perfect  natures  whereof  is  one  Christ  very  God  and  very 
man. 

3d.  A  belief  in  the  resurrection  of  Christ. 

4th.  The  Divinity  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 

5th.  The  sufficiency  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  as  containing  all  things 
necessary  to  salvation. 

6th.  Obedience  to  the  commandments  of  the  Old  Testament  to  be  re- 
quired. 

7th.  A  belief  in  original  sin  as  attaching  to  the  nature  of  every  man. 

8th.  A  belief  in  the  free  moral  agency  of  man. 

9th.  A  belief  in  the  doctrine  of  justification  through  faith  in  Christ. 

1  Oth.  Good  works  to  be  pleasing  and  acceptable  to  God,  though  not  a 
ground  of  justification. 

llth.  The  utter  absence  of  power  to  perform  works  of  supererogation. 

12th.  The  possibility  of  sin  after  justification. 

13th.  The  true  Church  of  Christ  is  declared  to  be  a  congregation  of 
faithful  men  in  which  the  pure  word  of  God  is  preached  and  the  sacra- 
ments duly  administered. 

14th.  Declares  purgatory,  worshipping  and  adoration  of  images  and 
saints  as  repugnant  to  the  Word  of  God. 

15th.  Requires  all  speaking  ha  the  congregations  to  be  in  such  tongue 
as  the  people  understand. 

16th.  Declares  the  sacraments  to  be  signs  of  grace,  and  recognizes  two 
only  as  Divinely  established. 

17th.  Declares  Baptism  to  be  a  sign  of  regeneration  as  well  as  of  pro- 
fession of  faith. 


GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CHURCH.  47] 

18th.  The  Lord's  Supper — a  sacrament  of  our  redemption  by  Christ— 
disclaims  all  proof  of  transubstantiation. 

19th.  Both  the  wine  and  the  bread  should  be  received  by  the  laity. 

20th.  The  perfect  oblation  of  Christ,  finished  upon  the  cross. 

2 1st.  Declares  it  lawful  for  ministers  to  marry  at  their  discretion. 

22d.  Allows  of  freedom  hi  its  rites  and  ceremonies. 

23d.  Requires  respect  for  rulers  of  the  United  States  and  allegiance  to 
all  their  authority  and  laws. 

24th.  The  riches  and  goods  of  Christian  men  are  not  common  prop- 
erty; requires  liberality  in  alms-giving. 

25th.  Allows  of  judicial  oath-taking. 

GOVERNMENT    OF  THE   CHUECH. 

The  only  canon  law  of  the  church  is  found  in  the  "  General 
Rules  "  (the  same  as  those  adopted  by  Mr.  Wesley).  The 
legislative  authority  is  in  the  General  Conference,  which  is 
composed  of  ministerial  and  lay  delegates  from  the  annual 
conferences,  and  holds  its  sessions  once  in  four  years.  The 
annual  conferences  are  composed  of  all  the  traveling  ordain- 
ed elders  and  deacons  included  in  a  district  of  country  de- 
fined by  the  General  Conference,  and  averaging  about  one 
hundred  and  twenty-five  members  each.  They  are  presided 
over  by  one  of  the  bishops,  who,  with  the  advice  of  the  pre- 
siding elders,  meet  in  private  council,  arrange  the  work  for 
all  the  preachers,  the  appointments  being  made  every  year, 
and  no  pastor  may  return  to  the  same  charge  more  than  three 
years  in  six.  The  Conference  passes  every  preacher's  char- 
acter under  careful  examination,  and  if  complaints  are  made 
against  any,  a  court  of  investigation  or  trial  is  appointed, 
who  may  suspend  or  expel  him  if  found  guilty  of  moral 
wrong.  Reports  are  received  from  the  several  denomina 
tional  interests,  and  action  taken  in  reference  thereto.  Min- 
isters who  have  traveled  two  years,  and  who  pass  a  satisfac- 
tory examination  before  a  committee,  on  general  literary  and 
theological  qualifications,  are  admitted  to  membership  in  the 
Conference  and  ordained  deacons,  and  such  as  have  traveled 
four  years  and  passed  satisfactory  examination  are  ordained 
elders  Action  is  afeo  had  on  many  moral  and  religious 
questions.  The  territory  of  each  annual  conference  is  again 


472          THE  METHODIST  CHURCH. 

subdivided  into  districts  comprising  several  stations  or 
circuits  under  the  superintendence  of  a  traveling  preacher, 
denominated  presiding  elder.  He  holds  a  business  meeting 
with  each  charge  quarterly,  the  members  of  the  quarterly 
conference  being  the  traveling  and  local  preachers,  exhorters, 
class  leaders,  stewards,  trustees,  and  Sunday-school  superin- 
tendents. It  is  from  this  body  that  all  recommendations  of 
persons  to  preach  must  originate,  so  that  the  laity  guard  the 
door  of  approach  to  the  annual  conference,  and  none  are  ad- 
mitted until  recommended  by  them. 

Class  meetings  are  weekly  social  meetings  for  the  relation 
of  Christian  experience,  presided  over  by  a  layman  appoint- 
ed by  the  preacher  in  charge,  styled  the  class  leader.  It  is 
usual  to  have  from  twelve  to  forty  persons  in  each  class,  and 
any  number  of  classes  required  in  a  church  to  accommodate 
all  the  members.  In  the  class-meeting  an  hour  or  more  is 
spent  in  the  relation  of  Christian  experience  by  the  members, 
responded  to  by  the  leader  in  words  of  encouragement,  re- 
proof, exhortation,  or  counsel,  as  the  spiritual  well-being  of 
the  individual  may  seem  to  require. 

Love  feasts  are  held  quarterly,  in  which  all  the  members 
of  a  society  unite  ;  bread  and  water  are  partaken  of  by  all, 
as  an  evidence  of  their  good- will  and  fellowship,  after  which 
the  time  allotted  is  spent  in  the  relation  of  religious  ex- 
perience, singing,  and  prayer. 

Members  are  received  on  probation  for  six  months,  are 
placed  under  the  watchful  care  of  class  leaders,  and  at  the 
expiration  of  the  above  period,  if  they  still  give  satisfactory 
evidence  of  religious  character  and  experience,  are  admitted 
into  full  membership. 

THE   CENTENARY   OF  AMERICAN   METHODISM. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  events  in  the  history  of  this 
denomination  was  the  Centenary  Celebration  held  in  1866. 

The  General  Conference  of  1864  made  careful  provision 
for  permanent  results  to  the  church  from  the  occasion,  and 
laid  broad  plans  for  great  financial  contributions.  The 


LAY  REPRESENTATION.  473 

primary  object  of  the  celebration  was  the  spiritual  improve- 
ment of  the  membership,  and  a  cultivation  of  a  feeling  of 
devout  thankfulness  by  a  careful  review  of  the  great  things 
God  had  wrought  through  the  church. 

The  first  Sunday  in  January  was  observed  throughout  the 
Church  as  a  day  of  special  and  united  prayer  for  the  Divine 
blessing  upon  the  centenary  services  of  the  year  ;  for  a  gen- 
eral revival  of  religion,  and  that  the  year  might  prove  to  be 
an  epoch  in  the  spiritual  progress  of  the  church.  A  me- 
morial sermon  was  preached  before  each  annual  Conference 
as  their  sessions  occurred.  The  celebration  proper  began 
on  the  first  Tuesday  of  October,  and  continued  throughout 
the  month.  Immense  meetings  were  held  during  the  month 
of  a  general  character  in  all  the  cities  and  towns  of  the 
country,  at  which  addresses  were  made  by  leading  ministers 
and  laymen.  One  Sunday  of  the  month  was  set  apart  as  the 
children's  day  of  jubilee,  and  was  celebrated  with  great  in- 
terest and  grand  results.  Appropriate  medals  were  dis- 
tributed to  all  contributors.  The  last  Sunday  of  October 
was  observed  as  a  day  of  thanksgiving. 

The  contributions  of  the  church  amounted  to  the  munifi- 
cent sum  of  $8,032,755. 

LAY   REPRESENTATION. 

The  movement  in  favor  of  lay  delegates  being  admitted  to 
the  legislative  councils  of  the  church  excited  great  interest 
for  many  years.  T  \vice  the  General  Conference  expressed 
its  willingness  to  legalize  lay  representation  as  soon  as  con- 
vinced that  the  membership  of  the  church  desired  the 
change.  This  was  in  1860  and  1864.  In  the  latter  year  the 
question  was  submitted  to  a  vote  of  the  people,  and  was  re- 
jected by  a  small  majority,  by  far  the  larger  number  of  the 
membership  declining  or  neglecting  to  vote.  This  was 
thought  to  be  very  largely  on  account  of  the  absorbing  in- 
terest of  our  national  affairs,  and  the  hesitation  of  the  peo- 
ple to  interfere  with  any  system  of  government  that  had, 
under  God,  been  productive  of  such  sublime  results.  The 
demand  still  continued  from  leading  and  influential  minis- 


474  THE  METHODIST  CHURCH. 

ters  and  laymen.  Some  of  the  regular  church  papers 
strongly  urged  the  claim,  while  Bishop  Simpson  and  other 
prominent  ministers  strongly  urged  the  change.  In  1868 
the  General  Conference  again  voted  in  favor  of  submitting 
the  question  to  a  popular  vote,  and  called  upon  the  member- 
ship, both  lay  and  clerical,  to  express  their  preference. 

The  lay  vote  was  taken  in  the  month  of  June,  1869,  all 
members,  male  and  female,  having  the  privilege  of  voting 
"  for  "  or  "  against  lay  delegation."  The  election  was  held 
in  each  society,  presided  over  by  the  pastor.  The  total 
vote  cast  was  about  250,000,  of  which  170,000  were  cast  in 
favor  of  the  change  and  about  80,000  against  it.  This  was 
considered  a  large  vote,  and  being  above  the  required  major- 
ity vote,  was  made  an  argument  in  urging  all  the  ministry 
to  vote  in  their  several  annual  Conference  sessions  for  the 
change.  The  clerical  vote  was  taken  in  the  fall  of  1863  and 
spring  of  1870,  and  resulted  in  giving  the  required  three- 
fourths  vote  of  approval,  and  the  General  Conference  of  1872 
was  authorized  to  make  the  change.  The  General  Confer- 
ence of  1872  gave  an  approving  two-thirds  vote,  making  the 
change  complete,  and  lay  delegates  were  admitted  to  the 
General  Conference. 

THE  PROGRESS  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

The  statistical  history  of  this  church  and  its  affiliations 
are  both  complete  and  impressive.  A  Conference  in  com- 
memoration of  the  centenary  of  the  organization  of  Ameri- 
can Methodism,  by  the  meeting  of  the  first  General  Confer- 
ence of  the  M.  E.  Church,  commonly  called  the  "  Christmas 
Conference,"  Dec.  25,  1784,  was  held  in  Baltimore,  Md.,  be- 
ginning Nov.  10,  1884.  The  following  comparative  view  of 
the  strength  of  the  Methodist  Churches  in  1784  and  1883 
was  presented : 

1784.  1883. 

METHODISTS  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

83  Itinerant  preachers,  25,839 

....  Local  preachers,  34,714 

14,988  \ay  members, 


THE  PROGRESS  OF  THE  CHURCH.  475 

1784.  METHODISTS  IN  CANADA.  1883. 

Itinerant  preachers,  1,688 

Local  preachers,  1,979 

Lay  members,  171,903 

TOTAL  METHODISTS  IN  THE  WORLD. 

197  Itinerant  preachers,  33,385 

....  Local  preachers,  77,935 

49,219  Lay  members,  5,064,564 

Total  Methodist  population,  25,489,745 

The  official  reports  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
North,  in  1894  showed :  Number  of  bishops  18,  ministers  in 
full  connection  and  on  trial  16,444,  local  preachers  14,274, 
lay  members  and  probationers  2,524,053,  Sunday-schools 
28,392,  officers  and  teachers  326,050,  scholars  2,411,525, 
churches  24,535,  estimated  value  $104,754,208,  and  parson- 
ages 9,300,  value  $16,200,800.  The  total  contributions  for 
benevolent  purposes  were  $2,152,528,  for  active  ministerial 
support  $10,298,915,  for  various  church  beneficiaries  $263,648, 
for  buildings  and  improvements  $5,348,686,  for  old  indebted- 
ness on  church  property  $1,761,808,  and  for  current  expenses 
$3,641,917.  The  Freedmen's  Aid  and  Southern  Education 
Society  had  receipts  of  $363,763,  and  1  theological  seminary, 
10  colleges,  and  12  academies,  with  229  teachers  and  5,808 
students,  among  colored  people,  and  3  colleges  and  18 
academies,  with  110  teachers  and  3,257  students,  for  white 
people.  These  institutions  combined  had  property  valued 
at  $1,808,800.  In  the  foreign  mission  field  the  Church  had 
543  American  missionaries,  4,141  native  helpers,  59,138  mem- 
bers, 31,652  probationers,  76,572  adherents,  13,090  pupils  in 
day-schools,  and  120,954  in  Sunday-schools.  In  the  domestic 
mission  field  there  were  689  missionaries,  38,588  members, 
7,005  probationers,  and  44,409  pupils  in  Sunday-schools.  The 
Ep worth  League  had  11,300  chapters  and  750,000  members, 
and  the  Junior  League  had  2,000  chapters  and  80,000  members. 

The  bishops  of  the  Church,  on  January  1,  1894,  were: 
Thomas  Bowman,  Randolph  S.  Foster,  Stephen  M.  Merrill, 
Edward  Gr.  Andrews,  Henry  W.  Warren,  Cyrus  D.  Foss, 
John  F.  Hurst,  William  X.  Ninde,  John  M.  Walden,  Willard 
F.  Mallalieu,  Charles  H.  Fowler,  William  Taylor,  John  H. 
Vincent,  James  N.  Fitzgerald,  Isaac  W.  Joyce,  John  P. 
Newman,  Daniel  A.  Good  sell,  and  James  M.  Thoburn. 


II. 
flETHODIST  CHURCHES 

IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


THE  METHODIST   EPISCOPAL   CHUECH,   SOUTH. 

THIS  denomination  sprang  from  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  and  was  organized  in  1845.  It  is  a  well-known 
fact  that  the  parent  church  had  been  greatly  agitated  almost 
from  its  inception  in  the  United  States  by  the  question  of 
slavery.  The  new  church  was  the  result  of  a  carefully 
planned  and  conservatively  executed  separation :  in  nowise 
a  secession,  as  many  now  suppose.  At  the  General  Confer- 
ence of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in  1844,  the  subject 
of  the  withdrawal  of  the  members  of  the  church  in  the  slave- 
holding  States  was  discussed  with  "painful  interest."  A 
separation  being  deemed  inevitable,  measures  were  adopted 
with  a  view  to  the  organization  of  a  distinct  church  in  the 
most  friendly  manner  possible.  A  convention  of  delegates 
was  held  in  Louisville,  Ky. ,  May  1, 1845.  Acting  under  the 
provisions  of  the  "  Plan  of  Separation,"  they  declared  the 
jurisdiction  thitherto  exercised  by  the  General  Conference 
of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  over  the  conferences 
in  the  slave-holding  States  entirely  dissolved,  and  erected 
the  Annual  Conference  into  a  separate  ecclesiastical  connec- 
tion under  the  style  and  title  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  South.  The  "Plan"  was  framed,  considered,  and 

(476) 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH,   SOUTH.    47? 

adopted  in  a  friendly  spirit,  and  contained  ample  provisions 
for  a  division  of  the  property  of  each  branch  and  the  inde- 
pendence of  each  jurisdiction. 

The  first  General  Conference  was  held  in  Petersburg,  Va., 
May  1, 1846.  Joshua  Soule,  senior  Bishop  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  and  Bishop  Andrew,  adhered  to  the  new 
church,  and  were  recognized  in  their  episcopal  character ;  and 
William  Capers,  D.D.,  and  Robert  Paine,  D.D.,  were  elected 
and  consecrated  as  their  colleagues.  A  subsequent  misun- 
derstanding, relative  to  the  division  of  the  property  of  the 
two  branches,  led  to  litigation,  which  was  terminated  by  a 
decision  of  the  United  States  Supreme  Court,  which  recog- 
nized as  valid  the  "  Plan  of  Separation,"  and  sustained  the 
claim  of  the  Southern  branch. 

In  this  organization  no  change  was  made  in  the  doctrine, 
polity,  usages,  or  form  of  government  peculiar  to  Methodism. 
On  the  dividing  question  the  Southern  branch  held  that 
"  slavery,  wherever  established  and  protected  by  constitu- 
tional law,  is  a  civil  question  with  which  ecclesiastical  bodies 
have  no  authority  to  meddle,  and  that  the  true  function  of 
the  church  is  to  preach  the  gospel  and  administer  the  sacra- 
ments and  discipline  of  Christ's  religion  alike  to  master  and 
slave. "  The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  condemned  slavery, 
proclaimed  themselves  in  duty  bound  to  do  all  in  their 
power  for  the  extirpation  of  what  they  regarded  as  a  great 
evil. 

At  first  the  bishops  of  the  church,  North,  declined  to 
exercise  their  functions  in  the  South ;  but  during  the  civil 
war,  and  since,  in  obedience  to  instructions  of  their  General 
Conference,  they  have  organized  annual  conferences  in  all 
parts  of  the  South. 

The  General  Conference  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
held  in  Chicago  in  1868  appointed  fourteen  commissioners 
to  treat  with  a  similar  commission  from  any  other  Methodist 
church  on  the  subject  of  union.  The  bishops  who  also  con- 
stituted a  part  of  the  commission,  in  May,  1869,  communi^ 
cated  to  the  bishops  of  the  church,  South,  the  fact  of  the 
appointment  of  the  commission,  and  urged  the  appointment 


478  THE  METHODIST  CHURCH. 

of  a  similar  one  from  that  church.  A  further  communica 
tion  was  made  to  the  Southern  Methodists,  and  presented  to 
the  General  Conference  of  1870.  In  reply  the  Southern 
Conference  unanimously  adopted  resolutions  appreciative  of 
the  spirit  of  the  communications,  but  declaring  "  that  if  this 
distinguished  commission  were  fully  clothed  with  authority 
to  treat  with  us  for  union,  it  is  the  judgment  of  the  confer- 
ence that  the  true  interests  of  the  Church  of  Christ  require 
and  demand  the  maintenance  of  our  separate  distinct  organ- 
izations." 

At  the  General  Conference  of  the  church,  North,  in  1872, 
ambassadors  were  appointed  to  bear  fraternal  greetings  to 
the  church,  South,  whose  General  Conference  met  in  Louis- 
ville, in  1874.  The  ambassadors  were  most  cordially  received, 
and  the  church,  South,  reciprocated  the  courtesy  by  appoint- 
ing ambassadors  to  the  church,  North,  for  the  General  Con- 
ference of  1876,  and  directing  them  to  adjust,  if  possible, 
any  existing  difficulties  between  the  two  connections. 

In  1892  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South,  had  47 
annual  conferences,  5,368  traveling  preachers,  1,305,715  mem- 
bers, 13,426  Sunday-schools,  13,426  officers  and  teachers, 
754,223  scholars,  179  schools  and  colleges  with  16,620  pupils, 
$1,538,000  in  aggregate  endowment,  and  $4,485,042  in  value 
of  property.  Missions  were  maintained  in  Brazil,  China, 
Japan,  Mexico,  and  among  the  American  Indians.  The 
foreign  field  had  99  missionaries  and  their  wives.  The 
Woman's  Board  of  Missions  supported  9  missionaries  in 
China,  12  in  Mexico,  and  8  in  Brazil ;  3  teachers  among 
wild  Indian  tribes ;  16  assistant  missionaries  and  7  native 
teachers  in  Mexico ;  and  39  native  missionaries  and  assistants 
and  2  Bible-women  in  China.  In  Mexico  there  were  935 
women  and  children  under  the  instruction  of  this  Church  ; 
in  China,  689  children ;  and  in  Brazil,  215  children.  The 
Board  also  maintained  a  hospital  at  Foo-Chau,  China.  There 
were  524  Epworth  Leagues  connected  with  this  branch  of 
the  Church. 

The  bishops  of  the  Church  on  January  1,  1894,  were: 


THE  METHODIST  PROTESTANT  CHURCH.         479 

John  C.  Keener,  Alpheus  W.  Wilson,  John  C.  Granbery, 
Kobert  K.  Hargrove,  E.  R.  Hendrix,  C.  B.  Galloway,  J.  S. 
Key,  Atticus  G.  Haygood,  and  O.  P.  Fitzgerald. 

The  Colored  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in  America  (quod 
tilde)  sprang  from  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South, 
in  1870. 

THE   METHODIST   PROTESTANT   CHURCH. 

This  denomination  had  its  origin  in  a  controversy  that 
arose  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  and  was  organ- 
ized in  Baltimore,  Md.,  in  1830.  Among  the  various  reasons 
alleged  for  the  protestations  of  its  founders  was  that  the 
government  of  the  church  had  been  too  exclusively  clerical. 
They  protested  against  the  rule  which  secured  to  the  itiner- 
ant ministers  an  unlimited  exercise  of  the  legislative,  execu- 
tive, and  judicial  powers  of  the  church,  to  the  exclusion  of 
all  other  classes  of  ministers  and  of  the  people.  Members 
of  several  General  Conferences  had  exhibited  marked  dis- 
satisfaction with  some  of  the  leading  features  of  the  church 
government,  and  a  goodly  number,  although  a  vast  minority, 
had  struggled  hard  to  effect  changes  that  appeared  to  them 
not  only  important  but  vital.  Various  conventions  were 
held  to  deliberate,  and  many  ministers  were  expelled  from 
the  parent  church  for  the  simple  act  of  participating  in 
them.  In  November,  1827,  a  general  convention,  composed 
of  ministers  and  lay  delegates,  elected  by  the  State  conven- 
tions, assembled  in  Baltimore.  This  convention,  determin- 
ing to  make  a  last  effort,  drew  up  a  memorial  to  the  General 
Conference  of  the  church  of  1828,  in  which  it  was  claimed 
that  the  government  of  the  church  ought  to  be  made  repre- 
sentative, and  more  in  accordance  with  the  mutual  rights  of 
the  ministers  and  the  people.  To  this  memorial  the  General 
Conference  replied  adversely.  The  reformers  then  withdrew 
in  considerable  numbers,  and  called  another  general  conven- 
tion, to  be  held  in  Baltimore,  Nov.  12, 1828. 

This  convention  drew  up  seventeen  Articles  of  Associa- 
tion to  serve  as  a  basis  for  the  provisional  government  for 


480          THE  METHODIST  CHURCH. 

the  Associated  Methodist  Churches.  A  subsequent  conven- 
tion which  was  held  in  Baltimore  in  November,  1830, 
adopted  a  Constitution  and  Discipline,  and  the  Methodist 
Protestant  Church  was  launched  as  an  independent  denom- 
ination. 

The  Rev.  Francis  Waters,  D.D.,  was  elected  president. 
The  office  of  bishop  was  not  recognized,  and  the  presidents 
of  the  General  Conferences  were  to  be  chosen  by  ballot. 
The  basis  on  which  the  government  was  founded  embraced 
two  very  important  particulars :  First,  "  The  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  is  the  only  HEAD  of  the  Church,  and  the  word  of  God 
is  the  sufficient  rule  of  faith  and  practice,  in  all  things  per- 
taining to  godliness."  Second,  "A  written  constitution 
establishing  the  form  of  government,  and  securing  to  the 
ministers  and  members  of  the  church  their  rights  and 
privileges,  on  an  equitable  plan  of  representation,  is  essen- 
tial to,  and  the  best  safeguard  of,  Christian  liberty." 

It  will  doubtless  be  remembered  right  here  that  the  right 
of  lay  representation  was  not  accorded  by  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  until  1868-1872. 

In  1858  most  of  the  conferences  of  this  church  in  the  Free 
States  became  intensely  anti-slavery,  and  demanded  of  the 
General  Conference  which  met  in  Lynchburg,  Va.,  in  May, 
such  legislation  as  should  exclude  slaveholders  from  the 
communion  of  the  church.  As  the  General  Conference  re- 
fused to  comply  with  this  demand,  nineteen  annual  confer- 
ences sent  delegates  to  a  convention  which  met  in  Spring- 
field, Ohio,  Nov.  10,  1858.  This  convention  suspended  all 
communication  with  the  other  portions  of  the  church  so  long 
as  they  tolerated  slaveholding.  Subsequently  this  confer- 
ence seceded  from  the  Methodist  Protestant  Church,  and 
with  a  number  of  other  non-episcopal  Methodist  bodies 
organized  "  The  Methodist  Church." 

•  The  Methodist  Protestant  Church  increased  steadily  and 
was  soon  in  possession  of  a  Board  of  Foreign  and  Domestic 
Missions,  a  theological  seminary,  several  colleges,  and  a 
publishing  department. 

In  1890  there  were  reported  2,529  congregations,  1,923 


THE  WESLEYAN  METHODIST  CHURCH.  481 

churches,  575  halls  used  for  religious  purposes,  141,989 
members,  and  church  property  valued  at  $3,683,337.  The 
Church  had  the  largest  membership  in  Ohio,  North  Caro- 
lina, Maryland,  West  Virginia,  Pennsylvania,  and  Indiana, 
in  the  order  named,  and  the  largest  value  of  church  property 
in  Maryland,  Pennsylvania,  Ohio,  New  York,  New  Jersey, 
District  of  Columbia,  Michigan,  and  West  Virginia. 

In  1880  the  General  Conference  adopted  a  proposition  for 
holding  a  convention  for  the  consideration  of  constitutional 
changes,  upon  the  ratification  of  which  by  two-thirds  of  the 
Annual  Conferences  the  General  Conference  of  1884  would 
be  empowered  to  constitute  itself  such  a  convention.  The 
necessary  authority  was  voted,  and  the  session  of  that  year 
was  of  unusual  interest.  Among  other  subjects  of  legisla- 
tion committees  were  appointed  to  consider  the  advisability 
of  a  union  with  the  Congregational  Methodist  Church,  and 
the  Cumberland  Presbyterian  Church. 

The  institutions  of  the  church  in  1894  were :  the  Adrian 
(Mich.)  College  ;  the  Western  Maryland  College  ;  the  Yad- 
kin  (North  Carolina)  College ;  and  the  Gittings  Seminary, 
at  La  Harpe,  111.  The  denomination  was  sustaining  a  mis- 
sion among  the  Choctaw  Indians,  and  one  in  Japan. 

THE  WESLEYAN   METHODIST   CHUECH. 

Some  of  the  most  zealous  preachers  in  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church  were  early  leaders  in  the  anti-slavery  cause. 
As  they  carried  their  convictions  on  this  public  question 
into  their  churches,  a  controversy  among  the  preachers  be- 
came inevitable.  Like  the  founders  of  the  Methodist  Prot- 
estant Church,  these  worthy  brethren  also  found  a  grievance 
in  the  government  of  the  church.  They,  accordingly,  took 
steps  to  organize  a  church  that  should  be  in  more  perfect 
accord  with  their  convictions ;  and  in  1843,  at  a  convention 
held  in  Utica,  N.  Y.,  the  new  church  was  duly  formed,  on 
a  basis  identical  in  theology  and  internal  discipline  with 
that  of  the  elder  body,  but  excluding  the  episcopacy  and 
presiding  elders,  and  providing  lay  representation.  Oppo- 
sition to  slavery,  as  well  as  to  intemperance,  was  a  leading 
feature  of  the  new  church.  Its  rules  forbade  the  manufac- 


482  THE  METHODIST  CHURCH. 

tore,  sale,  or  use  of  intoxicants  as  beverages,  and  even  the 
intentional  aiding  of  others  so  to  do.  Fellowship  with  Free 
Masonry  and  kindred  societies  was  also  forbidden,  as  incom- 
patible with  the  spirit  and  precepts  of  the  Christian  religion. 
Its  itineracy  was  voluntary,  and  the  pastorate  was  consid- 
ered purely  as  a  subject  of  agreement  between  the  pastors 
and  the  people. 
The  elementary  principles  of  the  denomination  are : 

1.  A  Christian  church  is  a  society  of  believers  in  Jesus  Christ  as- 
sembled in  any  one  place  for  religious  worship,  and  is  of  divine  institu- 
tion. 

2.  Christ  is  the  only  Head  of  the  Church ;  and  the  Word  of  God  the 
only  rule  of  faith  and  conduct. 

3.  No  person  who  loves  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  obeys  the  gospel 
of  God  our  Saviour,  ought  to  be  deprived  of  church  membership. 

4.  Every  man  has  an  inalienable  right  to  private  judgment  in  matters 
of  religion,  and  an  equal  right  to  express  his  opinion  in  any  way  which 
will  not  violate  the  laws  of  God  or  the  rights  of  his  fellow-men. 

5.  Church  trials  should  be  conducted  on  gospel  principles  only;  and 
no  minister  or  member  should  be  excommunicated  except  for  immorality, 
the  propagation  of  unchristian  doctrines,  or  for  the  neglect  of  duties 
enjoined  by  the  Word  of  God. 

6.  The  pastoral  or  ministerial  office  and  duties  are  of  divine  appoint- 
ment, and  all  elders  in  the  Church  of  God  are  equal  ;  but  ministers  are 
forbidden  to  lord  it  over  God's  heritage,  or  to  have  dominion  over  the 
faith  of  the  saints. 

7.  The  church  has  a  right  to  form  and  enforce  such  rules  and  regula- 
tions only  as  are  in  accordance  with  the  Holy  Scriptures,  and  may  be 
necessary,  or  have  a  tendency,  to  carry  into  effect  the  great  system  of 
practical  Christianity. 

8.  Whatever  power  may  be  necessary  to  the  formation  of  rules  and 
regulations  is  inherent  in  the  ministers  and  members  of  the  church  ;  but 
so  much  of  that  power  may  be  delegated,  from  time  to  time,  upon  a  plan 
of  representation  as  they  may  judge  necessary  and  proper. 

9.  It  is  the  duty  of  all  ministers  and  members  of  the  church  to  main- 
tain godliness  and  to  oppose  all  moral  evil. 

10.  It  is  obligatory  on  ministers  of  the  gospel  u>  be  faithful  in  the  dis- 
charge of  their  pastoral  and  ministerial  duties  ;  and  it  is  also  obligatory 
on  the  members  to  esteem  ministers  highly  for  then*  work's  sake ,  and  to 
render  them  a  righteous  compensation  for  their  labors. 

At  the  time  of  their  organization  they  reported  6,000 


THE  EVANGELICAL  ASSOCIATION.  483 

members  and  300  preachers.  In  1890  there  were  reported 
565  organizations,  342  churches,  16,492  communicants,  and 
church  property  valued  at  $393,250.  This  Church  has  since 
entered  upon  missionary  work  in  Africa. 

THE  EVANGELICAL  ASSOCIATION. 

The  followers  of  this  denomination  are  sometimes  called 
Albrights  and  German  Methodists.  It  took  its  rise  about 
the  year  1800  in  the  State  of  Pennsylvania.  The  members 
were  first  called  Albrechtsleute,  on  account  of  Jacob  Al- 
bright having  been,  by  the  grace  of  God,  the  instrument  of 
their  solemnly  uniting  themselves  for  the  service  of  Al- 
mighty God.  About  the  year  1790,  Jacob  Albright  became 
the  happy  subject  of  the  awakening  influences  of  the  Holy 
Spirit.  After  a  long  and  very  severe  struggle,  he  received 
at  last  the  remission  of  his  sins  and  the  spirit  of  adoption. 
In  this  state  he  spent  several  years  in  the  service  of  God. 
Pained  at  the  evidences  of  immorality  that  prevailed  among 
the  people  of  his  nationality  in  the  western  part  of  the  State, 
and  resolved  to  attempt  the  work  of  reforming  them,  he 
united  himself  in  the  year  1800  with  a  number  of  persons, 
who  by  his  preaching  had  been  awakened  and  converted  to 
God,  into  a  Christian  society.  Three  years  later  the  society 
determined  to  introduce  and  institute  among  and  for  them- 
selves an  ecclesiastical  regulation  Mr.  Albright  was  chosen 
pastor  or  bishop,  and  was  authorized  to  exercise  all  the  func- 
tions of  the  ministerial  office  over  the  members  of  the  society. 
They  unanimously  chose  the  Sacred  Scriptures  for  their 
guide  in  faith  and  action,  and  formed  their  church  discipline 
accordingly.  Their  Articles  of  Faith  are  twenty-one  in  num- 
ber, and  conform  closely  to  those  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church.  They  have  classes,  circuits,  districts,  conference 
districts,  and  quarterly,  annual,  and  general  conferences. 

The  first  General  Conference  was  held  in  Union  County, 
Penn.,  in  1816,  and  consisted  of  nine  elders  and  ministers. 
Since  1843  this  body  has  met  once  every  four  years.  At  first, 
when  their  principles  and  designs  were  but  little  known, 
the  denomination  met  with  considerable  opposition,  and 


484          THE  METHODIST  CHURCH. 

suffered  much  persecution,  but  it  has  since  achieved  a  sub- 
stantial success.  In  1871  the  denomination  had  fifteen  an- 
nual conferences,  587  itinerant  and  401  local  preachers,  965 
churches,  1,033  Sunday-schools,  with  11,646  officers  and 
teachers  and  56,028  scholars,  and  72,979  members.  In  1876 
their  membership  had  increased  to  80,000,  and  in  1885  to 
100,000.  In  the  latter  year  their  institutions  were :  North 
Western  College,  Naperville,  111.;  Union  Seminary,  New 
Berlin,  Pa. ;  Blairstown  (Ohio)  Seminary ;  and  the  Ebenezer 
Orphan  Institution  at  Flat  Rock,  Ohio. 

THE   COLOEED   METHODIST    EPISCOPAL   CHUECH  IN  AMEEICA. 

This  denomination  is  an  outgrowth  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church,  South,  and  was  organized  in  a  General  Con- 
ference, which  met  at  Jackson,  Tenn.,  December  16,  1870. 
It  arose  out  of  provisions  made  by  the  General  Conference 
of  the  parent  church,  which  met  at  New  Orleans  in  1866, 
authorizing  the  organization  of  the  colored  members  of  the 
church  into  congregations,  districts  and  annual  conferences, 
and  ultimately  into  a  general  conference,  with  bishops  of 
their  own.  Five  colored  conferences  were  speedily  organ- 
ized, and  at  the  ensuing  meeting  of  the  General  Conference 
the  steps  already  taken  were  warmly  sanctioned,  and  the 
completion  of  the  organization  was  authorized.  William 
Henry  Mills  and  Richard  H.  Yandenhorst  were  duly  elected 
and  ordained  bishops.  Steps  were  taken,  at  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  new  church,  to  prepare  a  discipline  and  hymn- 
book,  and  a  condition  of  membership  was  adopted  which 
excluded  all  whites. 

Upon  the  completion  of  the  organization,  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  South,  legally  transferred  to  it  all  the 
property  it  had  been  holding  in  trust  for  the  colored 
brethren;  and  the  parent  church  cordially  assisted  the 
younger  in  getting  into  practical  ecclesiastical  order.  The 
success  of  the  measure  has  since  fully  justified  all  that  was 
urged  in  its  favor  previous  to  the  organization. 

Official  reports  in  1892  showed:  Number  of  bishops  4, 
annual  conferences  22,  local  preachers  2,409,  traveling 
preachers  1,111,  churches  3,219,  members  126,893,  Sunday- 


AFRICAN  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.      485 

schools  2,061,  officers  and  teachers  9,731,  and  pupils  78,928. 
The  educational  institutions  were :  Payne  Institute,  Au- 
gusta, Ga.;  Lane  Institute,  Jackson,  Tenn.;  Haygood  Semi- 
nary, Washington,  Ark. ;  and  Beebee  Institute,  New  Orleans, 
La.  The  Church  also  issued  two  monthly  periodicals,  The 
Christian  Index  and  The  Colored  Methodist. 

THE    AFRICAN    METHODIST    EPISCOPAL   CHURCH. 

This  denomination  was  organized  by  colored  members  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  worshipping  in  Philadel- 
phia, Pa.  The  determining  cause  was  a  conviction  that 
their  color  and  station  created  a  prejudice  against  them. 
They  first  built  a  Bethel  church,  which  Bishop  Asbury  dedi- 
cated for  them.  Instead  of  peace  they  found  their  troubles 
increased  ;  and  when  one  of  their  number  received  ordina- 
tion at  the  hand  of  Bishop  White,  of  the  Protestant  Episco- 
pal Church,  they  hastened  to  effect  an  independent  organiza- 
tion with  their  ordained  brother  for  leader.  The  church  thus 
started  in  1816,  with  the  Rt.  Rev.  Richard  Allen  as  its  first 
Bishop.  Its  career  since  has  been  one  of  substantial  growth. 

In  1890  there  were  reported  44  conferences,  2,481  organiza- 
tions, 4,124  church  edifices,  31  halls,  452,725  members,  and 
church  property  valued  at  $6,468,280.  The  membership  was 
the  largest  in  South  Carolina,  Georgia,  Alabama,  Arkansas, 
Mississippi,  Tennessee,  Texas,  and  Florida  in  the  order 
named. 

The  educational  institutions  of  the  church  are  controlled 
by  a  Board  appointed  by  the  General  Conferences.  They 
are :  Wilberf orce  University,  Ohio  ;  Johnson  High  School, 
Raleigh,  N.  C. ;  Allen  University,  Columbia,  S.  C. ;  William 
Paul  Quinn  College,  Waco,  Tex. ;  St.  James'  Academy,  New 
Orleans ;  Divinity  and  High  School,  Jacksonville,  Fla.  ; 
Ward  Normal  Collegiate  Institute,  Huntsville,  Tex. ;  Turner 
College,  Hernando,  Miss.  ;  Western  University,  Quindora, 
Kan.  ;  Morris  Brown  University,  Atlanta,  Ga.  ;  and  Gar- 
field  University,  Montgomery,  Ala.  All  but  the  first  two  of 
these  became  active  between  1880  and  1885.  Besides  these 
institutions  the  church  was  supporting  33  subordinate 
schools  in  South  Carolina  in  1884,  and  25  missions  in  the 


486  THE  METHODIST  CHURCH. 

Indian  Territory.  The  negotiations  which  had  been  pend- 
ing several  years  for  a  union  with  the  British  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  having  been  carried  to  a  successful  termi- 
nation, the  General  Conference  in  1884  ordered  that  a  decla- 
ration be  issued  announcing  the  consummation  of  the  union. 
The  territory  covered  by  the  British  church,  which  included 
chiefly  Canada  and  Bermuda,  was  made  the  tenth  district 
of  the  African  M.  E.  Church,  and  placed  under  the  jurisdic- 
tion of  Bishop  R.  R.  Disney. 

THE  ZION  AFRICAN   METHODIST   EPISCOPAL   CHURCH. 

This  church  originated  in  a  withdrawal  of  colored  people 
from  the  Methodist  Episcopal  churches  of  New  York  City, 
in  1819.  They  retain  all  the  distinctive  features  of  the 
parent  church,  except  that  they  elect  their  bishops  annually, 
and  that  they  do  not  consecrate  them  by  formal  ordination. 
They  have  bishops,  elders,  and  deacons,  and  General,  An- 
nual, and  Quarterly  Conferences.  In  1890  the  denomination 
was  represented  in  29  States,  and  was  the  strongest  in  North 
Carolina,  Alabama,  South  Carolina,  and  Florida  in  the  order 
named.  There  was  a  total  of  1,704  organizations,  1,587 
church  edifices,  114  halls  used  for  religious  purposes, 
349,788  members,  and  church  property  valued  at  $2,714,128. 
In  1893  efforts  were  being  made  to  effect  a  union  of  this 
denomination  with  the  African  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
as  in  all  constitutional  elements  the  two  bodies  were  virtually 
one. 


The  Baptist  Churches 


England,  Ireland,  Wales,  and  Scotland, 


ORIGIN   OF   THE  BAPTISTS. 

~T"N  the  popular  mind  the  chief  distinctive  feature  associ- 
JL  ated  with  that  body  of  Christians  comprising  a  num- 
ber of  subdivisions  and  known  as  Baptists,  is  their  practice 
of  Immersion,  as,  in  their  judgment,  the  only  Scriptural  form 
of  Baptism.  They  are  supposed  to  differ  from  all  others 
mainly  on  the  mode  and  subjects  of  Baptism.  This  is  in 
part  true ;  but  to  give  our  readers  a  more  accurate  concep- 
tion of  this  large  body,  we  will  first  glance  at  their  claim  to 
a  place  in  history,  and  then  give  a  synopsis  of  their  beliefs 
and  practices. 

Baptists,  or  as  formerly  derisively  designated  Anabaptists, 
i.  <?.,  rebaptizers,  claim  to  have  a  history  antedating  the  Ref- 
ormation. Indeed,  they  assert  substantially,  that  the  advo- 
cates of  their  views  and  principles  were  the  true  precursors 
of  Jerome  of  Prague,  of  John  Huss,  of  Martin  Luther,  of 
Zwingli,  of  Calvin,  and  of  Knox.  It  is  sometimes  charged 
that  they  sprung  from  those  wild,  lawless,  enthusiastic, 
Iconoclastic  peasants  in  Germany,  who  appeared  in  the  time 
of  Luther,  and  who  are  known  in  the  records  of  that  era  as 
"  The  Madmen  of  Minister."  This  they  emphatically  deny. 
D'Aubigne,  the  well-known  historian  of  the  Eeformation, 
says :  "  Some  persons  imagine  that  the  Anabaptists  of  the 
times  of  the  Reformation  and  the  Baptists  of  our  day  are 
the  same,  but  they  are  as  different  as  possible." 

(487) 


488  THE  BAPTIST  CHVRCH. 

That  they  were  numerous  in  Germany,  Switzerland,  and 
England  during  the  early  part  of  the  sixteenth  century,  is 
an  unquestioned  fact  of  ecclesiastical  history.  At  that 
time  they  were  known  as  Anabaptists,  i.  e.,  rebaptizers,  be- 
cause regarding  baptism  as  a  profession  of  personal  faith, 
they  rebaptized  those  who  had  in  infancy  been  baptized  on 
the  faith  of  parents  or  sponsors.  At  the  Reformation  the 
term  Baptist  was  applied  to  those  who  regarded  immersion 
as  the  only  proper  mode  of  baptism. 

But  they  claim  a  higher  antiquity  than  the  eventful  era 
of  the  Reformation.  They  affirm  that  their  views  of  the 
Church  and  the  ordinances  may  be  traced  through  the 
Paterines,  the  Waldenses,  the  Albigenses,  the  Vaudois,  the 
Cathari,  and  the  Poor  Men  of  Lyons — the  Paulicians,  the 
Donatists,  the  Novatians  ;  to  the  Messalians,  the  Montanists, 
and  the  Euchites  of  the  second  and  closing  part  of  the  first 
century,  to  the  Apostles  and  the  churches  they  founded. 
Mosheim  says:  "The  true  origin  of  that  sect  which  ac- 
quired the  name  of  Anabaptists  is  hid  in  the  remote  depths 
of  antiquity"  Zwingli,  the  Swiss  Reformer,  says:  "The 
institution  of  Anabaptism  is  no  novelty,  but,  for  fifteen 
hundred  years,  has  caused  great  disturbance  in  the  Church." 
Cardinal  Hossius,  Chairman  of  the  Council  of  Trent,  bore 
this  testimony :  "  If  the  truth  of  religion  were  to  be  judged 
of  by  the  readiness  and  cheerfulness  which  a  man  of  any 
sect  shows  in  suffering,  then  the  opinions  and  persuasions 
of  no  sect  can  be  truer  or  surer  than  those  of  the  Anabaptists, 
since  there  have  been  none,  for  these  twelve  hundred  years 
past,  that  have  been  more  grievously  punished."  This  lat- 
ter is  certainly  a  very  strong  concession  to  the  claims  of 
Baptists,  as  the  cardinal  was  an  eminent  and  learned  prelate 
of  the  Catholic  Church,  living  in  the  fifteenth  century. 

To  these  we  add  two  quotations  from  the  popular  English 
historian,  James  Anthony  Proude.  Of  the  Anabaptists  of 
the  Netherlands  he  says :  "  On  them  the  laws  of  the  country 
might  take  their  natural  course,  and  no  voice  was  raised  to 
speak  for  them.  For  them  no  Europe  was  agitated ;  no 
courts  were  ordered  into  mourning ;  no  royal  hearts  trem- 


ORIGIN  OF  THE  BAPTISTS.  489 

bled  with  indignation.  At  their  deaths  the  world  looked  on 
complacently,  indifferently,  or  exultingly.  For  them  his- 
tory has  no  word  of  praise." 

In  describing  the  policy  of  the  Duke  of  Somerset  in  Eng- 
land, in  1549,  he  says :  "  A  commissioner  was  appointed  to 
hunt  out  and  try  Anabaptists ;  to  examine  them  and  report 
on  their  opinions,  and,  if  mild  measures  failed,  to  deliver 
over  the  obstinate,  in  the  old  fashion,  to  the  secular  arm." 
And  Jeremy  Taylor,  as  quoted  by  Palfrey,  says:  "Ana- 
baptists are  as  much  to  be  rooted  out  as  anything  that  is 
the  greatest  pest  and  nuisance."  This  evidence  is  sufficient 
to  show  that  Baptists  are  well  sustained  by  those  not  of 
them,  when  they  assert  their  growth  and  present  power  in 
the  religious  world  to  have  been  attained  despite  the  most 
bitter  persecutions,  both  secular  and  religious. 

There  is  much  Baptists  hold  in  common  with  all  Evan- 
gelical Christians.  They  believe  in  the  Divine  authenticity 
and  credibility  of  the  Bible,  accepting  all  its  books  as  in- 
spired. They  believe  in  the  Trinity,  in  man's  creation  in 
holiness,  in  his  fall  through  transgression,  and  the  conse- 
quent sinfulness  of  the  whole  human  race ;  in  man's  guilt 
and  condemnation,  and  the  consequent  impossibility  of  justi- 
fication "  by  deeds  of  the  law."  They  believe  in  what  is 
termed  the  "vicarious  atonement."  That  Christ  paid  the 
penalty  due  our  sins,  and  that  we  can  be  justified  only  by 
faith  in  his  word.  That  "  we  are  saved  from  wrath  through 
him."  They  believe  in  the  necessity  of  regeneration,  and 
that  this  is  effected  by  the  Holy  Spirit.  In  a  word,  in  those 
respects  in  which  they  agree  with  the  great  body  of  Evan- 
gelical Christians,  they  are  Calvinists,  especially  holding  in 
common  with  the  great  Presbyterian  family  the  doctrine  of 
election  to  eternal  life  in  Jesus  Christ. 

They  differ  from  others  in  holding  that  no  person  is,  on 
any  pretence,  or  for  any  reason,  to  be  admitted  into  member- 
ship in  the  visible  church  until  he  or  she  has  professed  regen- 
eration. Until  this  is  claimed  and  satisfactory  evidence  given, 
they  will  not  administer  the  ordinance  of  baptism.  Hence 
they  oppose  infant  baptism,  regarding  baptism  in  the  name 


490  THE  BAPTIST  CHURCH. 

of  the  Trinity  as  the  "  outward  sign  of  an  inward  and  invis- 
ible work."  Consequently,  they  stoutly  oppose  everything 
savoring  of  "Baptismal  Regeneration,"  believing  a  man  must 
be  regenerated  and  give  evidence  of  saving  faith  before  being 
baptized ;  and  they  say  baptism  must  be  the  voluntary  act 
of  a  qualified  agent.  They  do  not  ask  an  applicant  for 
membership  to  subscribe  to  a  creed  or  to  commit  a  cate- 
chism. They  rely  on  the  Holy  Spirit,  by  means  of  the  writ- 
ten word,  guiding  him  into  all  truth,  while  causing  him  to 
grow  in  grace.  They  hold  the  Church  of  Christ  to  be  a 
spiritual  temple,  "built  up  of  lively  stones."  Hence,  they 
have  always  protested  against  all  alliances  of  Church  and 
State,  believing  that  Christ's  kingdom  is  not  of  this  world. 
Their  churches  are  all  independent  of  each  other,  each  mem- 
ber, whether  man  or  woman,  black  or  white,  having  the  same 
privileges  as  any  other  member.  They  deny  the  right  of 
conference,  or  synod,  or  bishops,  or  any  other  ecclesiastical 
body  to  legislate  for  His  churches ;  nor  have  they  any  creed 
binding  all  to  subscribe  to  it.  The  Bible  is  pre-eminently 
their  only  creed.  They  contend  for  but  one  order  in  the 
ministry,  that  of  ordained  pastors.  They  have  deacons,  but 
their  functions  are  not  spiritual,  they  are  temporal  and  secu- 
lar, or  at  most  assistants  of  the  pastor  in  attending  to  de- 
tails, as  the  care  of  the  poor  of  the  church,  the  pastor's 
salary,  and  the  communion  service,  providing  the  bread  and 
wine,  and  distributing  at  the  table.  The  pastor  presides  in 
the  examination  of  candidates  for  membership,  but  such 
examination  takes  place  in  the  presence  of  the  entire  mem- 
bership, and  any  member  is  at  liberty  to  ask  any  appropriate 
question  of  the  candidate  respecting  what  is  termed  his 
"  Christian  experience,"  and  views  of  Bible  doctrine.  The 
admission  is  by  the  vote  of  the  entire  membership,  the  ma- 
jority deciding.  They  regard  the  ordinances  as  but  two, 
Baptism  and  the  Lord's  Supper,  holding  the  former  to  sym- 
bolize regeneration  and  the  new  life  of  faith  in  Christ,  and 
the  latter  our  dependence  on  Christ  for  spiritual  life. 


ENGLISH  BAPTISTS.  491 


ENGLISH   BAPTISTS. 

These  undoubtedly,  in  part  at  least,  had  their  origin  in 
the  introduction  of  Baptists'  principles  from  the  continent. 
We  say  "  in  part,"  for  there  is  a  strong  probability  that  the 
Welsh  contributed  towards  the  establishment  of  Baptist 
churches  in  England,  as  the  Welsh  claim  to  have  had  Bap- 
tist churches  among  them  before  the  Keformation.  King 
Henry  VIII.,  in  1534,  issued  an  edict  against  certain  persons 
called  foreigners,  "  who  had  been  baptized  in  infancy,  but 
had  renounced  that  baptism,  and  having  'been  rebaptized, 
had  entered  England,  and  were  spreading  their  opinions 
over  the  kingdom."  They  were  commanded  to  withdraw 
in  twelve  days  on  pain  of  suffering  death.  This  fact  makes 
it  evident  that  these  persons  were  Baptists,  and  that  they 
were  foreigners,  probably  Germans.  This  threat  did  not,  it 
is  certain,  cause  them  all  to  leave  England,  for,  in  1535,  ten 
were  burned  in  pairs,  and  fourteen  more  in  1536.  In  1538 
six  Butch  Baptists  were  detected  and  imprisoned,  two  of 
whom  were  burned.  Bishop  Latimer,  in  a  sermon  preached 
before  King  Edward,  in  1549,  said :  "  The  Anabaptists  that 
were  burned  here  in  divers  towns  in  England — as  I  heard  of 
credible  men — I  saw  them  not  myself — went  to  their  death 
even  intrepide,  as  ye  will  say,  without  any  fear  in  the  world, 
cheerfully." 

That  Baptists  became  sufficiently  numerous  in  England  to 
create  much  fear  lest  their  principles  should  prevail,  is  evi- 
dent from  the  edicts  issued  against  them,  and  the  bitter  and 
protracted  persecution  they  suffered.  In  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury they  suffered  very  severely.  Henry  VIII.  appointed  a 
commission,  of  which  Cranmer  was  chairman,  which  he 
charged  to  adopt  severe  measures  against  the  alleged  here- 
tics, if  they  should  be  detected,  to  burn  all  Baptist  books, 
and,  if  they  did  not  recant,  to  burn  the  Baptists  themselves. 
In  carrying  out  this  cruel  edict,  on  the  24th  of  November, 
1538,  five  persons  escaped  the  fire,  by  bearing  fagots  at  St. 
Paul's  Cross,  to  signify  that  they  deserved  to  be  burned. 
Three  days  after,  a  man  and  a  woman  were  committed  to 


492  THE  BAPTIST  CHURCH. 

the  flames  in  Smithfield.  They  were  natives  of  Holland. 
This  spirit  of  persecution  increased,  and  in  1538, 1540,  and 
1550,  edicts  were  issued,  decreeing  that  those  who  held  that 
"  infants  ought  not  to  be  baptized,"  were  excluded  from  the 
general  acts  of  pardon  issued  to  all  offenders  against  civil 
law  during  those  years.  This,  of  course,  fanned  to  a  hotter 
flame  the  fires  of  persecution.  Many  suffered.  Joan 
Boucher,  a  lady  of  rank  and  well  known  at  court,  was  the 
first  victim,  showing  that  Baptist  principles  included  among 
those  ready  to  die  for  them  persons  of  distinction.  Annie 
Askew,  a  lady  of  quality,  whose  name  stands  high  on  the 
rolls  of  the  Christian  martyrology  of  the  sixteenth  century, 
was  the  next  to  seal  her  testimony  by  her  death.  She  was 
first  cruelly  tortured,  and  afterwards  burned  alive  in  1546. 
Bishop  Story  preached  on  the  occasion  of  her  burning,  and 
Strype,  in  his  memorials,  says,  he  "tried  to  convert  her. 
But  she  was  unmoved  and  told  him  he  lied  like  a  dog,"  and 
bade  him  "go  and  read  the  Scriptures."  John  Rogers  suf- 
fered in  Queen  Mary's  reign,  and  when  urged  to  recant,  by 
the  cruelty  of  his  death,  like  a  true  hero,  replied :  "  Burning 
alive  is  no  cruel  death,  but  easy  enough,  if  it  is  God's  will." 
But,  whatever  others  may  have  contributed,  it  is  evident 
English  Baptists  bore  a  conspicuous  and  effectual  testi- 
mony to  the  principle  of  religious  liberty.  Baptist  churches 
sprung  up  all  over  England,  when  the  light  of  the  Ref- 
ormation dawned  on  her  hills  and  valleys.  But  there  is 
good  reason  for  the  claim  Baptists  make,  that  they  had 
churches  in  England  before  that  day.  The  Baptist  church 
at  Hillcliffe,  England,  claims  to  have  been  in  existence, 
and  to  have  an  unbroken  record  for  about  500  years.  A 
tombstone,  lately  exhumed  from  a  burial-ground  attached 
to  the  place  of  worship,  bears  date  1357.  All  the  traditions 
of  the  place  confirm  the  claim  made  by  the  church.  That  it 
existed,  and  was  somewhat  noted,  in  1523,  is  undoubted. 
Martin  Luther  was  born  in  1483,  consequently  this  Bapi/ist 
church  unquestionably  existed  when  he  was  but  40  years  of 
age,  which  was  about  the  time  the  Reformation  began  to 
dawn  in  England.  As  this  church  at  that  time  had  become 


ENGLISH  BAPTISTS.  493 

so  prominent  as  to  attract  the  attention  of  the  civil  and 
ecclesiastical  magnates  of  the  land,  it  must  have  been  in 
existence  for  some  years.  If  we  concede  their  claim,  con- 
firmed as  it  is  by  all  the  local  traditions  of  the  place,  then 
this  Baptist  church  was  in  existence  113  years  before  Luther 
was  born. 

Baptists  in  England  can  claim  as  belonging  to  their  num- 
ber many  men  of  great  eminence  as  scholars,  preachers, 
and  philanthropists.  Dr.  John  Gale,  who  was  educated  at 
the  University  of  Leyden,  and  died  in  1721,  aged  forty-one 
years,  was  conceded  one  of  the  best  scholars  and  able  po- 
lemics of  his  day.  Dr.  John  Gill,  the  celebrated  commenta- 
tor, born  in  1697,  was  one  of  the  best  Hebraists  of  his  time. 
His  commentary  on  the  Old  and  New  Testaments  and  his 
"  Body  of  Divinity  "  are  still  standard  authorities,  having  a 
reputation  for  learning  and  orthodoxy,  far  beyond  the 
limits  of  his  own  denomination.  The  eminent  Dr.  Toplady, 
an  Episcopalian,  wrote,  that  "  If  any  man  can  be  supposed 
to  have  trod  the  whole  circle  of  human  learning,  it  was  Dr. 
Gill."  He  was  a  man  of  noble  integrity  of  character. 
When  his  income  was  likely  to  be  reduced  if  he  pursued  a 
certain  course  he  regarded  as  right,  he  replied  to  a  friend 
who  expostulated  with  him :  "  Sir,  I  am  not  afraid  to  be 
poor."  John  Macgowen,  author  of  "Dialogues  of  Devils," 
was  a  Baptist ;  so  was  Robinson,  author  of  the  well-known 
"  History  of  Baptism  and  of  Ecclesiastical  Researches  "  bear- 
ing his  name.  Our  limits  forbid  our  mentioning,  with  any 
attempt  at  detail,  however,  the  men  of  God  whose  names 
have  become  eminent  in  the  English  Baptist  pulpit.  We 
can  only  mention,  by  name,  Dr.  Ryland,  Dr.  Andrew  Fuller, 
John  Foster,  the  preacher,  and  concededly  the  ablest  of 
English  essayists ;  Robert  Hall,  the  most  eloquent  of  divines, 
and  Dr.  Stennett.  The  names  of  many  others  of  not  less 
note  we  must  omit.  John  Howard,  the  philanthropist,  at- 
tended Dr.  Stennett's  church  in  Little  Wilde  Street,  London, 
and  is  thought  to  have  been  a  member  of  it.  John  Milton, 
author  of  "  Paradise  Lost,"  was  a  Baptist,  so  was  De  Foe,  the 
author  of  "  Robinson  Crusoe,"  and  John  Bunyan,  the  immor- 


494  THE  BAPTIST  CHURCH. 

tal  dreamer,  whose  "  Pilgrim's  Progress "  lias  cheered  and 
instructed  thousands  on  thousands.  Thomas  Hollis,  one  of 
the  earliest  and  most  liberal  supporters  of  Yale  College  in 
America,  was  a  prominent  Baptist  layman.  The  constit- 
uency of  a  Christian  body  represented  by  such  names  must, 
certainly,  have  had  no  insignificant  influence  in  English  pol- 
itics, and  in  moulding  the  religious  thought  of  the  people. 

English  Baptists  inaugurated  the  work  of  Foreign  Missions 
in  1792,  organizing  in  the  parlor  of  Deacon  Bebee  Wallis, 
of  Kettering.  Dr.  Andrew  Fuller,  pastor  of  the  church 
there,  was  the  ardent  friend  and  lifelong  supporter  of  this 
enterprise.  William  Cary,  a  poor  shoemaker,  was  its  moving 
spirit.  The  first  collection  amounted  to  but  thirteen  pounds 
two  shillings  and  sixpence,  and  furnished  occasion  for  the 
eccentric  Sydney  Smith  to  say,  sneeringly,  "  The  Baptists 
propose  to  convert  the  world  with  a  consecrated  cobbler  and 
thirteen  pounds  two  shillings  and  sixpence."  How  greatly 
was  he  mistaken  in  the  men  and  the  character  of  that  ob- 
scure movement  he  made  the  object  of  his  keen  wit !  That 
was  the  origin  of  modern  Protestant  missions.  It  not  only 
roused  Baptists,  but  all  others.  Mr.  Cary  became  one  of  the 
most  eminent  of  Oriental  scholars,  having  a  most  remarkable 
aptitude  for  the  acquisition  of  language.  The  names  of 
Marshman  and  Ward,  his  co-laborers,  are  household  words 
among  all  who  love  and  pray  for  missions.  Dr.  Marshman's 
daughter  became  the  wife  of  the  celebrated  General  Have- 
lock,  the  deliverer  of  Lucknow,  India,  from  the  horrors  of  the 
Sepoy  control.  The  General  was  himself  a  Baptist,  and  a 
man  of  eminent  piety  as  well  as  great  bravery. 

The  Baptists  of  England  early  turned  their  thoughts  to 
the  subject  of  education,  and  did  what,  under  the  adverse 
condition  of  their  earlier  state,  they  could.  They  have  now 
seven  colleges  combining  classical  and  theological  instruc- 
tion in  England.  They  are  located  at  Bristol,  Rawdon, 
Regent's  Park,  Haverf  ord  West,  Chilwell,  near  Nottingham, 
and  Chambers'  Hall,  where  Sir  Robert  Peel  was  born.  The 
seventh  is  the  Pastor's  College,  located  in  London,  and 
under  the  jurisdiction  of  Rev.  C.  H.  Spurgeon.  It  is  in 


ENGLISH  BAPTISTS.  495 

connection  with  Spurgeon's  Metropolitan  Tabernacle,  and  is 
sustained  entirely  by  voluntary  contributions. 

The  Baptists  at  the  present  time  occupy  the  foremost 
position  among  the  Dissenters  of  England.  Rev.  Mr.  Doug- 
lass, a  clergyman  of  the  Established  Church,  has  recently 
thus  written  of  them  :  "  It  is  a  fact  that  the  Baptists  have 
been  growing,  in  recent  years,  in  a  more  rapid  ratio  than 
any  of  their  neighbors.  In  London  and  neighborhood  the 
increase  of  Baptist  chapels  within,  say,  fifteen  years,  has  been 
out  of  all  proportion  to  previous  growth.  Their  rate  of  in- 
crease is  twice  that  of  the  Independents,  and  three  times 
that  of  the  Wesleyans.  We  do  not  believe,  in  a  word,  that 
we  would  be  far  from  the  truth,  were  we  to  say  that  the 
most  promising  and  extending  denomination  in  England  at 
this  monent  is  the  body  of  Christians  of  which  we  speak." 
Doubtless  the  wonderful  prosperity  of  Baptists,  of  which 
Mr.  Douglass  speaks,  is  due  largely  to  the  instrumentality 
of  that  remarkable  man,  Rev.  C.  H.  Spurgeon,  pastor  of  the 
Metropolitan  Tabernacle,  London.  The  circumference  of 
which  this  man  is  now  the  centre  is  immense.  His  place  of 
worship  has  sittings  for  seven  thousand  persons,  and  is  filled 
whenever  he  preaches.  His  membership  is  now  over  three 
thousand  ;  while  during  the  past  few  years  the  impetus  he 
has  given  to  the  denomination  has  been  the  means,  mainly, 
of  establishing  over  thirty  new  churches,  and  erecting  as 
many  chapels  in  the  city  of  London  alone.  Besides  preach- 
ing for  this  immense  congregation,  Mr.  Spurgeon  superin- 
tends the  college  for  young  men  preparing  for  the  ministry. 
The  design  of  this  institution  is  not  to  give  young  men  a 
thorough  classical  culture,  or  make  them  polished  rhetori- 
cians, but  to  assist  them  in  the  study  of  the  Word  of  God, 
so  that  they  may  be  thoroughly  furnished  unto  all  good 
works,  being  able  ministers  of  the  New  Testament.  Nat- 
urally enough  they  catch  the  spirit  of  their  eminent  leader, 
teacher,  and  pastor. 

Mr.  Spurgeon  is,  however,  not  the  only  eminent  minister 
among  English  Baptists,  though  he  is  like  Saul  among  his 
brethren,  "head  and  shoulders  above  them."  Beside  Mr. 


496  THE  BAPTIST  CHURCH. 

Spurgeon,  the  English  Baptists  point  with  pride  to  Dr.  Bap- 
tist W.  Noel,  formerly  Queen's  Chaplain ;  Dr.  Landells,  Dr. 
Brock,  Dr.  Chowan,  Rev.  Hugh  Stowell  Brown,  of  Liver- 
pool, and  Rev.  Drs.  Gotch  and  Angus,  eminent  as  scholars, 
and  as  having  a  place  on  the  Royal  Commission  engaged  in 
the  work  of  revising  the  Old  and  New  Testaments. 

While  the  Baptists  of  England  are  all  united  in  one  or- 
ganization, known  as  the  British  Baptist  Union,  there  are 
two  chief  subdivisions.  The  General  Baptists,  a  smaller 
body,  are  regarded  as  Arminian  ;  The  Particular,  as  Calvin- 
ists,  while  some  of  both  are  open  communion,  and  others  are 
strict  or  close  in  their  communion.  It  is  thought  the  close 
communion  party  are  gaining  the  ascendency,  that  the 
"  drift "  of  conviction  on  the  logic  of  the  communion  ques- 
tion among  Baptists  in  England  is  towards  close  or  strict 
communion,  as  practiced  by  American  Baptists.  The  open 
communion  schism  found  in  the  eloquent  Robert  Hall  its 
most  influential'  champion.  Spurgeon  practices  it  to  a 
limited  extent,  but  is  not  known  to  be  a  very  decided  advo- 
cate of  its  continuance.  With  these  exceptions,  Baptist 
churches  are  a  unit  in  their  views  of  the  ministry,  of  church 
government,  and  of  the  mode  and  subjects  of  baptism. 

WELSH  BAPTISTS. 

From  England  we  pass  to  Wales.  Baptists  here  lay  claim 
to  great  antiquity,  affirming  that  they  date  back  to  the  first 
century,  and  holding  a  tradition  that  the  Apostle  Paul 
visited  their  mountains,  preached  among  them  two  years, 
founding  churches  which  continue  unto  this  day.  This, 
however,  seems  quite  certain  :  Claudia,  a  Welsh  princess, 
being  at  Rome,  was  converted  under  the  ministry  of  Paul, 
and  returning  in  the  year  68  brought  many  of  her  people  to 
the  knowledge  of  Jesus,  inducing  them  to  abandon  idolatry. 

Mosheim,  the  learned  German  Church  Historian,  says  of 
the  early  Welsh  churches,  that  "  no  persons  were  admitted  to 
baptism  but  such  as  had  been  previously  instructed  in  the 
principal  points  of  Christianity,  and  had  also  given  satisfac- 
tory proofs  of  pious  dispositions  and  upright  intentions." 


SCOTCH  BAPTISTS.  497 

It  is  conceded  that  during  the  dark  ages  the  Welsh  churches 
remained  pure  and  never  bowed  the  knee  in  submission  to 
the  Roman  church.  An  eminent  Welsh  clergyman  claims 
that  there  is  a  Baptist  church  in  Glamorganshire  which, 
they  have  evidence  to  prove,  has  been  in  existence  for  800 
years.  But  be  the  fact  as  it  may,  respecting  the  antiquity  of 
Welsh  Baptists,  this  is  certain,  they  were  numerous,  hav- 
ing many  churches  in  the  time  of  Henry  VIII.,  and  pre- 
viously, and  the  entrance  of  Welsh  Baptists  into  England 
about  that  time  contributed  largely  in  disseminating  their 
principles. 

In  1871  they  were  numerous  and  influential,  having  in  this 
little  mountainous  principality  551  churches,  550  chapels, 
54,853  communicants,  and  50,626  Sunday-school  scholars. 
They  had  colleges  at  Pontypool  and  Llangollen,  both  of 
which  were  in  a  flourishing  condition. 

They  have  had  among  them  some  noted  ministers,  but  none 
more  so  than  Christmas  Evans,  who  was  one  of  the  most 
eloquent  men  of  his  day.  He  was  a  most  laborious  man, 
traveling  on  horseback  and  pleaching  in  both  the  English 
and  Welsh  tongues,  winning  many  thousands  to  Jesus. 

SCOTCH    BAPTISTS. 

Scotland  claims  a  word  at  this  point.  There  are  but  few 
Baptists.  Presbyterianism  in  that  land  has  won  its  grand- 
est trophies,  and  has  maintained  since  the  days  of  Knox 
almost  undisputed  possession.  Baptists,  however,  are  found 
there,  and  have  been  for  nearly  two  centuries.  Some  in- 
fluential families  have  been  associated  with  them ;  most 
prominent  the  Haldane  brothers,  known  to  the  world  as 
eminent  preachers  and  philanthropists.  One  of  them  wrote 
an  able  commentary  on  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans,  and  was 
instrumental  in  the  conversion  of  D'Aubigne,  the  historian 
of  the  Reformation,  and  Adolph  Monod,  the  accomplished 
Genevan  pastor  and  writer.  Dr.  McLean,  who  wrote  on  the 
Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  was  also  a  Scotch  Baptist.  In  187] 
they  were  a  vigorous  body,  and  growing  aggressive.  They 
had  110  churches,  109  chapels,  7,035  members,  and  4,390 


498  THE  BAPTIST  CHURCH. 

scholars  in  their  Sunday-schools.  They  had  a  prosperous 
theological  school  at  Glasgow,  under  the  presidency  of 
Rev.  Dr.  Calross.  They  are  banded  in  a  union  meeting  an- 
nually, and  sustain  a  prosperous  Home  Mission  Society. 

IRISH  BAPTISTS. 

In  Ireland  there  are  but  few  Baptists.  Of  Protestants, 
Presbyterians  and  Methodists  are  the  most  numerous.  Bap- 
tists are  the  least  so  of  all,  but  since  the  disestablishment  of 
the  Irish  church,  are  reaping  no  inconsiderable  advantage 
from  the  reconstruction  of  all  ecclesiastical  matters,  and  the 
agitation  of  public  thought  since  that  event.  For  250  years 
there  have  been  Baptist  churches  in  Ireland.  Perhaps  at  a 
former  period  they  were  more  numerous  than  now,  as  in  the 
drain  of  population  by  emigration,  Baptists  have  lost  their 
proportion.  They  have  been  favored  with  the  ministry  of 
some  eminent  men.  John  Foster,  the  celebrated  essayist, 
was  for  some  years  pastor  of  one  of  the  Baptist  churches  in 
Dublin.  Dr.  Alexander  Carson,  of  Tubbermore,  whose  work 
on  Baptism  is  by  Baptists  and  Pedobaptists  conceded  the 
most  exhaustive  and  scholarly  discussion  of  the  question,  as 
it  relates  to  the  meaning  of  the  Greek  verb  "  baptidzo "  in 
the  Bible  and  in  the  Greek  classics,  was  the  most  eminent 
man  and  minister  of  the  Irish  Baptist  churches.  Their  min- 
istry, as  a  whole,  was  stronger  in  1885  than  ever  before. 
Many  efficient  missionaries  were  at  work,  and  the  /v^hole 
aspect  was  most  encouraging. 

CONTINENTAL    BAPTISTS. 

The  Baptists  in  Continental  Europe  are  deserving  of  a  far 
more  extended  notice  than  our  space  allows.  On  the  night 
of  the  22d  of  April,  1834,  Rev.  Barnes  Seares,  temporarily  re- 
siding in  Germany,  baptized  Mr.  Oucken  and  six  others  in 
the  river  Elbe.  This  was  the  beginning  of  one  of  the  most 
remarkable  works  of  modern  times,  and  Mr.  Oucken  became 
one  of  the  most  successful  missionaries  of  this  missionary 
age.  It  is  doubtful  whether,  in  the  same  time,  the  apostles 


CONTINENTAL  BAPTISTS.  499 

witnessed  results  more  marvellous  than  those  since  achieved 
in  the  German  States.  Sweden  is  not  less  remarkable  than 
Germany.  There  one  man,  a  little  more  than  a  quarter  of  a 
century  ago, — Rev.  Andreas  Weiburg,  a  young  man  who  had 
been  educated  for  the  ministry  in  the  Lutheran  Church,— 
was  led  to  a  change  of  views  and  was  "  buried  with  Christ  in 
baptism."  Since  then,  God  has  wrought  marvellously  by 
means  of  this  man.  Sweden,  in  1871,  contained  201  Baptist 
churches,  having  a  membership  of  8,120,  with  a  theological 
school  in  Copenhagen. 

Official  returns  for  1892  for  the  whole  of  the  United  King- 
dom, showed :  2,803  churches,  3,754  chapels,  1,858  ministers, 
4,369  local  preachers,  314,409  communicants,  46,227  Sunday- 
school  teachers,  and  470,801  Sunday  scholars.  These  sum- 
maries included  only  those  churches  which  reported  direct 
to  the  Baptist  Union.  An  estimate  of  the  number  of  mem- 
bers and  scholars  in  non-reporting  churches  gave  a  total  of 
about  23,000  members  and  17,000  scholars.  A  computation 
the  same  year  of  the  strength  of  the  Church  throughout 
the  world,  gave  44,558  churches,  28,876  ministers  and  mis- 
sionaries, and  4,013,689  communicants. 


I. 
THE   BAPTIST  CHURCHES 

IN 

THE  UNITED  STATES. 


EAKLY   HISTORY. 

rTIHE  name  of  Roger  Williams  must  have  the  honor  of  be- 
1  ing  placed  at  the  head  of  every  account  of  the  introduc- 
tion of  Baptists  into  America.  Roger  Williams  was  born 
in  Wales  in  the  year  1598.  At  an  early  age  he  was  sent  to 
Oxford  College,  and  educated  through  the  munificence  of 
Sir  Edward  Coke.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Church  of 
England,  and  was  designed  for  the  priesthood.  But  he  be- 
came a  Puritan,  and  emigrated  to  America  in  1630,  settling  at 
Salem,  Mass.,  and  was  soon  after  called  to  the  office  of  teacher 
in  connection  with  the  Rev.  Mr.  Skelton.  He  was  not  there 
long  before  his  liberal  views  on  the  question  of  conscience  in 
matters  of  belief  rendered  him  obnoxious  to  the  Puritan  set- 
tlers of  the  colony.  He  contended  against  religious  persecu- 
tion in  all  forms.  He  protested  against  the  union  of  Church 
and  State,  which  then  and  long  after  existed  in  both  Massa- 
chusetts and  Connecticut.  He  was  not  then  a  Baptist,  though 
in  advocating  these  views  he  was  defending  principles  of 
which  Baptists  had  ever  been  the  representatives.  This  the 
authorities  of  the  colony  would  not  tolerate.  He  was  there- 
fore condemned  for  no  other  reasons  than  holding  those 
opinions  which  now  none  think  of  questioning,  and  expelled 
from  the  colony  in  1635.  In  the  spring  of  1636  he  settled  in 

(500) 


FIRST  CHURCH  ESTABLISHED  IN  AMERICA.     501 

what  is  now  the  State  of  Rhode  Island,  on  the  site  where  the 
opulent  city  of  Providence  stands.  There  he  founded  a 
colony,  obtaining  a  charter  from  the  king.  A  fundamental 
principle  of  this  colony  was,  that  there  should  be  no  persecu- 
tion for  conscience  sake  in  matters  of  religion,  but  that  every 
man  was  to  have  perfect  freedom  to  worship  God  after  his 
own  conviction  of  truth  and  duty. 

THE   FIEST   CHUECH   ESTABLISHED  IN  AMEEICA. 

There  being  no  minister  in  New  England  who  had  been 
baptized  by  immersion  on  a  profession  of  faith,  in  March, 
1639,  Ezekiel  Holliman  baptized  Roger  Williams,  who  then 
administered  the  rite  to  Holliman  and  ten  others.  Thus 
was  founded,  under  Roger  Williams,  as  Governor  of  Rhode 
Island,  and  by  Ezekiel  Holliman,  Deputy  Governor,  with  ten 
others,  the  first  Baptist  church  on  the  continent  of  America. 
To  those  members  twelve  others  were  soon  added,  and  from 
that  day  to  this  that  church  has  been  "  a  burning  and  a  shin- 
ing light." 

This  position  has  not  been  easily  gained.  It  cost  the  early 
churches  and  preachers  much  suffering.  The  laws  of  Massa- 
chusetts Colony  against  Baptists  and  Quakers  were  severe. 
The  more  their  principles  prevailed,  the  more  violent  be- 
came the  punishment.  The  penalties  inflicted  were  the 
severest  the  spirit  of  the  age — which  had  softened  down  as 
compared  with  previous  years — would  allow ;  banishment, 
whipping,  fine,  and  imprisonment,  beside  being  taxed  to 
support  the  clergy  of  the  "Standing  Order."  For  failure 
or  refusal  to  pay  this  tax,  regarding  it  as  unjust,  they  "  often- 
times had  their  bodies  seized  upon  and  thrown  into  the 
common  jail,  as  malefactors,  and  their  cattle,  swine,  horses, 
household  furniture,  and  implements  of  husbandry,  forcibly 
distrained  from  them  and  shamefully  sold,  many  times  at 
not  a  quarter  of  their  first  value."  In  1728  a  law  was  passed 
by  the  General  Court  relieving  Baptists  from  this  tax.  But 
it  relieved  their  persons  only,  not  their  property.  In  Con- 
necticut, Baptist  ministers  were  put  in  the  stocks,  and  after- 
wards thrown  into  prison  for  preaehing  the  Gospel  contrary 


502  THE  BAPTIST  CHURCH. 

to  law.  In  Virginia,  Dr.  Hawks,  an  Episcopalian,  says  :  "  No 
dissenters  experienced  for  a  time  harsher  treatment  than  did 
the  Baptists.  They  were  beaten  and  imprisoned,  and  cruelty 
taxed  its  ingenuity  to  devise  new  modes  of  punishment  and 
annoyance."  This  spirit  of  persecution  long  lingered  after 
the  strength  of  popular  feeling  had  bound  it  hand  and  foot, 
and  the  laws  it  enacted  remained  unrepealed  on  the  statute 
books  of  the  New  England  Colonies  and  of  Virginia  years 
after  public  sentiment  had  made  their  execution  impossible. 
Into  the  details  of  persecution  suffered  in  the  effort  to 
force  compliance  with  those  laws  we  cannot  here  enter.  One 
episode,  however,  deserves  mention  on  account  of  its  emi- 
nence. In  Virginia,  on  June  4, 1768,  three  Baptist  ministers, 
John  Walker,  Lewis  Craig,  and  James  Childs,  were  taken 
before  the  magistrates  in  Spottsylvania  County,  and  bound 
over  for  trial  as  "disturbers  of  the  peace,"  charged  with 
preaching  the  Gospel,  their  accusers  saying  they  could  not 
meet  a  man  "  without  putting  a  text  of  Scripture  down  his 
throat."  This  trial  has  been  made  memorable  in  history 
because  of  the  part  taken  in  it  by  the  eloquent  Patrick 
Henry,  who,  on  hearing  of  their  arrest,  rode  sixty  miles,  that 
he  might  be  present  at  their  trial,  and  volunteer  in  their 
defence.  Seating  himself  in  the  court  room,  he  listened  to 
the  reading  of  the  indictment.  The  words  "  For  preaching 
the  Gospel  of  the  Son  of  God"  caught  his  ear.  Rising 
immediately  on  the  concluding  of  the  reading,  he  stretched 
out  his  hand,  received  the  paper,  and  then  addressed  the 
Court.  He  dwelt  on  the  charge  "  For  preaching  the  Gospel 
of  the  Son  of  God."  He  asked,  at  the  close  of  a  most  elo- 
quent appeal,  "  What  law  have  they  violated  ? "  And  then, 
for  a  third  time,  in  a  slow,  dignified  manner,  he  lifted 
his  eyes  to  heaven,  and  waved  the  indictment  about  his 
head.  The  effect  was  electrical.  The  Court  and  audience 
were  at  the  highest  pitch  of  excitement.  The  prosecuting 
attorney  and  the  witnesses  against  these  three  men  grew  pale 
and  trembled.  The  Judge  shared  in  the  excitement,  now 
becoming  extremely  painful,  and  with  tremulous  voice  gave 
the  authoritative  command,  "Sheriff,  discharge  those  men." 


FIRST  CHURCH  ESTABLISHED  IN  AMERICA.     503 

The  first  Baptist  church  was  organized  in  America  in 
1639,  in  Providence,  K.  I.  Other  churches  were  soon  after 
organized  in  the  different  colonies.  The  First  Newport, 
in  1644 ;  Second  Newport,  in  1656 ;  First  Boston,  in  1665  ; 
Middletown,  N.  J.,  in  1688 ;  and  the  Piscataway  and  Co- 
hansy  churches,  in  the  same  State,  the  former  in  1688  and 
the  latter  in  1689 ;  First  Philadelphia,  in  1698 ;  Brandy- 
wine,  Pa.,  in  1715,  and  First  Church  in  New  York  City,  in 
1724.  Churches  were  organized  at  many  other  points  where 
new  settlements  sprung  up,  so  that  within  about  a  century 
after  Eoger  Williams  became  a  Baptist  there  were  about 
seventy-five  in  existence,  notwithstanding  the  oppressive 
laws  against  them.  Connected  with  some  of  those  early 
churches  were  laymen  who  became  prominent  in  civil  posi- 
tions, and  while  the  ministry  of  that  early  day  among  Bap- 
tists was  not,  as  a  whole,  a  well-educated  body,  they  comprised 
some  who  ranked  high  as  scholars. 

Very  early  attention  was  given  to  education  by  the  Amer- 
ican Baptists.  A  literary  and  theological  school  was 
opened  at  Hopewell,  N.  J.,  in  1756  ;  Brown  University,  R.  I., 
was  founded  in  1762 ;  and  another  theological  school  was 
opened  at  Penepack  in  1766.  From  these  early  nurseries  of 
learning  and  theological  knowledge  came  forth  scholars, 
who,  mingling  in  with  their  less  cultivated  but  strong- 
minded  and  self-educated  brethren,  the  pastors  in  those 
times,  laid  a  foundation  for  the  prosperity  and  success 
which  has  attended  the  progress  of  the  denomination  ever 
since. 

Beside  Brown  University,  their  best  known  colleges  are 
Rochester  and  Madison  in  N.  Y.,  Lewisburg  in  Penn., 
Chicago  University  in  111.,  and  Waterville  in  Me.  Two  of 
their  theological  seminaries  are  quite  handsomely  endowed. 
Newton,  Mass.,  has  endowment  and  real  estate  worth 
$400,000,  and  Crozier,  at  Upland,  Delaware  County,  Pa., 
$317,000,  the  gift  of  one  family,  the  heirs  of  the  late  John 
P.  Crozier,  a  prominent,  wealthy,  and  liberal  Baptist,  well 
known  for  his  abundant  liberality  towards  the  Christian 
Commission  during  the  Civil  War.  In  addition  to  the  col- 


504  THE  BAPTIST  CHURCH. 

leges,  universities,  and  theological  seminaries  mentioned, 
they  have  a  number  of  other  institutions  of  lesser  grade. 
We  must  not  omit,  however,  to  mention  Vassar  College, 
located  at  Poughkeepsie,  N.  Y.,  and  founded  by  the  princely 
munificence  of  Matthew  Yassar,  Esq.,  whose  entire  gift 
amounted  to  $825,000.  It  is  designed  to  be  for  young 
women  what  Harvard,  Yale,  and  Brown  are  for  young  men. 

The  origin  of  the  Foreign  Mission  work  among  the  Bap- 
tists was  most  providential.  Rev.  Adoniram  Judson  and 
Luther  Rice  left  the  United  States  in  1812,  sent  out  by  the 
Congregationalists  of  New  England  as  missionaries  to  India. 
On  the  voyage,  the  study  of  the  New  Testament  made  both 
them  and  their  wives  Baptists,  and  on  landing  at  Serampore 
they  were  all  baptized  by  Rev.  William  Ward,  an  English 
Baptist  missionary  at  that  place.  Rice  returned  to  lay  the 
matter  before  the  Baptist  churches  of  America  and  urge  the 
formation  of  a  Mission  Board  among  them.  Judson  remain- 
ed, but  God  led  him  to  Burmah.  His  sufferings  and  his 
work  there  are  too  well  known  to  require  recital  here. 
Judson  toiled  in  Burmah.  Rice,  with  trumpet  tones,  roused 
the  churches  at  home.  The  work  has  since  moved  forward 
gloriously. 

As  the  Baptists  of  the  British  Provinces  are  in  perfect 
accord  with  the  great  body  of  whom  we  have  just  given  an 
account,  a  word  respecting  them  is  fitting  at  this  point. 
The  first  Baptist  church  was  constituted  in  New  Brunswick, 
October,  1778,  at  Horton.  Soon  after,  churches  were  organ- 
ized at  various  points  ;  and  on  June  23,  1800,  the  first  Bap- 
tist Association  of  British  North  America  was  organized  in 
Lower  Granville,  Nova  Scotia.  Their  growth  has  been  quite 
rapid.  They  have  four  colleges,  and  publish  three  English 
and  one  French  periodical,  each  weekly.  They  co-operate 
in  Foreign  Missions  with  the  American  Baptist  Missionary 
Union. 

STATISTICS   OF  THE   CHURCH. 

The  census  of  1890  gave  the  following  statistics  of  the 
Northern  associations  of  the  regular  Baptist  Church  in  the 
United  States:  organizations  7,902,  church  edifices  7,066, 
halls  used  for  religious  purposes  1,165,  communicants  800,025, 


THE  FREEWILL  BAPTIST  CHURCH.  505 

and  value  of  church  property  $49,524,504  ;  of  the  Southern 
associations :  organizations  16,206,  church  edifices  13,472, 
halls  2,639,  communicants  1,276,491,  value  of  church  prop- 
erty $18,152,599  ;  and  of  the  colored  regular  Baptists,  prin- 
cipally in  the  Southern  States  :  organizations  12,649,  church 
edifices  12,100,  halls  664,  communicants  1,362,140,  value  of 
church  property  $9,175,587.  These  combined  had,  organiza- 
tions 36,757,  church  edifices  33,187,  halls  used  for  religious 
purposes  4,468,  communicants  3,438,656,  and  value  of  church 
property  $76,852,690.  The  reports  of  the  denomination  for 
1894,  showed  in  the  United  States:  associations  1,498, 
ordained  ministers  25,354,  churches  38,122,  communicants 
3,496,988,  Sunday-schools  20,838,  oflicers  and  teachers  143,765, 
scholars  1,430,933,  value  of  church  property  $78,605,769,  and 
total  contributions  in  the  preceding  year  $12,560,713.95, 
of  which  $7,986,464.76  were  for  salaries  and  expenses, 
$1,467,293.55  for  missions,  $367,416.81  for  educational  pur- 
poses, and  $2,739,538.83  for  miscellaneous  expenditures.  The 
estimate  of  the  strength  of  the  Church  throughout  the  world 
was,  churches  44,069,  ordained  ministers  29,871,  communicants 
4,184,507,  totals  very  close  to  the  British  computation  of  1892 
already  given,  with  allowance  for  the  increase  of  two  years. 

THE   FREEWILL  BAPTIST   CHUECH. 

This  denomination  appeared  for  the  first  time,  as  organized 
and  distinctive,  in  the  year  1780.  The  causes  leading  to  the 
separation  from  the  Baptist  Church  were  two.  The  first  is 
found  in  the  Arminian  tendencies,  existing,  to  a  limited  ex- 
tent, among  some  of  the  early  Baptist  churches.  It  is  true 
that,  generally,  the  early  Baptist  churches  of  this  country 
were  Calvinistic,  yet  there  were  members,  and  some  minis- 
ters, who  having  belonged  in  England  to  that  division  of 
Baptists  called  "  General"  and  who  have  always  been  moder- 
ate Calvinists,  and  some  of  them  Arminian,  brought  those 
views  with  them  and  sought  to  propagate  them  in  the  churches 
in  the  United  States.  This  would,  of  course,  awaken  opposi- 
tion, and  in  time  cause  just  such  a  separation  as  led  to  the 
denomination  under  consideration.  The  'second  cause  is 
found  in  the  Antinomianism  evidently  spreading  to  a  con- 
siderable extent  about  this  time,  and  which,  in  a  quarter  of  a 


506  THE  BAPTIST  CHURCH. 

century  later,  caused  the  secession  of  another  body,  known 
as  Old  School  Baptists,  leaving  the  great  body  of  Baptists, 
<of  whom  we  have  given  an  account,  Calvinists,  without  fall- 
ing into  Antinoniianism  on  the  one  hand,  or  Arminianism  on 
the  other. 

The  founder  of  this  body  was  the  Rev.  Benjamin  Randall. 
He  was  an  uneducated  man,  but  of  sound  sense  and  fervent 
piety.  He  was  converted  at  New  Castle,  N.  H.,  under  the 
preaching  of  the  celebrated  George  Whitefield,  when  twenty- 
two  years  of  age.  About  four  years  after  his  conversion,  in 
1776,  he  united  with  the  Calvinistic  Baptist  church  in  Ber- 
wick. Feeling  called  to  preach,  license  was  granted  him  by 
the  church  to  "  exercise  his  gift,"  which  he  did  with  remark- 
able success.  He  was  instrumental  in  the  promotion  of  an 
extensive  revival  of  religion  in  Dover,  N.  H.,  the  place  of  his 
birth,  and  in  many  other  places.  He  imbibed  Arminian 
notions,  thus  dissenting  from  the  body  with  which  he  had 
connected  himself.  The  Baptist  church  in  Berwick  met, 
considered  his  case,  and  withdrew  the  hand  of  fellowship 
from  him. 

There  was  not  a  denomination  in  existence  in  America  to 
which  he  and  his  followers  could  naturally  ally  themselves. 
On  the  mode  and  subjects  of  baptism  they  were  Baptists,  but 
Baptists  were  Calvinists,  while  they  were  Arminians.  The 
year  that  he  was  expelled  from  the  Berwick  church  the 
church  in  London  and  Canterbury,  with  its  minister,  and  the 
church  in  Strafford  and  minister,  protested  against  Calvinism 
and  stood  independent,  until  they  united  with  Mr.  Randall 
and  his  little  band.  By  these  ministers  Mr.  Randall  was 
ordained,  in  March,  1780,  and  on  June  30th,  following,  he 
organized  in  New  Durham,  N.  H  ,  the  first  Freewill  Baptist 
church.  Like  all  new  sects,  terms  of  reproach  were  used  in 
describing  them.  They  were  called  Randallites,  General 
Provisioners,  New  Lights,  and  Freewillers,  the  last  of  which 
has  clung  to  them,  and  which  they  have  accepted,  being 
known  now  as  Freewill  Baptists.  The  "  little  vine  soon  ran 
over  the  wall,"  and  in  less  than  two  years  several  churches 
were  organized  in  the  State  of  Maine,  and  their  whole  num- 


THE  FREEWILL  BAPTIST  CHURCH.  507 

ber  was  nine.  In  the  fall  of  1781  Mr.  Randall  made  an 
eastern  tour,  and  preached  in  several  towns  west  of,  and  on, 
the  Kennebec  River,  in  most  of  which  places  he  saw  revivals 
begin.  Churches  and  ministers  continuing  to  multiply,  for 
the  purpose  of  preserving  unanimity  of  views  and  co-opera- 
tion of  efforts,  as  well  as  for  mutual  edification,  a  quarterly 
meeting  was  organized  in  four  years  from  the  first  church 
organization.  Within  the  first  twelve  years  these  Baptists 
had  come  to  be  quite  numerous  in  Maine  and  New  Hamp- 
shire, had  extended  into  Vermont,  and  soon  after  into  Rhode 
Island  and  several  other  States.  The  first  yearly  meeting 
was  held  in  New  Durham,  in  June,  1792.  Elder  Randall 
died  in  1808,  and  was  ably  succeeded  by  Elder  John  Colby. 
This  successful  evangelist  carried  the  doctrines  of  the  church 
into  the  West,  and  had  entered  upon  a  southern  tour  when 
he  died  in  Norfolk,  Ya.,  in  1817. 

A  General  Conference  was  organized  in  1827,  and  was  at 
first  an  annual  session.  It  has  since  become  biennial  and 
triennial,  as  at  present.  They  are  a  unit  with  the  great  body 
of  Baptists  on  the  subject  of  baptism  and  the  question  of 
church  government,  but  they  do  not  accept  the  doctrines  of 
Calvinism.  They  deny  personal,  unconditional  election  to 
eternal  life  in  Christ,  in  consequence  of  an  eternal  decree. 
Hence,  they  repudiate  the  doctrine  of  final  perseverance,  as 
explained  in  harmony  with  the  Calvinistic  theory,  but  that 
election  is  made  sure  by  perseverance  only.  They  differ  also 
on  the  subject  of  communion,  practicing  what  is  known  as 
"  open  communion,"  and  do  not,  like  the  Regular  Baptists, 
regard  immersion  as  essential  to  communion.  In  fact,  they 
do  not  regard  baptism  at  a  Scriptural  prerequisite  to  the 
Lord's  table.  In  this  they  differ  from  others,  as  much  as 
from  the  great  body  of  their  Baptist  brethren.  Their  latest 
reports  gave :  Number  of  churches,  1,496  ;  preachers,  1,445  ; 
members,  80,913.  Adding  the  membership  of  several  other 
bodies  which  hold  closely  to  their  principles,  we  have  a  total 
of  169,249  persons  of  identical  religious  belief.  Although 
their  numbers  are  comparatively  small,  they  have  accom- 
plished much  in  the  educational  line.  Encouraging  reports 


508  THE  BAPTIST  CHURCH. 

were  made  to  the  Conference  by  Hillsdale  (Mich.)  College ; 
Bates  College  and  the  Theological  School,  Me.;  New  Hamp- 
ton (N.  H.)  Institution;  Nichols  Latin  School,  Me.;  Maine 
Central  Institute  ;  Green  Mountain  Seminary  ;  Pike  (N.  Y.) 
Seminary  ;  Storer  College,  Va. ;  Rio  Grande  College,  Ohio  ; 
and  Ridgeville  (Ind.)  College. 

In  1890  there  were  reported  51  yearly  meetings  (or  associa- 
tions), 1,586  organizations,  1,225  church  edifices,  349  halls 
used  for  religious  purposes,  87,898  members,  and  church 
property  valued  at  $3,115,642.  The  membership  was  repre- 
sented in  33  States,  principally  in  the  Northern  and  Western 
groups  ;  was  strongest  in  New  England,  its  birthplace  ;  and 
had  the  largest  State  membership  in  Maine,  16,294.  In  1892 
an  act  of  incorporation  was  obtained  from  the  State  of 
Maine  by  the  General  Conference,  for  the  purpose  of  bring- 
ing the  benevolent  boards  and  societies  of  the  Church  into 
unity  with  the  General  Conference.  The  legality  of  the 
General  Conference's  action  in  the  matter  was  questioned, 
and  as  a  result  the  question  of  the  desirability  of  an  act  of 
incorporation  was  referred  to  the  annual  meetings  and  asso- 
ciations, to  be  determined  by  their  votes. 


II. 
Baptist  Churches 

IN 

The  United  Spates. 


THE   CHTJECH   OF   CHRIST. 

r  I  MilS  denomination  had  its  origin  in  an  effort  made  to 
JL  effect  a  union  of  the  pious  of  all  parties  by  the  ties  of 
a  common  Christianity.  They  regard  the  title  "  Campbellite 
Baptists  "  as  a  reproach ;  for,  though  Bev.  Alexander  Camp- 
bell was  the  leader  of  the  movement  resulting  in  the  denom- 
ination, they  claim  to  be  the  restorers  of  "  Primitive  Christi- 
anity," and  hence  object  to  denominating  a  church  by  any 
other  designation  than  is  found  in  Scripture.  The  followers 
of  Christ  having  been  termed  disciples  they  have  chosen  this 
as  their  appellative. 

The  character  and  life  of  a  man  who  possessed  the  mental 
abilities  and  force  of  character  to  formulate,  organize,  and 
establish  such  a  monument  as  this  denomination  has  become, 
are  worthy  both  of  study  and  emulation.  He  was  of  Scotch- 
Presbyterian  education  and  parentage.  His  father,  Rev. 
Thomas  Campbell,  had  long  been  a  minister  of  high  standing 
in  the  "  Secession "  branch  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in 
the  North  of  Ireland,  who,  with  his  family,  emigrated  to 
this  country  early  in  the  beginning  of  the  present  century. 
His  liberal  views  soon  rendered  him  the  object  of  persecu- 
tion among  his  Presbyterian  brethren,  for  which  reason  he 
encountered  much  opposition.  He  was  at  one  time  formally 

(509) 


510  THE  BAPTIST  CHURCH. 

arraigned  before  an  ecclesiastical  tribunal  of  his  brethren 
on  the  charge  of  heresy.  His  fundamental  position,  while 
yet  in  connection  with  the  Presbyterians,  was,  that  the 
divisions  existing  among  Christians  were  caused  by  a  want 
of  conformity  to  Scripture,  and  that  the  true  and  certain 
way  to  insure  such  unity  was  to  cast  aside  all  creeds  and 
follow  only  the  teachings  of  the  Bible.  The  more  rigor- 
ously he  advocated  his  peculiar  views,  the  stronger  the 
opposition  to  him  became,  until  on  September  7, 1810,  he 
and  his  family,  and  a  considerable  number  of  others  who 
had  imbibed  his  sentiments,  separated  from  the  Presby- 
terians and  organized  a  church  at  Brush  Run,  in  Washing- 
ton County,  Pa.,  where  a  house  of  worship  was  erected.  Of 
this  church,  Rev.  Thomas  Campbell  and  his  son,  Alexander, 
became  joint  pastors.  In  this  church  much  devotion  was 
manifest,  and  perfect  concord  prevailed.  At  length  a  sub- 
ject of  difficulty  presented  itself — a  member  raised  the  ques- 
tion, "  Is  Infant  Baptism  Scriptural  ? "  Mr.  Campbell  and 
his  son  entered  into  the  discussion  occasioned  by  this  query, 
and  having  been  educated  in  its  belief,  undertook  the  de- 
fence of  "  Infant  Baptism."  The  result  of  the  investigation 
was,  that  they,  and  many  members  of  the  Brush  Run  church, 
were  convinced  not  only  that  infant  baptism  was  without 
Bible  authority,  but  that  immersion  alone  was  Scriptural 
baptism. 

True  to  their  convictions  they  became  Baptists ;  and  on 
the  12th  of  June,  1812,  were  immersed  by  Rev.  Mr.  Luce, 
and  forming  a,  Baptist  church,  were  admitted,  in  the  fall  of 
1813,  into  the  Redstone  Baptist  Association,  carefully  and 
expressly  stipulating  at  the  same  time,  in  writing,  that  "  no 
terms  of  union  or  communion  other  than  the  Holy  Scriptures 
should  be  required."  About  this  time  Rev.  Alexander 
Campbell  came  more  prominently  into  notice.  He  had  been 
educated  at  Glasgow  University  in  Scotland,  and  was,  from 
a  student,  eminent  for  energy  of  character,  brilliancy  of 
talents,  and  love  of  learning,  together  with  a  wonderful 
ability  in  debate.  He  first  attracted  attention  by  a  speech 
in  the  Redstone  Baptist  Association  in  defending  the  above 


THE  CHURCH  OF  CHRIST.  511 

agreement.  He  subsequently  became  famous  as  a  debater. 
He  loved  what  he  regarded  truth,  and  brought  to  its  defence 
rare  abilities,  wide  reading,  and  much  learning.  A  debate 
with  Rev.  J.  Walker,  in  Mount  Pleasant,  O.,  on  the  subject 
of  baptism,  raised  him  high  in  the  estimation  of  Baptists, 
and  gave  wide  celebrity  to  his  talents  and  knowledge  for  the 
first  time.  Three  years  after  he  held  a  debate  with  Rev. 
Mr.  McCalla,  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  in  Washington, 
Ky.,  which  contributed  largely  to  increase  his  fame  and  ex- 
tend his  influence.  Beside  these,  he  held  other  debates  in 
the  course  of  his  remarkable  career  ;  the  two  most  promi- 
nent being  those  with  the  late  Archbishop  Purcell,  of  Cincin- 
nati, O.,  on  the  Roman  Church,  and  with  Rev.  Dr.  N.  L. 
Rice,  at  Lexington,  Ky.,  on  the  subject  of  baptism.  The 
latter  was  one  of  the  most  noted  of  his  numerous  encounters 
with  theological  opponents,  his  opponent,  Dr.  Rice,  being  one 
of  the  ablest  disputants  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  America 
ever  produced.  Henry  Clay,  the  great  statesman  of  Ken- 
tucky, presided  at  this  debate,  and  thousands  gathered  to 
hear  it. 

From  the  time  of  his  union  with  the  Baptists  in  1812,  and 
especially  his  speech  before  the  Redstone  Association,  it  was 
evident  that  while  he  was  in  his  views  essentially  a  most 
decided  Baptist,  yet  he  was  not,  on  some  points,  in  full  sym- 
pathy. Those  points  he  pressed.  Perhaps  his  growing 
popularity  and  his  remarkable  abilities  made  him  an  object 
of  jealousy  with  some,  and  thus  caused  his  points  of  dissent 
to  be  magnified  beyond  their  true  value.  The  chief  point  of 
dissent  was  on  the  design  of  baptism.  The  Baptists  re- 
quired of  all  candidates  for  admission  into  their  churches 
the  relation  of  what  they  term  "  Christian  experience  ";  that 
is,  they  required  a  statement  in  evidence  of  the  power  the 
truth  in  which  belief  has  been  avowed  has  had  upon  the 
heart,  as  an  indispensable  condition  to  baptism.  The  Dis- 
ciples opposed  this  as  unscriptural,  referring  to  the  confession 
of  the  Eunuch  (Acts  viii.  37),  as  all  we  are  to  demand.  Like 
Baptists,  they  do  not  require  submission  to  i  creed,  as  a 
condition  of  membership.  They,  however,  attribute  to  the 


512  THE  BAPTIST  CHURCH. 

act  of  immersion  an  effect  Baptists  will  not  allow,  and  which, 
in  the  judgment  of  the  latter,  is  regarded  as  akin  to,  if  not 
identical  with,  the  ritualistic  theory  of  baptismal  regenera- 
tion. We  will,  however,  give  their  peculiar  conception  of 
the  efficacy  of  baptism  in  their  own  language :  "  No  one  is 
taught  to  expect  the  reception  of  that  heavenly  monitor  and 
comforter  (the  Holy  Spirit)  as  a  resident  in  his  heart  until 
he  obeys  the  Gospel.  Thus,  while  they  proclaim  faith  and 
repentance,  or  faith  and  a  change  of  heart,  as  preparatory 
to  immersion,  remission  of  sins,  and  the  gift  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  they  say  to  all  penitents,  or  all  those  who  believe  and 
repent  of  their  sins,  as  Peter  said  to  the  first  audience  ad- 
dressed, after  the  Holy  Spirit  was  bestowed  after  the  glori- 
fication of  Jesus, '  Be  immersed  every  one  of  you,  in  the 
name  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  for  the  remission  of  sins,  and  you 
shall  receive  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Spirit.' " 

In  1890  this  denomination,  now  most  generally  known  as 
Disciples  of  Christ  or  as  Disciples,  was  represented  in  all 
the  States  excepting  New  Hampshire  and  Nevada  and  in 
all  the  territories  excepting  Alaska.  There  were  7,246  organ- 
izations, 5,324  churches,  1,141  halls  used  for  religious  pur- 
poses, 641,051  members,  and  church  property  valued  at 
$12,206,038.  Missouri  had  the  largest  membership,  97,773, 
and  was  followed  by  Indiana  78,942,  Kentucky  77,647, 
Illinois  60,867,  Ohio  54,425. 

The  General  Christian  Missionary  Convention  was  organ- 
ized October  24,  1849,  in  the  city  of  Cincinnati.  It  was  then 
called  "The  American  Christian  Missionary  Society,"  and 
was  incorporated  by  the  Legislature  of  Ohio  the  following 
year.  Alexander  Campbell  was  elected  president,  and  served 
as  such  until  1866.  In  1869  its  name  was  changed  to  "  The 
General  Christian  Missionary  Convention."  It  gave  atten- 
tion to  both  home  and  foreign  missions  until  1875,  when, 
upon  the  organization  of  "  The  Foreign  Christian  Mission- 
ary Society,"  it  turned  attention  exclusively  to  home  mis- 
sions. 

At  the  meeting  of  the  general  conventions  of  the  Church 
in  1892,  the  following  reports  on  missionary  work  were  pre- 


JUDITH.— CH.  LANDELLE.— The  Apocryphal  book  of  Judith  celebrates  the  craft  and 
courage  of  a  beautiful  and  pious  widow,  who  went  to  the  camp  of  the  Babylonian  General 
Holofernes,  permits  herself  to  be  entertained  in  his  tent,  and  upon  his  falling  asleep  seizes 
a»  ^wor(J  .ancji  strikes  off  his  head.  The  artist  shows  her  ready  for  the  deed. 


JUDGMENT  OF  SOLOMON.— RAPHAEL.— The  Oriental  tradition  of  the  character 
of  Solomon,  dwelt  especially  on  his  wisdom,  his  sagacity,  and  his  justice  in  administration. 
The  incident  illustrating  this  was  treated  by  the  most  universally  popular  of  painters  in  t,Ue 
scene  here  reproduced. 


THE  MENNONITES.  613 

sented :  Woman's  Christian  Board  of  Missions :  1,133  aux- 
iliaries in  30  States,  24,276  members,  18  missionaries  in 
Jamaica,  4  in  India,  and  22  in  the  United  States ;  General 
Christian  Missionary  Convention:  67  missionaries  and 
agents,  165  churches  assisted,  27  churches  organized,  and 
338  missionaries  employed  (1891)  by  State  organizations, 
who  visited  352  new  places,  organized  172  churches  and  320 
Sunday-schools,  and  raised  $298,727 ;  Board  of  Church  Ex- 
tension :  resources  $134,730,  grants  paid  $11,900,  grants  made 
and  to  be  paid  $25,900 ;  Foreign  Christian  Missionary  So- 
ciety :  $74,071  receipts,  $75,981  expenditures,  56  missionaries 
and  48  helpers  in  China,  India,  Japan,  Turkey,  Scandinavian 
countries,  and  England,  and  2,772  members. 

THE  MENFONITE8. 

These  Christians  derive  their  name  from  Menno  Simons 
(b.  1496,  d.  1561),  who  had  been  a  Roman  Catholic  priest. 
After  the  attack  on  Munster,  and  the  execution  of  the  lead- 
ers of  the  Anabaptists,  June  24, 1535,  he  began  to  gather  the 
remnants  of  these  people  and  to  settle  them  in  the  Nether- 
lands and  in  North  Germany.  They  were  organized  after 
what  was  regarded  as  the  primitive  church  model.  They  had 
ministers  and  deacons  ;  they  rejected  infant  baptism,  and  did 
not  immerse,  and  some  adopted  feet- washing  in  connection 
with  the  preparation  for  the  Lord's  Supper.  They  received 
toleration,  first  in  the  Netherlands,  then  in  England  and 
Germany.  Subsequently  they  divided  into  several  classes, 
but  all  were  again  united  in  1801.  In  Prussia  they  were 
relieved  of  the  obligation  to  bear  arms  in  1802,  and  of  the 
necessity  of  taking  judicial  and  official  oaths  in  1827. 

How  long  the  followers  of  Menno  Simons  adhered  to  the 
doctrines  he  had  inculcated,  how  long  they  practiced  his 
precepts,  and  guarded  with  a  jealous  eye  those  truths  that 
he  had  promulgated,  is  not  exactly  known ;  but  it  is  asserted 
by  some  of  the  most  intelligent  Mennonites,  that  soon  after 
the  persecution  ceased  there  was  a  gradual  falling  off  from 
their  former  purity,  and  that  they  did  not  carry  into  effect 


514:  THE  BAPTIST  CHVRCH. 

the  doctrines  they  had  formerly  taught  and  professed^  It 
was  when  viewing  their  fallen  state,  and  on  reflecting  how 
they  had  deviated  from  the  path  in  which  they  had  formerly 
trod,  that  a  few  individuals  contemplated  the  design  of  re- 
storing them  to  their  old-time  purity.  For  this  purpose  they 
met  repeatedly.  They  warned  the  Mennonites  of  their  delu- 
sion ;  but  as  they  were  unwilling  to  be  convinced  of  the  errors 
under  which  they  were  laboring,  and  as  these  few  enlight- 
ened people  found  it  impossible  to  take  part  in  their  pro- 
ceedings, they  found  it  necessary  to  renovate  and  renew  the 
whole  Mennonite  doctrine.  They  accordingly  began  "the 
Church  of  Christ  anew."  This  occurred  in  the  year  1811.  As 
their  number  was  continually  on  the  increase,  they  soon  found 
it  necessary  to  appoint  one  from  among  their  number  to 
superintend  this  important  work.  Their  choice  fell  upon 
John  Herr,  who  at  once  devoted  himself  heartily  to  the 
reform,  and  lived  to  see  the  accomplishment  of  much  that 
was  dear  to  the  hearts  of  the  few  "  reformers  "  of  1811. 

In  1867  the  North  German  Confederation  imposed  upon 
them  the  obligation  to  bear  arms,  and  an  exodus  to  the 
United  States  was  the  immediate  consequence.  Four  years 
later  Russia  subjected  them  to  the  conscription  laws,  which 
action,  clashing  with  their  conscientious  scruples  against 
bearing  arms  or  engaging  in  mortal  strife,  led  at  once  to  a 
large  emigration  from  that  country  to  this.  Like  their  co- 
religionists in  Germany,  the  Russian  Mennonites  were  an 
unusually  thrifty  people,  well-educated  and  practical  adepts 
in  some  sustaining  occupation.  The  majority  were  agricul- 
turalists and  well-to-do  financially.  A  single  party  of  sixty 
which  landed  in  New  York  in  1871,  brought  with  them  up- 
ward of  $125,000  in  gold.  They  immediately  went  to  Kan- 
sas, bought  large  tracts  of  farming  land,  and  laid  the  founda- 
tion for  an  immense,  self-sustaining  community. 

The  Mennonites  who  came  to  the  United  States  in  1867  did 
not  find  themselves  "  strangers  in  a  strange  land."  Members 
of  their  faith  had  arrived  here  in  considerable  numbers  be- 
tween 1683  and  1698,  upon  very  advantageous  invitations 
extended  by  William  Penn,  who  was  desirous  of  populating 


THE  CHURCH  OF  GOD.  515 

Ms  vast  possession  with  frugal,  industrious,  and  God-fearing 
people.  In  1890  there  were  12  distinct  bodies  of  Mennonites, 
which  together  had  550  organizations,  405  churches,  103  halls, 
41,541  members,  and  church  property  valued  at  $643,800. 
The  largest  body  had  246  organizations,  226  churches,  17,078 
members,  and  $317,045  in  church  property. 

THE  CHUKCH   OF   GOD. 

This  denomination  sprang  from  the  German  Reformed 
Church,  and  the  members  are  popularly  known  as  "  Wine- 
brennerians."  They  agree  with  Baptists  on  the  mode  and 
subjects  of  Baptism  ;  regarding  believers  as  the  only  Scrip- 
tural subjects,  and  immersion  as  the  only  Scriptural  mode. 
They  dissent  from  regular  Baptists  on  Calvinism,  being 
strongly  Arminian  in  their  doctrinal  views,  approaching 
more  nearly  the  Methodists  than  to  Baptists,  or  to  the  Pres- 
byterians. They  practice  feet-washing  generally,  but  not 
regarding  it  as  an  ordinance  in  the  same  positive  sense  as 
baptism  and  the  Lord's  Supper,  they  do  not  hold  it  as  a 
church  ordinance,  and  therefore  do  not  regard  its  non- 
observance  as  sufficient  cause  for  discipline.  Its  general 
observance  is  the  result  of  the  strength  of  sentiment  in  the 
denomination  in  its  favor,  rather  than  of  any  law.  Their 
church  government  is  somewhat  similar  to  that  of  the 
Methodists,  excepting  that  they  have  no  Bishops.  They  have 
local  Elderships,  and  a  General  Eldership,  the  latter  owning 
and  controlling  i^i  property,  superintending  printing,  having 
charge  of  the  publication  of  hymn-books,  and  all  periodical 
literature. 

They  take  their  popular  name  from  their  founder,  Rev. 
John  Winebrenner.  This  divine  became,  in  1820,  pastor  of 
the  German  Reformed  church  in  Harrisburg,  Pennsylvania. 
His  ministry  was  remarkable  for  the  extensive  revivals  of 
religion  that  occurred  under  it.  These  were  not  confined  to 
Harrisburg,  but,  as  he  preached  and  labored  in  all  the  region 
round  about,  they  were  shared  by  numerous  other  German 
Reformed  churches.  As  revivals  of  religion  were  new  and 
almost  unheard-of  events  in  those  days,  especially  among 


516  THE  BAPTIST  CHURCH. 

the  German  people  of  that  region,  this  work  of  God  did  not 
fail  to  excite  wrath  and  opposition.  This  state  of  affairs 
lasted  five  years,  and  then  resulted  in  a  separation  from  the 
German  Reformed  Church.  About  this  time  (1825),  more 
extensive  revivals  began  in  the  neighboring  towns,  and  sev- 
eral hundred  conversions  were  reported.  During  those  re- 
vival scenes  the  mind  of  Mr.  Winebrenner  underwent  a 
radical  change  as  to  the  true  nature  of  a  Scriptural  organiza- 
tion of  churches,  and  his  sentiments  were  accepted  by  many 
who  had  been  awakened  under  his  preaching.  This  led  to 
the  call  for  a  convention  to  consider  the  duty  of  a  separate 
organization.  This  convention  met  at  Harrisburg  in  Oc- 
tober, 1830,  and  resulted  in  the  formation  of  "  The  Church 
of  God,"  agreeing  on  the  great  subject  of  salvation  through 
Christ,  with  all  evangelical  Christians,  and  holding  those 
peculiar  views  we  have  stated. 

At  the  last  Triennial  General  Eldership  progress  was 
reported  on  the  erection  of  the  educational  institution  at 
Findley,  Ohio.  A  number  of  missions  reported  on  the  con- 
dition of  the  "Church"  in  Michigan,  Missouri,  Nebraska, 
Kansas,  Texas,  and  the  Indian  Territory.  They  decided  to 
co-operate  with  the  Freewill  Baptists  in  their  foreign 
missions.  Resolutions  were  adopted  requesting  the  brethren 
to  oppose  the  desecration  of  the  Lord's  day  by  the  publica- 
tion of  Sunday  papers,  theatrical  performances,  railroad 
excursions,  and  the  opening  of  beer-gardens  and  places  of 
amusement.  In  1890  the  denomination  was  represented  in 
14  States  and  in  the  Indian  Territory,  and  had  479  organiza- 
tions, 338  churches  and  129  halls  used  for  religious  pur- 
poses, 22,511  members,  and  church  property  valued  at 
$643,185.  Its  greatest  strength  was  in  Pennsylvania,  Ohio, 
and  Indiana,  which  together  had  more  than  one-half  the 
total  members. 

SEVENTH-DAY   BAPTISTS. 

The  term  Sabbatarians  was  applied  in  the  fourth  century 
to  the  followers  of  Sabbatarius ;  and  in  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury some  Anabaptists,  who  observed  the  seventh  instead  of 
the  first  day  of  the  week,  were  similarly  denominated.  It 


SEVENTH-DAY  BAPTISTS.  517 

is  uncertain  when  they  first  appeared  in  the  Protestant 
Church,  but  they  existed,  as  a  sect,  as  early  as  1633.  There 
are  two  congregations  of  Sabbatarians  in  London,  the  first 
dating  as  far  back  as  1678.  One  is  among  the  General,  and 
the  other  among  the  Particular  Baptists.  Various  historians 
have  given  them  a  very  great  antiquity,  and  in  proof  have 
cited  people  who  paid  special  religious  regard  to  the  seventh 
day  of  the  week,  in  the  earliest  days  of  noted  Eastern 
countries.  But,  without  entering  the  domain  of  conjectural 
argument,  we  shall  accept  the  first  date  here  given,  as  the  most 
remote  one  needed  for  our  present  purpose,  because  from  it 
there  are  indisputable  evidences  of  the  progress  and  per- 
secutions of  the  class  of  believers  best  known  as  Seventh- 
day  Baptists.  John  James,  a  Seventh-day  Baptist  minister 
of  London,  was  hung  at  Tyburn,  and  afterwards  quartered, 
in  1661.  Seven  years  later  Edward  Stennett,  another  minis- 
ter, wrote  to  some  friends  in  America  that  the  churches  in 
England  had  their  liberty,  "  but  we  hear  that  strong  bonds 
are  making  for  us." 

In  1665  Stephen  Mumford,  a  Seventh-day  Baptist,  came 
from  England  to  Newport,  R.  I.,  and  soon  Samuel  Hubbard, 
a  Baptist,  embraced  his  views.  The  first  Seventh-day  Bap- 
tist church  in  America  was  founded  in  1681,  with  William 
Hiscox  as  pastor.  Churches  were  established  in  New 
Jersey  in  1705  ;  at  Hopkinton,  R.  I.,  in  1708  ;  in  Virginia  in 
1745  ;  in  Salem,  N.  J.,  in  1811 ;  in  Clark  County,  Ohio,  in 
1824.  From  these  points  as  centres  they  spread  rapidly, 
particularly  in  New  York,  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  Ohio, 
Iowa,  Illinois,  Virginia,  Rhode  Island,  Connecticut,  Michigan, 
and  Wisconsin.  As  a  denomination  they  practice  what  is 
termed  close  communion.  They  consider  that  the  Pedo- 
baptist  brethren  have  perverted  the  ordinance  of  baptism, 
by  abandoning  the  original  institution,  which  was  dipping 
or  immersion,  and  using  that  of  sprinkling  or  pouring.  In 
their  views  of  the  Sabbath  they  differ  from  all  other  denomi- 
nations. And  this  is  the  only  essential  point  of  difference 
between  them  and  the  regular  Baptists.  In  1890  there  were 
6  associations :  the  Southwestern,  Central,  Eastern,  North- 


518  THE  BAPTIST  CHURCH. 

western,  Southeastern,  and  Western  ;  106  organizations,  96 
churches  and  halls,  9,123  members,  and  church  property 
valued  at  $264,010.  There  were  also  6  organizations  of  Ger- 
man Seventh-day  Baptists,  with  4  churches  and  halls,  194 
members,  and  $15,700  in  church  property. 

LIBERAL  BAPTISTS   OF   AMEEICA. 

An  important  convention  was  held  in  Minneapolis,  Minn., 
October  2, 1883,  having  for  its  object  the  union  of  all  "  open 
communion "  Baptists.  A  paper  on  "  The  Liberal  Baptists 
of  America  "  gave  the  following  significant  facts  : 

In  1823  a  movement,  under  Elder  Stimson,  began  in  Indiana.  The 
people  took  the  name  of  "General  Baptists,"  and  now  have  in  the  West- 
ern States  not  less  than  13,000  members.  About  1828  a  few  churches 
separated  from  the  United  Baptists  and  took  the  name  of  "Separate 
Baptists."  Churches  have  been  planted  by  them,  and  we  now  know  of 
ten  associations,  with  a  membership  of  not  less  than  7,000  communi- 
cants. We  have  also  Free  Christian  Baptists  in  Nova  Scotia  and  the 
Free  Baptists  of  New  Brunswick.  The  people  known  as  the  "Church 
of  God,"  organized  in  Pennsylvania  in  the  year  1830,  now  embrace 
upward  of  30,000  members,  and  sustain  several  newspapers  and  institu- 
tions of  learning.  If  we  give  a  summary  the  showing  is  :  Free  Baptists 
of  New  England,  78,000;  Church  of  God,  30,000  ;  Nova  Scotia  and  New 
Brunswick,  14,000  ;  General  Baptists,  13,000  ;  Free  Baptists  in  North 
Carolina,  10,000  ;  Separate  Baptists,  7,000  ;  Free  Baptists  in  Western 
States,  5,000— total,  157,000. 

A  report  was  adopted  declaring  that  the  several  associa- 
tions of  churches  of  Jesus  Christ  in  America,  who  held  the 
evangelical  faith,  practicing  believers'  baptism,  and  exclud- 
ing no  recognized  Christian  from  the  Lord's  table,  are  one 
by  the  strongest  ties,  that  of  a  common  faith  and  spirit, 
unity  of  purpose,  mutual  respect,  and  paternal  love,  and 
hence  should  be  one  in  formal  fellowship  and  methods  of 
co-operation.  Measures  were  projected  for  hastening  the 
union  of  all  these  believers. 

GERMAN   BAPTISTS,   OR   BRETHREN. 

The  German  Baptists,  or  Brethren,  are  a  denomination  of 
Christians  who  emigrated  to  the  United  States  from  Germany 
between  the  years  1718  and  1730.  They  are  commonly  called 


SOUTHERN  BAPTIST  ASSOCIATIONS.  519 

Dunkers,  but  they  have  assumed  for  themselves  the  name  of 
Brethren,  on  account  of  what  Christ  said  to  his  disciples : 
"  One  is  your  Master,  even  Christ,  and  all  ye  are  brethren" 
(Matt,  xxiii.  8).  The  lirst  appearance  of  these  people  in  the 
United  States  was  in  the  fall  of  1719,  when  twenty  families 
landed  at  .Philadelphia.  They  have  now  dispersed  them- 
selves almost  through  every  State  in  the  Union ;  but  they 
are  most  numerous  in  Pennsylvania,  Maryland,  Virginia, 
Ohio,  and  Indiana.  They  use  great  plainness  of  dress  and 
language,  like  the  Quakers,  and  like  them  also,  they  will 
neither  take  an  oath  nor  bear  arms.  They  commonly  wear 
their  beards,  and  keep  the  first  day.  They  celebrate  the 
Lord's  Supper,  with  its  ancient  attendants  of  love-feasts, 
washing  feet,  kiss  of  charity,  and  right  hand  of  fellowship. 
They  anoint  the  sick  with  oil  for  recovery ;  and  use  the 
trine  immersion,  with  laying  on  of  hands  and  prayer,  the 
person  kneeling  down  to  be  baptized,  and  continuing  in  that 
position  until  both  prayer  and  imposition  of  hands  are  per- 
formed. Their  church  government  is  the  same  as  that  of 
the  English  Baptists.  When  they  find  one  of  their  number 
becoming  eminent  for  knowledge,  and  possessing  aptness  to 
teach,  they  choose  him  to  be  their  minister,  and  ordain  him 
with  laying  on  of  hands.  None  of  their  ministers  receive 
any  pecuniary  compensation  for  any  services  they  perform 
pertaining  to  the  ministry.  They  are  a  quiet,  peaceable, 
industrious,  pious  people.  They  are  remarkably  simple  in 
their  habits  and  spiritual  in  their  worship.  They  are  gen- 
erally wealthy,  kind  to  the  poor  of  their  own  number,  and 
have  ever  been  decided  in  their  testimony  against  slavery. 
It  is  impossible  to  give  any  statistical  account  of  these  peo- 
ple, as  they  make  it  no  part  of  their  duty  to  keep  an  account 
of  the  number  of  communicants,  or  a  record  of  such  events 
as  usually  comprise  the  history  of  other  denominations. 


520    .  THE  BAPTIST  CHURCH. 

THE   SOUTHERN  BAPTIST  ASSOCIATIONS. 

The  associations  of  Southern  Baptists  in  1892  employed 
365  missionaries,  who  served  1,324  churches  and  stations, 
organized  342  Sunday-schools  with  17,185  teachers  and 
pupils,  constituted  179  churches,  and  built  80  houses  of 
worship.  In  ten  years  the  associations  had  employed  2,692 
missionaries,  constituted  2,290  churches,  organized  2,117 
Sunday-schools,  built  630  houses  of  worship,  added  67,166 
members  to  the  churches,  and  raised  $1,320,000  for  church 
extension.  The  Sunday-school  reported  for  1892  returns 
from  8,862  Sunday-schools,  with  52,513  officers  and  teachers, 
and  440,262  pupils,  in  a  constituency  of  1,129,942  church 
members. 


el! 


MARTIN  LUTHER — HIS  TIMES  AND   WORK. 

"T~  UTHERANS  is  a  term  applied  to  the  followers  of 
I  J  Martin  Luther,  born  at  Eisleben,  in  Thuringia,  Nov. 
10, 1483,  and  is  used  to  describe  a  vast  number  of  German 
and  Scandinavian  Protestants.  At  an  early  age  Luther 
became  acquainted  with  the  views  disseminated  by  Wycliffe 
and  John  Huss,  and  is  said  by  his  biographers  to  have 
received  those  impressions  which  induced  him  to  separate 
from  his  church  on  a  visit  to  Rome  in  1510.  At  Witten- 
berg, where  he  filled  the  theological  chair,  Tetzel,  the  legate 
of  Pope  Leo  X.,  arrived  to  raise  money  by  the  sale  of  indul- 
gences ;  whereupon  Luther  drew  up  his  famous  Ninety- 
five  Theses,  condemning  the  abuse  of  indulgences,  and  he 
transmitted  a  copy  of  them  to  the  Archbishop  of  Magde- 
burg, Oct.  31, 1517.  Summoned  to  appear  before  Cardinal 
Cajetan  at  Augsburg,  after  several  conferences  Luther  ap- 
pealed "from  the  Pope  ill  informed  to  the  Pope  better 
informed,"  Nov.  28, 1518.  After  a  conference  with  Militz, 
in  January,  1519,  he  wrote  an  explanatory  and  submissive 
letter  to  the  Pope,  March  3,  1519.  In  a  disputation  at 
Leipsic  he  denied  the  Pope's  supremacy,  June  27, 1519,  and 
published  an  address  to  the  Emperor  and  the  Christian  no- 
bility of  Germany  in  June,  1520.  A  bull  against  Luther 

C621) 


522  THE  LUTHERAN  CHURCH. 

and  Ms  writings  was  issued  by  Eck  in  August,  and  in  the 
same  month  Luther's  treatise  on  the  Babylonian  Captivity 
of  the  Church  appeared,  denouncing  the  papacy  as  the  king- 
dom of  Babylon  and  antichrist.  In  October  he  had  a  con- 
ference with  Militz,  and  having  been  excommunicated,  he 
destroyed  the  bull  before  an  immense  multitude,  Dec.  10, 
1520. 

At  the  Diet  of  Worms  he  maintained  his  opinions,  April 
16, 1521,  and  an  edict  was  consequently  issued  commanding 
his  apprehension  and  the  destruction  of  his  writings,  May  8, 
1521.  He  was  conveyed  to  Wartburg,  under  the  protection 
of  Frederick,  Elector  of  Saxony,  where  he  began  his  trans- 
lation of  the  Bible  into  German,  completing  the  New  Testa- 
ment in  1521.  Luther  repaired  to  Wittenberg,  where  relig- 
ious disturbances  had  arisen,  and  restored  order  in  1522. 
He  abandoned  the  monastic  life,  and  his  monastery  being 
deserted,  was  given  into  the  hands  of  the  Elector  in  1524, 
when  a  league  of  German  princes  was  formed  to  check  the 
progress  of  his  opinions,  which  had  spread  over  Switzerland, 
found  entrance  into  Scotland,  and  were  adopted 'as  the  na- 
tional faith  in  Sweden  and  Denmark,  1524.  His  Liturgy 
and  Order  of  Divine  Worship  were  published  in  1526,  and 
he  presented  the  Articles  of  Torgau  to  the  Elector  of  Saxony 
in  1530.  At  the  Diet  of  Augsburg,  the  Protestants  read 
their  celebrated  "  Confession,"  June  25,  1530.  Luther  died 
at  Eisleben,  Feb.  18, 1546. 

THE   AUGSBURG  CONFESSION. 

This  celebrated  profession  of  faith  was  presented  by  the 
Protestants  at  the  Diet  of  Augsburg  in  1530  to  the  Emperor 
and  the  Diet,  and  being  signed  by  the  Protestant  States,  was 
adopted  as  their  creed.  Luther  made  the  original  draft  at 
the  command  of  the  Elector  of  Saxony,  at  Torgan,  in  seven- 
teen articles ;  but  as  its  style  appeared  to  be  too  violent,  it 
was  altered-by  Melanchthon,  at  the  command  of  the  Elector, 
and  in  compliance  with  the  wishes  of  the  body  of  Protest- 
ant princes  and  theologians.  Thus  changed  it  was  pre- 


THE  AUGSBURG  CONFESSION.  533 

sented  and  read  in  the  Diet,  June  25.  Two  certified  copies, 
one  in  German  and  the  other  in  Latin,  were  delivered  to 
the  Emperor.  The  Confession  was  immediately  afterwards 
printed,  and  being  translated  into  various  languages,  was 
spread  over  Europe.  It  has  ever  since  continued  to  be  the 
rule  of  the  Lutheran  Church  in  matters  of  faith.  It  consists 
of  twenty-eight  articles,  twenty-one  of  which  state  the  belief 
of  the  Lutherans  on  the  principal  tenets  of  religion ;  and  the 
other  seven  consist  of  "refutations"  of  certain  points  of 
either  dogma  or  discipline  as  maintained  by  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church,  and  on  account  of  which  the  Lutherans 
separated  from  the  communion  of  Rome. 

The  following  are  the  leading  doctrinal  points  in  the  Con- 
fession : 

1.  That  there  is  one  divine  essence,  which  is  called,  and  is  God,  eternal, 
incorporeal,  indivisible,  infinite  in  power,  wisdom,  and  goodness;  and 
yet  that  there  are  three  persons  who  are  of  the  same  essence  and  power, 
and  are  co-eternal ;  the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Spirit. 

2.  That  the  Word,  that  is  the  Son  of  God,  assumed  human  nature  in 
the  womb  of  the  blessed  Virgin  Mary,  so  that  the  two  natures,  human 
and  divine,  inseparably  united  into  one  person,  constitute  one  Christ, 
who  is  true  God  and  man. 

3.  That  since  the  fall  of  Adam  all  men,  who  are  naturally  engendered, 
are  born  with  a  depraved  nature ;  that  is,  without  the  fear  of  God,  or 
confidence  toward  him,  but  with  sinful  propensities. 

4.  That  the  Son  of  God  truly  suffered,  was  crucified,  died,  and  was 
buried,  that  he  might  reconcile  the  Father  to  us,  and  be  a  sacrifice  not 
only  for  original  sin,  but  also  for  all  the  actual  sins  of  men.     That  he 
also  sanctifies  those  who  believe  in  him,  by  sending  into  their  hearts  the 
Holy  Spirit,  who  governs,  consoles,  quickens,  and  defends  them  against 
the  devil  and  the  power  of  sin. 

5.  That  men  cannot  be  justified  before  God  by  their  own  strength, 
merit,  or  works;  but  that  they  are  justified  gratuitously,  for  Christ's 
sake,  through  faith. 

6.  That  this  faith  must  bring  forth  good  fruits ;  and  that  it  is  our  duty 
to  perform  those  good  works  which  God  commanded,  because  he  has  en- 
joined them,  and  not  in  the  expectation  of  thereby  meriting  justification 
before  him. 

7.  That  in  order  that  we  may  obtain  this  faith  the  ministerial  office 
has  been  instituted,  whose  members  are  to  preach  the  Gospel  and  admin- 
ister the  sacraments  (viz.,  Baptism  and  the  Lord's  Supper).   For  through 


524  THE  LUTHERAN  CHURCH. 

the  instrumentality  of  the  word  and  sacraments  as  means  of  grace,  the 
Holy  Spirit  is  given,  who  in  his  own  time  and  place  produces  faith  in 
those  who  hear  the  Gospel  message,  viz.,  that  God,  for  Christ's  sake,  and 
not  on  account  of  any  merit  in  us,  justifies  those  who  believe  in  Christ. 
8.  That  at  the  end  of  the  world  Christ  will  appear  for  judgment ;  that 
he  will  raise  all  the  dead ;  that  he  will  give  to  the  pious  and  elect  eternal 
life  and  endless  joys,  but  will  condemn  wicked  men  and  devils  k>  be 
punished  without  end. 


FOEMS   OF  WOESHIP  AND   CHUECH  OEDEE. 

In  her  rites  of  worship  the  Lutheran  Church  in  Europe 
employs  liturgies  differing  in  minor  points,  but  agreeing  in  es- 
sentials, similar  to  those  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church, 
except  in  extension,  being  not  more  than  one-third  as  long. 
In  the  United  States  a  short  uniform  liturgy  has  been  adopted, 
the  use  of  which,  however,  is  left  to  the  option  and  discre- 
tion of  each  minister,  as  he  may  deem  most  conducive  to  edi- 
fication. The  festivals  of  Christmas,  Good-Friday,  Easter, 
the  Ascension,  and  Whitsunday  are  retained  and  observed 
in  the  Lutheran  Church,  as  commemorative  of  the  funda- 
mental facts  of  the  Christian  religion,  and  for  the  purpose 
of  leading  her  clergy  to  preach  annually  on  the  events  which 
they  severally  represent.  The  church  maintains  the  institu- 
tion of  infant  church  membership  and  baptism,  and  in  con- 
nection with  it,  the  rite  of  confirmation;  and,  as  from  the 
beginning,  so  now,  she  extends  her  parental  care  and  vigil- 
ance over  the  religious  education  of  her  baptized  children. 
With  respect  to  her  clergy,  entire  parity  is  maintained  in 
the  United  States,  and  even  in  those  kingdoms  where  the 
Lutheran  is  the  established  church,  and  where  she  retains 
nominal  bishops,  she  discards  the  "  divine  right "  of  minis- 
terial imparity  as  anti- Scriptural,  holding  with  her  founder, 
that  in  the  primitive  church  the  terms  bishop  and  presbyter 
were  but  different  names  for  the  same  office.  The  church  in 
the  United  States,  in  common  with  her  Protestant  sister 
churches,  deprecates  as  unwarranted  and  dangerous,  all  inter- 
ference of  civil  government  in  religious  affairs,  excepting  the 
mere  protection  of  all  denominations  and  all  individuals  in 


AMERICAN  LUTHERANISM.  525 

the  unrestricted  right  to  worship  in  any  and  every  way  they 
think  proper. 

The  government  and  discipline  of  each  individual  church 
is  substantially  like  that  of  the  Presbyterians.  The  Synods 
in  structure  and  powers  most  resemble  their  Presbyteries. 
The  General  Synod  is  wholly  an  advisory  body,  resembling 
the  consociation  of  the  Congregational  Church.  In  addition 
to  these  regular  ecclesiastical  bodies  constituting  the  system 
of  government  the  Lutherans  have  special  conferences  for 
the  purpose  of  inquiring  into  the  temporal  and  spiritual 
condition  of  the  congregations,  presenting  and  discussing 
doctrinal  and  practical  questions,  together  with  the  preach- 
ing of  the  Word.  They  are  held  annually  in  the  several 
districts,  and  last  two  days. 

AMERICAN   LUTHEEANISM. 

The  earliest  settlement  of  Lutherans  in  this  country  was 
made  by  emigrants  from  Holland  to  New  York,  soon  after 
the  first  establishment  of  the  Dutch  in  that  city,  then  called 
New  Amsterdam,  which  took  place  in  1621.  This  fact,  which 
is  of  some  historical  interest,  rests  upon  the  authority  of  the 
venerable  patriarch  of  American  Lutheranism,  Henry  Mel- 
chior  Muhlenberg.  In  his  report  to  Halle  he  says :  "  As  I 
was  detained  in  New  York  I  took  some  pains  to  acquire  cor- 
rect information  concerning  the  history  of  the  Lutheran 
Church  in  that  city.  This  small  congregation  took  its  rise 
almost  at  the  first  settlement  of  the  country.  Whilst  the 
territory  yet  belonged  to  Holland  the  few  Low  Dutch  Luther- 
ans were  compelled  to  hold  their  worship  in  private,  but  after 
it  passed  into  possession  of  the  British,  in  1664,  liberty  was 
granted  them  by  all  the  successive  governors  to  conduct  their 
worship  publicly,  without  any  obstruction."  Indeed,  so  great 
was  the  number  of  Lutherans,  even  at  this  time,  that  the  very 
next  year  (1665)  after  the  English  flag  had  been  displayed 
from  Fort  Amsterdam,  they  petitioned  for  liberty  to  send  to 
Germany  a  call  for  a  regular  pastor.  This  petition  Governor 
Nicols  of  course  granted,  and  in  February,  1669,  two  years 


526  THE  LUTHERAN  CHURCH. 

after  lie  had  left  the  government,  the  Kev.  Jacobus  Fabricius 
arrived  in  this  colony  and  began  his  pastoral  labors. 

On  the  13th  of  October,  1669,  Lord  Lovelace,  who  had  suc- 
ceeded Governor  Mcols,  publicly  proclaimed  his  having  re- 
ceived a  letter  from  the  Duke  of  York,  expressing  his  pleas- 
ure that  the  Lutherans  should  be  tolerated. 

But,  although  the  first  settlement  of  Lutherans  was  in 
New  York,  that  city  cannot  claim  the  distinction  of  having 
established  the  first  Lutheran  churches.  On  the  authority 
of  Rev.  J.  C.  Clay,  in  his  "Annals  of  the  Swedes  on  the 
Delaware,"  and  of  Schubert,  in  his  "  Schwedische  Kirchen- 
verfassung,"  we  find  that  the  first  Lutheran  churches  in  the 
United  States  were  established  by  the  Swedes,  who  emigrated 
to  this  country  and  settled  on  the  banks  of  the  Delaware 
during  the  reign  of  Queen  Christina,  and  under  the  sanction 
of  her  prime  minister,  Oxenstiern,  about  the  year  1636,  six- 
teen or  seventeen  years  after  the  settlement  of  New  England 
by  the  Pilgrim  Fathers,  and  about  thirty  years  after  the  es- 
tablishment of  an  English  colony  in  Virginia. 

In  1703  a  Lutheran  church  was  erected  in  the  city  of  New 
York  by  Lutherans  from  Holland,  in  which  worship  was 
conducted  in  the  Dutch,  the  English,  and  afterwards  also  in 
the  German  tongue.  To  preserve  the  chronological  order  of 
the  establishment  of  Lutheran  churches  in  America,  then,  we 
have,  first,  the  churches  of  the  Swedes  on  the  banks  of  the 
Delaware  ;  second,  the  church  at  New  York ;  and  third,  the 
German  Lutheran  churches  in  Pennsylvania,  of  which  we 
are  now  to  speak. 

From  the  date  of  the  grant  of  Pennsylvania  to  William 
Penn,  in  1681,  until  1700,  many  hundred  German  families 
emigrated  to  that  colony.  It  was  not  until  a  few  years 
later,  however,  that  the  tide  of  German  emigration  fairly 
set  in.  In  the  year  1710  about  3,000  Germans,  chiefly  Lu- 
theran, who  went  from  the  Palatinate  to  England  in  1709,  to 
escape  religious  persecution,  were  sent  over  fco  New  York 
by  Queen  Anne.  In  1713, 150  families  of  these  settled  in 
Schoharie,  in  New  York,  and  so  rapidly  did  German  settlers 
nock  into  Pennsylvania,  that  in  1717  the  Governor  felt  it 


AMERICAN  LUTHERANISM.  537 

his  duty  to  call  the  attention  of  the  Provincial  Council  to 
the  fact  u  that  great  numbers  of  foreigners  from  Germany, 
strangers  to  our  language  and  Constitution,  had  lately  been 
imported  into  the  province."  In  1727  large  numbers  of 
Germans  went  to  Pennsylvania  from  the  Palatinate,  Wur- 
temberg,  Darmstadt,  and  other  parts  of  Germany.  This 
colony  was  long  destitute  of  a  regular  ministry,  and  until 
they  were  supplied  the  Swedish  ministers  labored  among 
them  as  far  as  their  duties  to  their  own  churches  would 
permit. 

In  1733  a  number  of  Lutherans  established  themselves  in 
Georgia,  and  to  designate  the  gratitude  of  their  hearts  to 
God,  who  had  protected  them,  styled  their  location  Ebene- 
zer.  These  emigrants  were  from  Salzburg,  formerly  belong- 
ing to  Bavaria,  and  restored  to  the  Austrian  dominions  at 
the  peace  of  1814.  Through  the  aid  of  the  British  Society 
for  the  Promotion  of  Christianity  these  people  were  enabled 
to  find  a  refuge  in  the  wilds  of  America.  Those  two  able 
and  faithful  ministers,  Messrs.  Bolzius  and  Gronau,  came  to 
them  shortly  after  their  arrival,  and  settled  among  them  as 
pastors,  in  which  capacity  they  continued  to  serve  them 
until  their  death.  Gronau  died  twelve  years  after  his  ar- 
rival in  Georgia,  but  Bolzius  was  spared  to  the  church 
about  thirty  years.  In  1738  these  colonists  erected  an  or- 
phan house  at  Ebenezer,  to  which  work  of  benevolence  im- 
portant aid  was  contributed  by  the  distinguished  George 
Whitefield,  who  also  furnished  the  bell  for  one  of  the 
churches  erected  by  them.  Soon  after  the  above  coloniza- 
tion numerous  Germans,  coming  from  Pennsylvania  and 
other  States,  settled  in  North  Carolina,  and  there  enjoyed 
the  services  of  many  excellent  ministers,  among  whom  were 
Nussman,  Arndt,  Storch,  Roschen,  Bernhard,  and  Shober. 

In  1735  a  settlement  of  Lutherans  was  formed  in  Spottsyl- 
vania,  as  Virginia  was  then  sometimes  called.  A  church 
was  formed,  and  the  pastor,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Stoever,  visited 
Germany  for  aid.  He  obtained  £3,000,  part  of  which  was 
expended  in  the  erection  of  a  church,  the  purchase  of  a 
plantation  and  slaves  to  work  it  for  the  support  of  the  min- 


528  THE  LUTHERAN  CHURCH. 

ister,  and  the  balance  for  a  library  and  the  necessary  ex- 
penses of  the  town. 

The  year  1742  was  a  memorable  one  for  the  church.  It 
was  signalized  by  the  arrival  of  Henry  Melchior  Muhlen- 
berg,  the  patriarch  of  the  American  Lutheran  Church.  He 
possessed  high  intellectual  and  moral  qualifications,  and  his 
whole  life  had  been  one  of  indefatigable  zeal  and  arduous 
and  enlightened  labor  for  the  Master's  cause.  His  education 
was  of  the  very  first  character.  In  addition  to  his  knowl- 
edge of  Greek  and  Hebrew,  he  spoke  English,  German,  Hol- 
landish,  French,  Latin,  and  Swedish. 

Soon  after  his  arrival  Muhlenberg  was  joined  by  other 
highly  respectable  men,  of  excellent  education,  and  of  spirit 
like  his  own,  the  greater  part  of  whom  came  like  himself 
from  Germany.  Among  them  were  Brunnholtz  and  Lemke, 
in  1745  ;  Handshuh,  Hartwick  (the  founder  of  the  flourish- 
ing Seminary  which  bears  his  name),  and  Weygand,  in  1748 ; 
Heinzelman  and  Schultz,  in  1751 ;  Gerock,  Hausil,  Wortman, 
Wagner,  Schartlin,  Shrenk,  and  Rauss,  in  1753 ;  Eager,  in 
1758 ;  Voigt  and  Krug,  in  1764 ;  Helmuth  and  Schmidt,  in 
1769  ;  and  Kunze,  in  1770. 

The  first  synod  was  held  in  1748,  and  there  were  then 
only  eleven  regular  Lutheran  ministers  in  the  United  States. 
In  1751  the  number  of  congregations  was  rated  at  about 
forty,  and  the  Lutheran  population  in  America  at  60,000. 
In  1787  the  Legislature  of  Pennsylvania,  out  of  gratitude 
for  the  Revolutionary  services  of  the  Germans,  and  respect 
for  their  industry  and  excellence  as  citizens,  endowed  a  col- 
lege in  Lancaster  for  their  special  benefit,  to  be  forever  under 
their  control.  Of  this  institution  Dr.  Muhlenberg,  then  pas- 
tor in  Lancaster,  was  chosen  president.  In  1791  the  same 
body  passed  an  act  appropriating  5,000  acres  of  land  to  the 
flourishing  free  school  of  the  Lutheran  Church  in  Philadel- 
phia, in  which  at  the  time  eighty  poor  children  were  receiv- 
ing gratuitous  education. 


CONDITION  OF  THE  CHURCH.  539 

CONDITION   OF  THE  CHURCH. 

That  the  Lutherans  have  manifested  great  zeal  in  the 
cause  of  education  may  be  seen  from  the  splendid  roster 
of  institutions  which  they  had  established  previous  to  1871, 
viz.: 

Theological  Seminaries :  Hartwick  ;  Theol.  Sem.  of  Gen'l 
Synod;  Theol.  Dep't  Wittenberg  College;  Theol.  Dep't 
Capital  University ;  Theol.  Sem.  of  Philadelphia ;  Theol.  Sem. 
of  Gen'l  Synod ;  (Southern)  Theol.  Sem.  Missouri  Synod ; 
Theol.  Dep't  M.  Luther  College ;  Augustana  Seminary ; 
Theol.  Seminary,  St.  Sebald,  Iowa ;  Scandinavian  Theol. 
Seminary.  Colleges :  Pennsylvania ;  Muhlenberg  ;  Thiel ; 
Wittenberg ;  Capital  University  ;  Roanoke  ;  North  Caro- 
lina ;  Newberry  ;  Concordia  ;  Carthage  ;  St.  Paul's  ;  Augus- 
tana; Mendota  ;  Luther;  North  Western  University;  Mar- 
tin Luther ;  Colorado.  Female  Seminaries  :  Lutherville  ; 
Hagerstown  ;  Susquehanna  Col.  ;  Burkittsville  ;  Mont  Amoe- 
na ;  Staunton ;  Lexington  ;  St.  Joseph's  ;  Conestoga ;  Hart- 
wick  ;  St.  Matthew's  ;  Missionary  Inst.  ;  Washington  Hall ; 
The  "  Hill "  School ;  Conoquenessing  ;  Greenville  ;  Bethel ; 
Swatara ;  Overlea ;  Tableau  ;  Normal  Scientific  School ; 
Teacher's  Sem'y;  St.  Ansgar ;  Marshall ;  Stoughton  ;  Holden  ; 
Classical  Seminary,  Miss.  Eleemosynary  Institutions :  Tress- 
ler's  Orphan  Home  ;  Orphans'  Farm  School ;  Orphans'  Home, 
(Rochester) ;  Wartburg  Orphans'  School ;  Passavant's  In- 
firmary ;  Emmaus  Institute ;  Immigrant  Mission ;  Scan- 
dinavian Orphan  House ;  Deaconess'  Hospital ;  Soldiers' 
Orphan  School ;  Infirmary,  (Milwaukee) ;  and  Orphan  Homes 
at  the  following  points :  Germantown,  Toledo,  Buffalo,  Jack- 
sonville, Wasa,  and  St.  Louis. 

The  General  Synod,  North,  was  organized  in  1820,  and 
holds  biennial  meetings.  The  General  Synod,  South,  was 
organized  in  1863.  In  the  field  of  Foreign  Missions  the  two 
General  Synods  co-operate.  In  Nov.,  1884,  a  Diet  was  held 
to  effect  a  union  of  all  the  synods  south  of  the  Potomac 
River,  and  a  basis  of  negotiation  was  completed  for  the  future 
consideration  of  the  parties  interested. 
34 


530  THE  LUTHERAN  CHURCH. 

In  1893  the  General  Synod  of  the  North  reported  26 
synods,  1,046  ministers,  1,441  congregations,  165,346  com- 
municants, and  $230,694.23  in  aggregate  contributions.  The 
General  Synod  of  the  South  reported  in  1893,  8  synods,  205 
ministers,  405  congregations,  36,518  communicants,  and 
$18,575.42  in  total  contributions.  The  General  Council,  or- 
ganized in  1867,  had  the  same  year,  9  synods,  1,055  ministers, 
1,777  congregations,  307,523  communicants,  and  $287,811.93 
in  contributions.  The  Synodical  Conference,  organized  in 
1872,  had  3  synods,  1,519  ministers,  2,165  congregations, 
441,129  communicants,  and  $  1 71 , 254. 86.  There  were  in  1893 
also  J2  independent  synods  with  1,477  ministers,  3,28]  con- 
gregations, 342,647  communicants,  and  $176,521.82  in  contri- 
butions. These  branches  combined  gave  to  the  Southern 
Church  in  the  United  States,  60  synods,  5,302  ministers,  9,069 
congregations,  1,293,163  communicants,  2,786  parochial 
schools  with  3,370  teachers  and  146,287  pupils,  5,365  Sun- 
day-schools with  48,233  officers  and  teachers,  and  $884,859.26 
in  aggregate  contributions. 

The  activities  of  the  Church  comprised  26  theological 
seminaries  with  90  professors,  1,033  students,  property  valued 
at  $1,097,800,  and  endowments  aggregating  $527,700;  35 
colleges  with  297  professors,  5,162  students,  property  valued 
at  $3,024,500,  and  endowments  of  $709,223 ;  37  academies 
with  176  teachers,  4,380  pupils,  property  valued  at  $488,250, 
and  endowments  of  $50,100  ;  and  13  ladies'  seminaries  with 
125  professors  and  1,047  pupils.  The  Church  also  main- 
tained 35  orphanages,  8  asylums  for  the  aged,  14  hospitals, 
6  deaconesses'  institutions,  and  12  immigrant  and  seamen's 
missions,  and  published  133  periodicals  in  different  lan- 
guages. 


Reformed    Churches. 


THE  EEFOKMED   CHURCH   IN   AMERICA. 

T  I  THIS  is  the  title  that  has  been  chosen  by  the  American 
_L  descendant  of  the  Reformed  Protestant  Church  of 
Holland,  in  place  of  the  Reformed  Dutch  Church,  by  which 
it  was  known  for  many  years.  It  is  the  oldest  body  of 
Christians,  working  on  the  Presbyterian  plan5>  in  the  coun- 
try, and  its  history  is  inseparable  from  that  of  New  York  City, 
as  the  Collegiate  Reformed  Dutch  Church  of  New  York  was 
the  first  formed  in  North  America,  dating  its  origin  from 
the  earliest  settlement  on  Manhattan  Island. 

The  colony  of  New  Amsterdam  (now  New  York)  was  set- 
tled in  1612.  Missionaries  and  pious  immigrants  arrived 
there  in  the  very  beginning  of  the  colony,  but  precisely  at 
what  time  a  church  was  first  organized  is  not  known.  The 
Collegiate  Church  is  supposed  to  have  been  formed  in  1619, 
though  the  earliest  period  to  which  its  records  conduct  us  is 
the  year  1639.  An  authentic  document  is  said  to  be  still  ex- 
tant containing  a  list  of  its  members  in  1622. 

The  Dutch  Church  was  the  established  church  of  the 
colony  until  it  surrendered  to  the  British  in  1664,  after  which 
its  circumstances  were  materially  changed.  Not  long  after 

(531) 


532  REFORMED  CHURCHES. 

the  colony  passed  into  the  hands  of  the  British  an  act  was 
passed  which  went  to  establish  the  Episcopal  Church  as  the 
predominant  party,  and  for  almost  a  century  afterwards  the 
Dutch  and  English  Presbyterians  and  all  others  in  the  colony 
were  forced  to  contribute  to  the  support  of  that  church. 

The  first  judicatory  higher  than  a  consistory  among  this 
people  was  a  Coetus,  formed  in  1747.  The  object  and  powers 
of  this  assembly  were  merely  those  of  advice  and  fraternal 
intercourse.  It  could  not  ordain  ministers,  nor  judicially 
decide  in  ecclesiastical  disputes  without  the  consent  of  the 
classis  of  Amsterdam.  The  erection  of  this  Coetus  was  the 
result  of  a  movement  made  in  1737  to  throw  off  the  authority 
of  the  parent  classis.  For  a  number  of  years  prior  to  this 
time  many  leading  minds  in  the  American  church  had  been 
discussing  the  expediency  of  forming  entirely  independent 
church  judicatories  and  training  and  ordaining  their  own 
ministers.  The  result  was  a  protracted  controversy  which 
agitated  the  church  for  thirty-four  years,  embracing  the 
period  from  1737  to  1771,  and  finally  resulting  in  the  mutual 
adoption  of  the  Articles  of  Union  proposed  by  the  classis  of 
Amsterdam.  The  distinct  organization  was  then  unitedly 
and  harmoniously  made,  since  which  time  the  church  has 
had  a  peaceful  history. 

The  following  appears,  from  the  most  reliable  authorities, 
to  be  the  order  in  which  the  churches  of  this  faith  were 
planted  in  America.  We  have  before  mentioned  the  Collegi- 
ate Church  as  the  first ;  after  it  followed  the  churches  in 
Albany,  Flatbush,  New  Utrecht,  Flatlands,  and  Esopus,  now 
Kingston.  The  first  church  edifice  erected  by  the  colony  in 
New  Amsterdam  (now  New  York)  appears  to  have  been 
located  near  the  lower  end  of  Stone  Street.  The  second 
stood  close  down  by  the  water's  edge,  within  the  fort  of 
New  Amsterdam,  and  on  the  spot  now  called  the  Battery. 
The  old  church  in  the  fort  was  called  "St.  Nicholas,"  in 
honor  of  the  tutelary  and  guardian  saint  of  New  Amster- 
dam ;  and  there  for  half  a  century,  from  1642  to  1693,  the 
early  Dutch  settlers  worshipped  God.  The  church  was 
seventy-two  feet  long,  fifty- two  wide,  and  sixteen  high.  The 


THE  REFORMED  CHURCH  IN  AMERICA.          533 

Rev.  Everardus  Bogardus  arrived  at  New  Amsterdam  from 
Holland  in  1633,  and  was  the  first  pastor  of  the  church. 
He  was  lost  at  sea  in  1647.  His  immediate  successors  in 
the  pastorate  were :  Joannes  Backerus,  1647-1649  ;  Joannes 
Megapolensis,  1649-1670  :  Samuel  Drisius,  1652-1673  ;  Sam- 
uel Megapolensis,  1664-1668  ;  Wilhelmus  Yan  Nieuvenhuy- 
sen,  1671-1682  ;  and  Henricus  Selyns,  1682-1701.  These  min- 
isters and  their  successors,  Gualterns  DuBois  (1699-1751), 
Boel  (1713-1754),  Ritzerna  (1744-1784),  and  DeRonde  (1751- 
1784),  were  all  educated  in  the  universities  of  Holland,  and 
were  well  trained  for  their  work  in  this  country.  In  addition 
to  preaching  and  teaching  in  New  Amsterdam,  these  domi- 
nies also  officiated  in  various  parts  of  the  State  where  Dutch 
settlements  had  been  made. 

In  1693  the  House  of  Assembly  yielded  to  the  plan  of 
Governor  Fletcher,  and  passed  an  act  establishing  the  Epis- 
copal Church  in  the  city  and  county  of  New  York,  and  in 
the  counties  of  Westchester,  Richmond,  and  Queen's.  From 
that  year  until  1776,  the  Dutch,  English,  and  Scotch 
Churches,  and  all  other  non-Episcopal  inhabitants  of  the 
counties  named,  were  obliged  not  only  to  support  their  own 
ministers,  but  to  sustain  through  a  heavy  taxation  the  small 
body  of  Episcopalians.  During  this  civil  establishment 
many  of  its  members  were  alienated ;  the  legitimate  work  of 
the  churches  in  their  mission  of  saving  souls  was  neglected 
in  a  great  measure,  and  in  the  heat  of  strife  the  spirit  of 
humble  piety  which  had  characterized  it  before  could  no 
longer  be  regarded  as  its  distinguishing  feature. 

The  church  also  during  this  period  experienced  severe 
losses  from  another  cause.  Despite  the  fact,  which  was 
plainly  apparent,  that  the  English  language  was  to  become 
the  common  language  of  the  country,  there  was  a  question- 
able persistence  in  the  use  of  the  Dutch  language  in  the 
services  of  the  church,  notwithstanding  that  a  very  large 
body  of  the  younger  members  clamored  for  a  change  which 
would  accommodate  both  German  and  English  hearers. 
Finally,  the  point  was  yielded  and  English  sermons  per- 
mitted, though  not  until  many  of  their  members  were 


534  REFORMED  CHURCHES. 

driven  off  into  other  denominations.  The  first  minister  who 
preached  exclusively  in  English  was  the  Rev.  Dr.  Laidlie,  a 
native  of  Scotland  and  a  graduate  at  Edinburgh.  He  was 
called  by  the  consistory  of  the  Collegiate  church,  and  entered 
on  his  ministry  in  1764.  His  first  sermon,  preached  to  an 
immense  audience,  was  founded  on  2  Cor.  v.  11 :  "  Knowing 
the  terrors  of  the  Lord  we  persuade  men."  A  signal  re- 
vival of  religion  soon  commenced  under  his  ministration, 
and  the  church  greatly  flourished.  Space  will  not  permit 
us  to  follow  the  intensely 'interesting  history  of  this  de- 
nomination up  to  the  present  time ;  and  we  can  merely  give 
the  results  of  patient  labor  and  Christian  fidelity. 

The  doctrines  of  the  church  are  those  handed  down  by 
the  Reformers,  and  are  shared  in  common  with  all  branches 
of  the  Reformed  Churches.  The  church  receives  as  its 
creed  the  Confession  of  Faith,  as  revised  in  the  national 
Synod  of  the  Council  of  Dort,  1618-1619,  consisting  of 
thirty-seven  articles ;  with  the  Heidelberg  Catechism ;  the 
Compendium  of  the  Christian  religion ;  the  Canons  of  the 
Council  of  Dort  on  the  famous  five  points :  Predestination, 
Definite  atonement  of  Christ,  Man's  entire  corruption  and 
helplessness,  His  conversion  by  God's  grace  alone,  and  Per- 
severance of  the  Saints  in  grace. 

In  government  the  church  is  strictly  Presbyterian.  They 
only  use  a  different  nomenclature  in  some  respects  in  speak- 
ing of  ecclesiastical  affairs.  Their  primary  court  is  that  of 
the  Consistory — the  same  as  that  called  a  session  in  the 
Presbyterian  Church.  This  consists  of  the  three  distinct 
offices:  ministers  or  bishops,  elders,  and  deacons.  The 
pastor  and  elders  meet  as  a  spiritual  court  to  admit  mem- 
bers, exercise  discipline,  etc.,  and  the  deacons  meet  statedly 
to  provide  for  the  poor,  etc.  The  pastors,  elders,  and  deacons 
meet  as  a  consistory  for  the  transaction  of  all  temporal 
business  relating  to  their  own  church.  On  important  occa- 
sions, such  as  calling  a  minister,  the  Great  Consistory  is 
called  together.  This  is  composed  of  all  those  who  have  at 
any  time  been  elders  and  deacons  in  the  church.  The  next 
court  is  the  Classis,  which  corresponds  precisely  with  the 


THE  REFORMED  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES.  635 

presbytery  in  the  Presbyterian  Church.  This  is  composed 
of  a  minister  and  an  elder  from  each  distinct  church  under 
the  care  of  the  classis.  Next  is  the  Particular  Synod, 
which  consists  of  two  ministers  and  two  elders  from  each 
classis  within  its  bounds.  The  General  Synod  is  the  high- 
est court,  and  from  it  there  is  no  appeal.  It  is  composed 
of  three  ministers  and  three  elders  from  each  classis  through- 
out the  entire  church.  Its  meetings  are  now  annual  for  the 
transaction  of  the  business  of  the  church. 

Her  college  and  theological  seminary  at  New  Brunswick, 
N.  J.,  are  an  honor  to  the  church.  Amply  endowed  and 
furnished  with  able  professors,  they  exert  their  full  share  of 
influence  in  raising  up  a  learned  and  able  ministry.  The 
charter  of  the  college  was  obtained  in  1770.  The  seminary 
was  founded  and  opened  in  1810,  with  Rev.  Dr.  John  H. 
Livingston  at  its  head. 

Official  reports  of  the  denomination  in  1893  showed:  Num- 
ber of  particular  synods,  11 ;  classes,  35 ;  churches,  603 ; 
ministers,  698 ;  families,  63,993  ;  total  in  communion,  97,520; 
baptized  non-communicants,  41,324;  catechumens,  36,037; 
Sunday-schools,  884  ;  members,  119,758  ;  and  contributions 
for  congregational  purposes,  $1,095,764.  The  Board  of 
Domestic  Missions  aided  during  the  year  in  its  Eastern  and 
Western  field  177  churches  and  missions,  having  10,409 
members  and  13,100  Sunday-school  pupils.  The  Board  of 
Foreign  Missions  had  missions  in  China,  India,  and  Japan, 
with  15  stations,  202  outstations,  26  ordained  and  43  unor- 
dained  assistant  missionaries,  36  native  ordained  ministers, 
356  other  native  helpers,  55  churches  with  5,799  members,  4 
theological  schools,  14  seminaries,  154  day-schools,  and  hos- 
pitals in  China  and  India  which  had  treated  18,870  patients. 
The  church  has,  beside  the  theological  seminary  and  college, 
at  New  Brunswick,  N.  J.,  a  theological  seminary  and  col- 
lege at  Holland,  Mich.,  also  under  liberal  endowment. 

THE  REFORMED   CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED   STATES. 

This  denomination  was  formerly  known  as  the  German 
Reformed  Church  in  the  United  States.  The  difference  be- 
tween this  church  and  the  one  just  described  may  be  briefly 


536  REFORMED  CHURCHES. 

stated  thus :  The  Reformed  (Dutch)  Church  in  America  is 
an  exact  counterpart  of  the  Reformed  Church  of  Holland, 
while  the  Reformed  (late  German)  Church  in  the  United 
States  bears  a  similar  relation  to  the  Reformed  or  Calvinistic 
Church  of  Germany.  This  was  founded  by  TJlrich  Zwingli,  I 
who  was  contemporary,  and  for  a  long  time  intimate  with ,' 
Martin  Luther.  The  great  controversy  between  them  was 
on  the  subject  of  the  Lord's  Supper.  Luther's  views  were 
regarded  as  involving  the  dogma  of  a  real  material  presence. 
Zwingli  contended  that  the  sacramental  elements  were  mere- 
ly symbols.  It  was  this  point  alone  which  prevented  Zwin- 
gli from  adhering  to  the  Augsburg  Confession. 

The  church  dates  its  establishment  in  the  United  States 
from  about  1727. 

Members  of  the  denomination  in  Europe  began  to  emi- 
grate to  Pennsylvania  soon  after  the  province  was  confirmed 
to  William  Penn.  They  formed  congregations  and  schools, 
and,  for  want  of  regular  church  ministrations,  sought  to 
edify  each  other  by  singing  and  listening  to  sermons  and 
prayers  read  by  the  schoolmasters.  In  1727  the  Rev.  George 
Michael  Weiss  was  sent  over  by  the  classis  of  the  Palatinate, 
accompanied  by  about  400  emigrants.  They  settled  at  Skip- 
pack,  in  Montgomery  County,  Pa. ;  organized  a  consistory ; 
built  a  log  church,  and  placed  Mr.  Weiss  over  them  as  pas- 
tor. Through  him  the  wants  of  the  Reformed  people  in 
America  were  made  known  to  the  parent  church,  and  the 
classis  of  Amsterdam  furnished  men  and  means  to  carry 
forward  the  work.  In  1730  the  number  of  the  Reformed 
faith  in  this  country  was  15,000,  and  thereafter  there  was  a 
large  annual  increase.  Settlements  were  made  in  the  colo- 
nies of  New  York,  New  Jersey,  Maryland,  Virginia,  and  the 
Carolinas,  but  owing  to  a  lack  of  ministers,  the  work  of  or- 
ganizing churches  was  greatly  retarded  until  about  1746, 
when  the  Rev:  Michael  Schlatter  arrived  in  this  country  on 
a  mission  from  the  church  of  Holland.  He  was  commis- 
sioned to  gather  together  the  Reformed  people,  organize 
them  into  churches,  arrange  for  supplying  churches  with 
ministers,  and  form  an  annual  synod,  besides  adjusting  all 


THE  REFORMED  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STAidS.  537 

difficulties  in  churches,  and  visiting  them  statedly.  In  Sep- 
tember of  that  year  the  first  synod  met  in  Philadelphia, 
holding  their  sessions  with  the  First  Reformed  Church. 
This  synod  numbered  thirty-one  ministers  and  elders,  repre- 
senting a  f  §w  thousand  members,  though  it  was  by  no  means 
a  full  representation  of  the  strength  of  the  denomination, 
which  at  that  time  was  forty-six  congregations,  embracing 
some  thirty  thousand  members. 

From  this  time  forward  the  progress  of  the  church  was 
very  slow.  The  French  and  Indian  war,  and  later  the  Revo- 
lutionary war,  sadly  interfered  with  its  prosperity  by  break- 
ing off  in  a  great  measure  its  communication  with  the  parent 
body  in  Europe,  and  thus  losing  its  material  aid.  In  1792 
the  church  severed  its  connection  with  the  European  body, 
which  caused  it  to  languish  to  a  still  greater  degree.  The 
absence  of  an  educated  capable  ministry,  the  great  lack  of 
funds,  the  unfortunate  prostration  of  business  and  spiritual 
interests  by  wars,  the  separation  from  the  discreet,  able, 
wise,  and  liberal  parent  church,  all  served  to  prostrate  the 
energies  and  reduce  piety  to  a  low  ebb  in  a  denomination 
which  bade  fair,  in  its  early  history,  to  prevail  over  all  oth- 
ers in  America.  This  condition  of  affairs  continued  until 
1812,  when  the  church  began  to  exhibit  a  measure  of  its  old 
energy.  In  that  year  it  was  resolved  to  extend  her  borders, 
and  a  missionary  (Jacob  William  Dechaut)  was  sent  to  Ohio 
and  stationed  at  Miamisburg,  Montgomery  County.  Shortly 
afterwards  two  others  (Messrs.  Weiss  and  Winters)  joined 
him,  and  their  united  labors  were  rewarded  with  gratifying 
success.  A  classis  was  formed  in  1819,  followed,  in  a  short 
time,  by  others.  In  1820  the  numerical  strength  of  the 
entire  church  was  fifty  ministers  and  about  300  congrega- 
tions, in  most  of  which  services  were  held  only  at  intervals 
of  one  and  two  months.  In  1824  a  majority  of  the  Ohio 
classes  erected  an  independent  judicatory  under  the  name  of 
the  "  Synod  of  Ohio,"  and,  for  many  years  thereafter,  the 
Reformed  Church  consisted  of  two  independent  synods,  viz. : 
the  Synod  of  the  German  Reformed  Church  in  the  United 
States,  which  was  the  Eastern  and  parent  body,  and  the 


538  REFORMED  CHURCHES. 

Synod  of  Ohio  and  the  adjoining  States.  These  bodies  were 
slightly  bound  together  by  a  triennial  convention,  which, 
however,  was  not  a  court  of  appeal,  and  possessed  none  of 
the  powers  of  a  general  synod.  Until  1825  the  church  had 
no  institutions  of  learning  with  which  to  fill  its  clerical 
ranks,  but  in  that  year  a  theological  school  was  established 
at  Carlisle,  Pa.,  in  connection  with  Dickinson  College.  In 
1829  this  was  transferred  to  York,  and  in  1835  to  Mercers- 
burg,  Pa.,  and  thence  to  Lancaster,  Pa.,  where  it  still  remains, 
enjoying  a  good  measure  of  prosperity.  From  1825  onward, 
the  growth  of  the  church  was  more  rapid,  and  in  1845  the 
published  minutes  of  the  two  synods  made  the  following  ex- 
hibit :  The  Eastern  Synod  comprised  ten  classes,  145  minis- 
ters, 471  congregations,  and  31,170  communicants.  The 
Western  Synod  comprised  six  classes,  72  ministers,  236  con- 
gregations, and  7,885  communicants.  The  whole  Reformed 
Church,  then,  consisted  of  two  synods,  sixteen  classes,  227 
ministers,  707  churches,  and  39,055  communicants.  In  1871 
there  were,  instead  of  two  independent  synods,  one  General 
Synod  and  four  particular  synods,  viz. :  Eastern,  Pittsburg, 
Ohio,  and  Northwestern.  These  comprised  32  classes,  547 
ministers,  1,214  congregations,  and  189,964  members,  of  whom 
121,314  were  communicants.  In  1893  there  were  reported  8 
synods,  56  classes,  885  ministers,  1,583  congregations,  212,830 
members,  1,563  Sunday-schools,  149,023  scholars,  $649,892 
receipts  for  benevolence,  $3,022,174  for  congregational  pur- 
poses, and  136  missions  with  15,749  members. 

Considerable  zeal  has  been  manifested,  of  late  years,  in 
advancing  the  educational  interests  of  the  denomination, 
and  it  may  now  be  said  to  be  fairly  supplied  with  institu- 
tions of  learning  which  are  generally  well  sustained  ;  among 
them  Heidelberg  College,  Franklin  and  Marshall  College, 
Ursinus  College,  and  Mercersburg  Theological  Seminary 
are  worthy  of  special  mention.  In  the  department  of  Home 
Missions  a  commendable  degree  of  activity  has  been  dis- 
played. The  aggregate  number  of  missions  under  the  care 
of  the  Board  during  the  three  years  ending  with  1869,  was 
97.  At  the  end  of  the  year  1885  this  number  had  been 


' '  R  EFORMA  TION  FESTIVAL."  539 

increased  to  142.  At  the  annual  meeting  of  the  General 
Synod  in  May,  1884,  the  third  Sunday  in  June  of  each  year 
was  fixed  upon  as  a  day  to  be  observed  in  all  the  churches 
as  a  "Reformation  Festival."  This  date  was  selected  be- 
cause it  comes  nearest  the  19th  of  the  month,  the  day 
on  which,  in  1563,  the  Heidelberg  Catechism  was  first  pub- 
lished. 


Hfte 


MODERN  CONGREGATIONALISM. 

THE  Congregational  form  of  church  organization  is  one 
which  recognizes  no  human  authority  over  the  local 
church  or  Christian  congregation.  The  term  is,  however, 
limited  by  ordinary  usage  to  churches  holding  what  is  called 
the  orthodox  system  of  theology.  There  are  also  numerous 
churches,  Congregationally  organized,  which  by  their  own 
choice,  or  by  common  consent,  have  received  some  other  title, 
and  are  never  included  in  the  term  Congregationalists. 
With  this  explanation  we  proceed  to  give  a  sketch  of  those 
churches  known  to  each  other,  and  more  or  less  associated 
under  the  title — the  Congregational  Churches  of  the  United 
States. 

Congregationalism  in  modern  times  had  its  beginning  in 
the  sixteenth  century.  Previous  to  that  time,  Christianity 
had  been  in  most  countries  where  it  prevailed  a  State  re- 
ligion, governed  as  to  its  forms,  and  influenced  not  a  little, 
even,  in  its  doctrines,  by  the  same  power  that  controlled 
the  nation.  But  separation  between  Church  and  State  was 
a  necessary  condition  of  human  progress,  an  inevitable  con* 
sequence  of  free  thought.  The  State  refused  to  be  governed 
by  the  Church,  and  the  Church  began  to  learn  that  if  God 
never  organized  it  for  the  administration  of  civil  affairs,  He 
certainly  never  placed  it  in  the  power  of  the  State  to  destroy 

(640) 


MODERN  CONGREGATIONALISM.  541 

individual  responsibility,  or  limit  the  faith  and  practice  of 
Christians  to  the  uniformity  of  a  State  religion.  From  many 
quarters  at  once  there  came  a  cry  for  liberty  of  conscience. 
A  cry  which  was  met  on  the  other  hand  by  those  who,  seeing 
nothing  in  liberty  but  anarchy,  insisted  that  the  State  should 
produce  uniformity,  only  they  could  not  agree  by  whose  con- 
science that  uniformity  should  be  regulated.  But  uniformity 
had  then  become  impossible,  and  organizations  independent 
of  the  State  began  to  prevail.  There  were  two  possible  direc- 
tions which  these  new  organizations  could  take.  The  one 
was  to  attempt  the  establishment  of  national  churches,  with 
governments  and  ecclesiastical  powers,  similar  to  those  for- 
merly exercised  in  connection  with  the  civil  power.  The  other 
was  to  renounce  all  idea  of  national  religious  institutions, 
and  resolve  church  organization  into  the  mere  fact  of  the 
organized  fellowship  and  co-operation  of  Christians  living 
near  together.  Most  of  the  churches  which  express  the 
former  of  these  tendencies  have  been  at  one  time  or  another 
connected  with  the  State,  while  the  latter  tendency  express- 
ed from  the  beginning  the  strongest  aversion  to  State  inter- 
ference or  control. 

The  idea  of  the  Church  as  it  is  now  held  by  Congregation- 
alists,  had  doubtless  a  somewhat  gradual  development.  The 
independence  of  the  local  church  was  first  recognized,  for  the 
notion  of  it  grew  naturally  out  of  the  existence  of  feeble  con- 
gregations, who  knew  no  larger  body  with  which  they  could 
conscientiously  fraternize.  Afterwards  these  churches  learn- 
ed what  seemed  to  them  almost  as  important  as  their  own 
independence — the  fellowship  of  churches  ;  an  idea  still  re- 
jected by  some,  who  are  called  Brownists,  or  Independents, 
rather  than  Congregationalists.  As  early  as  the  year  1562, 
when  the  separation  of  the  Church  of  England  from  that  of 
Rome  may  be  said  to  have  been  finally  completed,  we  begin 
to  find  casual  notices  of  persons  called  Separatists,  and  in 
1567  a  company  of  them  meeting  in  Plummer's  Hall,  in  Lon- 
don, were  committed  by  the  Lord  Mayor  to  the  Bridewell. 
In  that  prison  they  organized  what  seems  to  have  been  the 
first  Independent  church  in  England.  The  pastor,  the  deacon, 


542      THE  CONGREGATIONAL  CHURCHES. 

and  several  members  of  this  church  died  in  prison,  of  the 
plague,  but  that  was  the  beginning  of  a  movement  yet  in 
progress  both  in  England  and  America.  An  active  persecu- 
tion failed  to  repress  it.  The  new  Protestant  church  was 
scarcely  more  tolerant  of  dissent  than  its  predecessor.  Nor 
should  this  seem  strange  when  we  know  that  such  men  as 
Richard  Baxter  approved  of  persecution  for  conscience  sake, 
under  certain  circumstances.  ,u 

In  the  year  1606  at  Scrooby,  a  village  in  the  north  of  Eng- 
land, there  was  organized  an  Independent  church,  probably 
a  branch  of  one  before  existing  at  Gainsborough,  which 
proved  the  germ  of  Congregationalism  in  America. 

Their  second  pastor  was  John  Rdbinson,  and  among  the 
early  members  were  elder  Brewster  and  William  Bradford, 
both  afterwards  famous  among  the  "  Pilgrim  Fathers  "  of 
New  England.  This  church,  to  escape  from  continual  an- 
noyances, and  the  peril  of  martyrdom,  which  had  already 
come  upon  several  of  their  brethren,  was  transplanted  in  the 
year  1608  to  Leyden  in  Holland.  In  the  year  1620  the  same 
persons  organized  a  colony  which  emigrated,  102  in  number, 
to  the  wilderness  of  New  England,  where  they  landed  upon 
Plymouth  Rock,  on  the  21st  of  December  of  the  same  year. 
By  this  time  the  doctrines  of  Congregationalism,  as  now 
understood,  were  pretty  clearly  developed.  Other  colonies 
speedily  followed  this  one,  settling  in  Salem,  Boston,  and 
other  places. 

They  were  composed,  for  the  most  part,  of  men  of  like 
spirit  with  the  Pilgrims.  But  these  new  immigrants  lacked 
the  advanced  views  of  the  Pilgrims,  and  only  gradually 
came  under  the  influence  of  their  liberal  and  enlightened 
convictions.  They  were  not  at  first  prepared  for  such  ideas 
as  that  of  the  independence  of  the  local  church.  But  the 
logic  of  New  England  history  more  and  more  separated  the 
colonists  from  the  institutions  of  the  mother  country,  and 
so  favored  the  ideas  prevalent  in  the  Plymouth  Colony,  that 
they  soon  pervaded  nearly  all  the  religious  institutions  of 
the  region.  New  England  became  generally  Congregational, 
and  has  remained  so  to  a  great  extent  ever  since. 


MODERN  CONGREGATIONALISM.  543 

With  such  a  foothold  in  a  part  of  the  country  prolific  in 
emigration  and  influential  from  the  beginning,  especially 
through  its  institutions  of  learning,  which  are  still  the  most 
prominent  in  the  land,  and  still  for  the  most  part  in  Congre- 
gational hands.,  the  denomination  might  naturally  have  been 
expected  to  fill  a  larger  place  than  it  does  in  the  religious 
statistics  of  America.  The  fact  is,  that  for  several  years  it 
made  little  progress  towards  the  West.  When,  near  the  com- 
mencement of  the  present  century,  the  New  England  emi- 
grants, who  were  rapidly  filling  up  the  State  of  New  York 
and  establishing  there  churches  of  their  own  order,  found  in 
the  same  region  a  simultaneous  emigration  from  Maryland 
and  Pennsylvania — where  Presbyterianism  had  taken  root 
about  the  year  1790 — it  was  felt  that  denominations  so  sim- 
ilar in  their  views  of  theology  should  be  practically  united. 
Various  discussions  finally  produced  a  plan  of  union  which 
influenced  the  movements  of  the  two  denominations  for 
several  years,  not  only  in  New  York,  but  farther  west.  Both 
parties  entered  upon  this  plan  in  an  honest  and  Christian 
spirit.  But  when  we  consider  that  with  one  party  the 
church  meant  only  the  local  body,  while  the  other  was 
thoroughly  imbued  with  the  idea  of  a  national  organization 
which  their  convictions  compelled  them  as  far  as  possible  to 
realize,  and  that  the  union  was  to  be  only  such  as  the  Con- 
stitution of  the  Presbyterian  Church  would  admit,  and  espe- 
cially when  we  consider  that  the  New  Englanders  were 
educated  to  think  little  of  forms,  it  will  not  seem  strange 
that  the  plan  of  union  tended  for  the  most  part  to  build 
Presbyterian  churches.  Congregationalists  found  what  was 
for  them  the  essential  thing — living  local  churches — among 
the  Presbyterians,  and  the  desire  for  more  perfect  union 
continually  drew  them  towards  the  centralized  system  of 
their  brethren.  Twenty-five  years  later  Congregationalists, 
who  had  by  this  time  many  churches  scattered  in  the  West, 
began  to  take  a  different  view  of  the  relation  of  their  polity 
to  the  ecclesiastical  history  of  America.  They  began  to  see 
that  centralized  church  governments  might  be  multiplied 
indefinitely  without  bringing  us  any  nearer  to  the  much- 


544      THE  CONGREGATIONAL  CHURCHES. 

desired  union  of  Christians.  They  came  to  believe,  on  the 
other  hand,  that,  in  the  independence  of  the  local  church — 
the  union  of  Christians  simply  on  the  ground  that  they  are 
Christians — they  saw  the  final  cure  for  the  divisions  of  Chris- 
tendom. A  general  council  of  Congregational  churches, 
held  at  Albany  in  the  year  1852,  did  much  to  spread  these 
ideas  and  to  promote  sympathy  between  the  different 
churches  of  the  denomination  throughout  the  land.  The 
same  movement  was  strengthened,  six  or  seven  years  later, 
by  the  separation  of  the  New  School  Presbyterians  from  the 
American  Home  Missionary  Society,  in  which  the  two  denom- 
inations had  co-operated  ever  since  the  early  days  of  the  plan 
of  union.  Since  that  time  Congregationalism  has  been  far 
more  progressive  and  earnest.  Its  friends  claim  that  it  has  the 
polity  taught  in  the  New  Testament,  and  that  it  is  peculiarly 
adapted  to  American  ideas,  and  especially  fitted  to  harmonize 
the  discordant  religious  elements  of  our  land.  Another  gen- 
eral council  was  held  at  Boston  in  the  year  1865.  This  council 
sought  to  effect  a  more  perfect  union  of  the  denomination,  and 
while  it  studiously  avoided  all  centralization  of  power  and  put 
forth  no  claim  of  authority,  it  did  much  to  give  practical  effici- 
ency to  the  Christian  efforts  of  those  who  are  united  by  their 
membership  with  churches  holding  the  same  faith  and  order. 
A  National  Council  was  organized  at  Oberlin,  O.,  in 
1871,  and  at  its  session  in  St.  Louis,  Mo.,  Nov.  11-15, 
1880,  memorials  "  Concerning  a  Confession  of  Faith "  were 
presented  from  the  Congregational  Association  of  Ohio,  the 
Central  South  Conference  of  Tennessee,  and  the  General  Con- 
gregational Conference  of  Minnesota.  Also  a  paper  upon 
the  subject  of  "  A  New  Declaration  of  Faith "  was  read  by 
Kev.  Hiram  Mead,  D.D.,  Oberlin,  O. 

By  resolution,  a  Commission  was  appointed  to  prepare  in 
the  form  of  a  creed  or  catechism,  or  both,  a  simple,  clear, 
and  comprehensive  exposition  of  the  truths  of  the  glorious 
Gospel  of  the  blessed  God  for  the  instruction  and  edification 
of  the  churches.  This  Commission  accordingly  reported, 
Dec.  19, 1883,  two  important  documents — one,  a  Statement 
of  Doctrine ;  the  other,  a  Confession  of  Faith. 


THE  CREED.  545 


THE  CREED. 

I.  We  believe  in  one  God,  the  Father  Almighty,  Maker  of  heaven  and 
earth,  and  of  all  things  visible  and  invisible; 

And  in  Jesus  Christ,  His  only  Son,  our  Lord,  who  is  of  one  substance 
with  the  Father;  by  whom  all  things  were  made; 

And  in  the  Holy  Spirit,  the  Lord  and  Giver  of  life,  who  is  sent  from 
the  Father  and  Son,  and  who  together  with  the  Father  and  Son  is  wor- 
shipped and  glorified. 

II.  We  believe  that  the  Providence  of  God,  by  which  He  executes  His 
eternal  purposes  in  the  government  of  the  world,  is  in  and  over  all 
events ;  yet  so  that  the  freedom  and  responsibility  of  man  are  not  im- 
paired, and  sin  is  the  act  of  the  creature  alone. 

III.  We  believe  that  man  was  made  in  the  image  of  God,  that  he 
might  know,  love,  and  obey  God,  and  enjoy  Him  forever;  that  our  first 
parents  by  disobedience  fell  under  the  righteous  condemnation  of  God; 
and  that  all  men  are  so  alienated  from  God  that  there  is  no  salvation 
from  the  guilt  and  power  of    sin  except  through  God's  redeeming 
grace. 

IV.  We  believe  that  God  would  have  all  men  return  to  Him ;  that  to 
this  end  He  has  made  Himself  known,  not  only  through  the  works  of 
nature,  the  course  of  His  providence,  and  the  consciences  of  men,  but 
also  through  supernatural  revelations  made  especially  to  a  chosen  people, 
and  above  all,  when  the  fulness  of  time  was  come,  through  Jesus  Christ 
His  Son. 

V.  We  believe  that  the  Scriptures  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments  are 
the  record  of  God's  revelation  of  Himself  in  the  work  of  redemption ; 
that  they  were  written  by  men  under  the  special  guidance  of  the  Holy 
Spirit;  that  they  are  able  to  make  wise  unto  salvation;  and  that  they 
constitute  the  authoritative  standard  by  which  religious  teaching  and 
human  conduct  are  to  be  regulated  and  judged. 

VI.  We  believe  that  the  love  of  God  to  sinful  men  has  found  its  high- 
est expression  in  the  redemptive  work  of  His  Son ;  who  became  man, 
uniting  His  divine  nature  with  our  human  nature  in  one  person ;  who 
was  tempted  like  other  men,  yet  without  sin ;  who,  by  His  humiliation, 
His  holy  obedience,  His  sufferings,  His  death  on  the  cross,  and  His 
resurrection,  became  a  perfect  Redeemer ;  whose  sacrifice  of  Himself  for 
the  sins  of  the  world  declares  the  righteousness  of  God,  and  is  the  sole 
and  sufficient  ground  of  forgiveness  and  of  reconciliation  with  Him. 

VII.  We  believe  that  Jesus  Christ,  after  He  had  risen  from  the  dead, 
ascended  into  heaven,  where,  as  the  one  Mediator  between  God  and  man, 
He  carries  forward  His  work  of  saving  men ;  that  He  sends  the  Holy 
Spirit  to  convict  them  of  sin,  and  to  lead  them  to  repentance  and  faith ; 
and  that  those  who  through  renewing  grace  turn  to  righteousness,  and 

35 


646  THE  CO&urrtEGATIONAL  CHURCHES. 

trust  in  Jesus  Christ  as  their  Eedeemer,  receive  for  His  sake  the  forgive- 
ness of  their  sins,  and  are  made  the  children  of  God. 

VIII.  We  believe  that  those  who  are  thus  regenerated  and  justified, 
grow  in  sanctified  character  through  fellowship  with  Christ,  the  indwell- 
ing of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  obedience  to  the  truth ;  that  a  holy  life  is  the 
fruit  and  evidence  of  saving  faith ;  and  that  the  believer's  hope  of  con- 
tinuance in  such  a  life  is  in  the  preserving  grace  of  God. 

IX.  We  believe  that  Jesus  Christ  came  to  establish  among  men  the 
kingdom  of  God,  the  reign  of  truth  and  love,  righteousness  and  peace ; 
that  to  Jesus  Christ,  the  Head  of  this  kingdom,  Christians  are  directly 
responsible  in  faith  and  conduct ;  and  that  to  Him  all  have  immediate 

•ccess  without  mediatorial  or  priestly  intervention. 

X.  We  believe  that  the  Church  of  Christ,  invisible  and  spiritual,  corn- 
Irises  all  true  believers,  whose  duty  it  is  to  associate  themselves  in 
churches,  for  the  maintenance  of  worship,  for  the  promotion  of  spiritual 
growth  and  fellowship,  and  for  the  conversion  of  men;  that  these 
churches,  under  the  guidance  of  the  Holy  Scriptures  and  in  fellowship 
with  one  another,  may  determine — each  for  itself— their  organization, 
statements  of  belief,  and  forms  of  worship ;  may  appoint  and  set  apart 
their  own  ministers,  and  should  co-operate  in  the  work  which  Christ  has 
committed  to  them  for  the  furtherance  of  the  gospel  throughout  the 
world. 

XI.  We  believe  in  the  observance  of  the  Lord's  Day,  as  a  day  of  holy 
rest  and  worship ;  in  the  ministry  of  the  Word ;  and  in  the  two  Sacra- 
ments, which  Christ  has  appointed  for  His  church :  Baptism,  to  be  ad- 
ministered to  believers  and  their  children,  as  the  sign  of  cleansing  from 
sin,  of  union  to  Christ,  and  of  the  impartation  of  the  Holy  Spirit;  and 
the  Lord's  Supper  as  a  symbol  of  His  atoning  death,  a  seal  of  its  effica- 
cy, and  a  means  whereby  He  confirms  and  strengthens  the  spiritual 
union  and  communion  of  believers  with  Himself. 

XII.  We  believe  in  the  ultimate  prevalence  of  the  kingdom  of  Christ 
over  all  the  earth ;  in  the  glorious  appearing  of  the  great  God  and  our 
Saviour  Jesus  Christ;  hi  the  resurrection  of  the  dead;  and  in  a  final 
judgment,  the  issues  of  which  are  everlasting  punishment  and  everlast- 
ing life. 

CHURCH  DISCIPLINE. 

These  churches  claim  that  church  discipline  is  in  the  New 
Testament  the  act  of  the  local  body,  not  of  its  officers  or  of 
any  higher  court.  In  accordance  with  these  views  they  are 
careful  to  speak  of  Congregational  Churches,  never  using 
the  phrase,  the  Congregational  Church.  They  arrange  their 
systems  of  co-operation  by  the  consent  of  the  churches,  and 


CHURCH  DISCIPLINE.  547 

are  careful  by  no  means  to  interfere  with  their  independence. 
The  same  idea  also  accords  with  their  theory  of  church  officers 
and  Christian  ministry.  All  churches  which  have  been  at 
one  time  connected  with  the  State,  and  others  modeled  after 
the  same  forms,  have  a  class  of  clergymen  who  are  members, 
not  of  the  local  bodies,  but  of  the  national  church  or  some 
of  its  subdivisions,  and  amenable  only  to  its  discipline. 
'They  differ  among  themselves  in  that  some  of  them  hold  the 
equality  (parity)  of  the  clergy,  while  others  (sometimes  called 
prelatists)  divide  the  clergy  into  two  or  more  orders.  Con- 
gregationalists  differ  from  both  quite  as  much  as  they  differ 
from  each  other.  They  hold  the  equality  of  the  brotherhood. 
They  have,  it  is  true,  an  order  of  ministers,  but  they  are 
members  of  the  churches,  and  subject  to  their  discipline. 
Consecrated  to  a  particular  work,  these  ministers  are  esteemed 
for  its  sake ;  but  they  have  neither  office  nor  authority,  ex- 
cept as  they  are  chosen  by  some  church  to  the  pastorate,  and 
they  hold  that  office  only  during  the  pleasure  of  the  church. 
The  system  of  church  officers  is  very  simple.  They  find  in 
the  New  Testament  only  two  classes  of  officers,  the  elders  or 
bishops  (called  also  pastors),  who  administer  the  spiritual 
affairs  of  the  church  and  are  its  religious  teachers,  and  the 
deacons  who  are  charged  with  its  temporal  interests.  In 
former  times  it  was  customary  to  have  several  elders  in  each 
church,  some  of  whom  were  executive  officers,  but  not  pub- 
lic teachers.  Of  late,  however,  these  offices  are  for  the  most 
part  concentrated  in  one  elder,  or  as  he  is  generally  called, 
pastor.  A  pastor  may  be  called  from  the  membership  or 
even  the  pastorate  of  another  church,  but  when  he  is  installed 
he  does  not  become  a  member  of  his  own  unless  he  is  re- 
ceived by  that  church  by  letter  or  profession  like  any  other 
member.  Installation  over  a  church  does  not  make  him  a 
member  of  it.  Some  pastors  have  not  been  and  refused  to 
be,  members  of  the  church  to  which  they  have  ministered. 
In  practice  the  deacons  have  usually  a  large  share  of  spirit- 
ujil  care*. 


548      THE  CONGREGATIONAL  CHURCHES. 

The  official  reports  of  the  churches  in  1893  skewed :  Num 
ber  of  churches,  5,140 ;  ministers,  5,003 ;  families,  364,350 ; 
members,  542,725  ;  Sunday-school  members,  644,782  ;  Young 
People's  Societies  of  Christian  Endeavor,  3,195,  with  157,678 
members.  Benevolent  contributions  reported:  for  foreign 
missions,  $441,948 ;  education,  $252,699 ;  church  erection, 
$137,770 ;  home  missions,  $593,974 ;  American  Missionary 
Association,  $148,805  ;  Sunday-schools,  $54,974  ;  New  West 
Educational  Commission,  $47,091 ;  ministerial  aid,  $26,326  ; 
and  miscellaneous  purposes,  $948,305. 

The  seven  theological  institutions  at  Andover,  Mass.,  Ban- 
gor,  Me.,  Chicago,  111.,  Hartford,  Conn.,  Oberlin,  Ohio,  Oak- 
land, Gal.,  and  New  Haven,  Conn.,  had  together  52  profes- 
sors, 38  other  instructors,  11  fellows,  29  graduate  students, 
and  545  under-graduate  students.  The  New  West  Educa- 
tional Commission  in  1892  had  under  its  charge  28  day- 
schools  of  all  grades,  with  68  teachers  and  2,812  pupils,  and 
21  Sunday-schools  with  2,000  pupils. 

The  American  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Mis- 
sions, organized  in  1810,  is  the  oldest  society  for  general 
missionary  work  in  the  United  States,  and  its  work  is  now 
carried  on  exclusively  by  Congregationalists.  The  reports  of 
1893  showed  total  receipts  $641,421,  and  expenditures  $768,- 
333,  making  a  large  debt,  for  the  first  time  in  sixteen  years. 
The  receipts  of  the  previous  year  were  $840,804,  and  the 
expenditures  $840,839,  and  the  treasury  held  a  balance  of 
$729.  In  1893  the  American  Board,  as  it  is  called  for  short, 
had  under  its  supervision  20  missions,  96  regular  stations, 
1,128  outstations,  1,323  places  for  stated  preaching,  and  con- 
gregations aggregating  69,357  members.  The  total  number 
of  missionaries  and  helpers,  including  physicians,  sent  from 
the  United  States,  was  557,  and  there  were  2,738  native  pas- 
tors, preachers,  school-teachers,  and  other  helpers.  Con- 
nected with  the  missions  were  442  churches,  with  41,566 
members,  17  theological  seminaries  and  station  classes,  67 
high  schools  and  colleges,  63  boarding-schools  for  girls,  and 
1,019  common  schools,  with  a  grand  total  of  48,585  natives 
under  instruction. 


AMERICAN  MISSIONARY  A  1SOCIATION.          549 

The  American  Home  Missionary  Society,  organized  in 
1826,  has  national  and  State  auxiliary  societies,  a  woman's 
department,  and  influential  publications.  In  1893  it  was 
determined  to  change  its  name  to  "  The  Congregational  Home 
Missionary  Society,"  as  soon  as  legal  requirements  would 
permit.  In  that  year  the  society  carried  on  its  work  in  47 
States  and  territories  of  the  United  States,  through  2,002 
persons,  supplied  3,841  congregations  and  missionary  dis- 
tricts, organized  265  Sunday-schools  and  140  churches,  com- 
pleted the  erection  of  153  church  buildings,  started  34  new 
ones,  and  repaired  or  improved  217,  had  a  total  of  2,270 
Sunday-schools,  and  about  159,300  Sunday-school  and  Bible- 
class  scholars,  and  received  11,232  persons  into  church  mem- 
bership. The  contributions  to  the  society's  funds  aggregated 
$287,364;  legacies,  $239,217;  contributions  to  auxiliaries 
and  expended  locally,  $211,499  ;  making  with  balance  from 
previous  year  and  cash  reserved  for  drafts  payable,  total 
receipts  of  the  year,  $775,261.  The  total  expenditures  were 
$685,108. 

The  American  Missionary  Association,  organized  in  1846, 
though  an  unsectarian  body,  is  supported  by  Congregation- 
alists.  It  labors  among  the  freedmen,  the  Indians,  and  the 
Chinese  in  the  United  States,  and  in  1893  was  also  aiding 
financially  a  mission  on  the  west  coast  of  Africa,  carried  on 
by  the  United  Brethren.  During  the  seven  months  ending 
April  30, 1893,  its  receipts  from  all  sources  were  $184,139, 
and  its  expenditures  $229,000. 


THE 


Society   of   Friends. 


GEOEGE  FOX  AKD  PIS   LABOES. 

rp\HE  Friends,  or  Quakers,  owe  their  origin  to  George  Fox, 
I  who  was  born  in  Leicestershire,  Eng. ,  about  the  year  1624. 
At  an  early  age  he  became  apprentice  to  a  shoemaker.  While 
in  this  situation,  he  devoted  himself  with  great  diligence  to 
the  perusal  of  the  Scriptures,  and,  as  opportunity  presented, 
was  wont  to  exhort  his  fellow-shoemakers,  from  whom,  how- 
ever, he  received  no  great  encouragement.  As  he  was  one 
day  walking  alone  in  the  fields,  reflecting,  according  to  cus- 
tom, on  the  disorderly  lives  of  men,  and  considering  the  most 
proper  means  to  reform  them,  for  the  glory  of  God  and  their 
own  temporal  and  eternal  happiness,  he  thought  he  heard  a 
voice  from  heaven,  or  rather  he  felt  one  of  those  sudden  im- 
pulses, which  the  Friends  receive  as  special  motions  from 
the  Holy  Spirit.  Considering  that  he  had  received  a  call 
from  heaven,  he  lived  in  a  closer  retreat  than  before.  He 
searched  narrowly  into  the  state  of  his  conscience,  retrenched 
whatever  he  found  superfluous,  and  followed  his  trade  no 
further  than  was  necessary  for  his  subsistence.  He  went 
about  preaching  from  place  to  place,  and  boldly  entered  into 
disputes  with  divines  and  ministers,  trusting  solely  to  and 
being  guided  only  by  what  he  considered  to  be  that  divine 
voice  which  interiorly  speaks  to  the  heart  and  draws  men 

(550) 


PERSECUTIONS.  551 

as  it  pleases.  This  caused  Fox  to  be  looked  upon  as  a  sedi- 
tious person,  on  which  account  he  was  seized  at  Nottingham, 
in  1649,  and  imprisoned.  This  first  imprisonment  occurred 
when  he  was  twenty-five  years  of  age.  On  being  released 
from  Nottingham  jail,  he  preached  in  other  places,  where  he 
was  roughly  handled  by  the  mob  for  his  eccentric  behavior, 
and  the  boldness  with  which  he  interrupted  the  ministers  in 
their  sermons.  At  Derby  he  was  shut  up  for  six  months  in 
a  house  of  correction,  and  when  he  came  out  of  it,  in  order 
to  be  examined  by  Jeremy  Bennet,  a  justice  of  the  peace, 
the  name  of  Quaker  was  given  to  him  and  his  disciples,  be- 
cause, in  his  answers  and  public  exhortations,  he  often  said 
quaking  and  trembling  were  necessary  dispositions  to  hear 
the  word  of  God  with  profit. 

The  Quakers^  as  they  were  then  called,  flattered  themselves 
with  the  hope  of  enjoying  some  quiet  at  the  restoration  of 
Charles  II. ;  but  refusing  to  take  the  oath  of  allegiance  to 
that  monarch  because  in  their  opinion  all  oaths  are  for- 
bidden, a  grievous  persecution  was  raised  against  them. 
While  some  of  the  Protestants  earlier  organized,  as  the 
Presbyterians  and  Baptists,  met  the  force  of  the  persecution, 
the  Friends  sustained  the  severest  shocks.  It  is  estimated 
that  during  the  winter  of  1662  between  4,000  and  5,000  of 
their  number  were  incarcerated  in  English  jails.  While 
suffering  these  persecutions,  they  were  considerably  strength- 
ened by  the  accession  to  their  fraternity  of  the  well-known 
William  Penn,  who,  on  account  of  his  talents  and  ample 
fortune,  soon  acquired  no  small  influence  and  reputation 
among  them.  In  1686,  when  partly  through  his  influence  a 
proclamation  was  issued  by  the  king  releasing  all  persons 
who  were  imprisoned  on  account  of  religion,  among  those 
set  at  liberty  were  1,490  Friends.  About  the  same  time  the 
persecution  against  them  abating,  they  employed  themselves 
in  reducing  their  views  to  a  more  regular  system,  and  in 
adopting  rules  according  to  which  they  were  to  govern  them- 
selves. These  we  shall  briefly  notice. 


552  THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS. 

DISCIPLINE    OF   THE   FRIENDS. 

Discipline  is  maintained  on  certain  principles :  1.  That 
Christ  is  the  Supreme  and  only  Head  of  his  church  ;  2.  That 
Christians  are  to  minister  to  the  temporal  and  spiritual 
needs  of  each  other,  in  privacy  and  love ;  3.  Elders  and  over- 
seers are  to  be  guardians  of  the  flock,  in  addition  to  those 
who  preach ;  4.  No  one  (or  class)  is  to  make  himself  a  lord 
over  God's  heritage,  which  power  belongs  to  the  people  in 
their  collective  capacity ;  5.  The  Holy  Spirit  has  immediate 
control  of  all  affairs  in  the  church,  from  the  time  that  the 
church  was  established  by  a  most  extraordinary  outpouring 
of  the  Holy  Ghost. 

The  form  of  the  church  government  was  settled  as  early  as 
1666,  under  the  lead  of  George  Fox,  who  advocated  the  set- 
ting up  of  women's  meetings,  which  very  soon  were  held  as 
regularly  as  those  of  the  brethren.  The  chief  authority  is 
in  the  yearly  meeting  of  the  body  at  large,  by  their  repre- 
sentatives, men  and  women  meeting  separately.  Minor 
matters  are  arranged  at  the  monthly  meetings,  such  as  the 
care  of  the  poor,  visiting  of  the  afflicted  and  in  prison,  mar- 
riage and  burials,  births  and  deaths,  education,  and  the 
settlement  of  legal  matters  (appeals  to  courts  not  being 
allowed).  There  are  also  quarterly  meetings,  composed  of 
monthly  meetings. 

ARTICLES   OF  BELIEF. 

The  Society  of  Friends  has  never  formed  a  creed  after  the 
manner  of  other  religious  bodies.  They  accept  the  doctrines 
of  the  divinity  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  of  his  atonement  for  the 
sins  of  men.  Christ  is  the  true  light,  which  enlightens  all 
men.  This  is  performed  by  an  immediate  inspiration,  and 
not  alone  by  the  outward  doctrine  of  the  gospel,  which  Christ 
has  preached  to  men  as  a  rule  of  their  belief  and  practice ; 
which  outward  preaching  of  evangelical  truths  is  not  the 
only  method  used  by  God  to  enlighten  mankind ;  but  he 
sends  to  each  person  interior  inspirations.  This  interior  light 
is  to  be  adored,  as  being  Christ  himself  and  God  himself. 


ARTICLES  OF  BELIEF.  553 

The  source  of  inspiration  is  the  Holy  Spirit,  who  inte- 
riorly teaches  us  ;  and  the  Scripture  is  a  rule  given  by  and 
subordinate  to  that  Spirit.  An  immediate  inspiration  is  as 
necessary  to  us  as  to  the  apostles  ;  it  teaches  us  whatever  is 
necessary  to  salvation.  The  promise  which  Christ  made  to 
his  apostles,  to  teach  them  all  truth  by  his  Spirit,  and  that 
the  Holy  Ghost  should  always  remain  with  them,,  was  not 
confined  to  the  apostles  only,  it  belongs  to  all  the  faithful ; 
and  it  is  said  of  them  all,  that  the  unction  shall  teach  them 
all  things  ;  that  is,  all  spiritual  truth  which  they  need. 

Outward  baptism  is  not  an  ordinance  of  Christ.  Whoever 
pretends  that  Christ's  order  is  to  be  understood  of  water-bap- 
tism adds  to  the  text,  which  does  not  mention  water.  The 
baptism  enjoined  by  Christ  is  a  baptism  of  spirit,  not  of 
water.  The  water-baptism  was  John's,  and  has  been  abol- 
ished. Paul  says  he  was  not  sent  to  baptize,  but  to  preach. 
Water-baptism,  and  the  spiritual  baptism,  are  two  entirely 
different  baptisms.  The  inward  baptism  alone  is  the  true 
baptism  of  Christ. 

Friends  are  opposed  to  war,  under  all  circumstances ;  be- 
lieving it  to  be  contrary  to  the  spirit  of  Christianity.  They 
also  deny  the  propriety  of  all  oaths,  in  accordance  with 
Christ's  command,  "  Swear  not  at  all." 

Their  plain  speech,  using  "  thee  "  and  "  thou,"  instead  of 
"  you,"  is  believed  to  be  according  to  Scripture,  wherein  it 
is  enjoined  by  the  precept  and  example  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
and  his  apostles.  They  do  not  prescribe  a  form  of  speech 
or  of  dress  as  a  condition  of  membership,  but  they  do  re- 
quire of  their  members  the  practice  of  simplicity  and  truth- 
fulness, becoming  the  Christian,  and  to  avoid  flattery,  exag- 
geration, and  untruthfulness,  vain  compliments  and  super- 
fluous or  gay  apparel.  (Mat.  xxiii.  8 ;  Rom.  xii.  9  ;  Eph. 
v.  9  ;  Phil.  iv.  5  ;  I  Peter  iii.  3,  4.) 

The  eldest  of  all  the  Yearly  Meetings  is  that  of  London, 
which  dates  from  1672.  At  the  session  of  1884  there  were 
reported  14,200  members.  The  Yearly  Meeting  at  Dublin, 
the  same  year,  reported  2,935  members  in  that  city. 


554  THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS. 


THE   FRIENDS   IN  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

Bancroft  says  :  "  The  rise  of  the  people  called  Quakers  is 
one  of  the  memorable  events  in  the  history  of  man.  It 
marks  the  moment  when  intellectual  freedom  was  claimed 
unconditionally  by  the  people  as  an  inalienable  birthright." 

The  founding  of  the  Society  in  the  United  States  was  at- 
tended with  much  persecution.  In  September,  1656,  two 
Quaker  women,  Mary  Fisher  and  Ann  Austin,  arrived  in 
Boston  from  Barbadoes.  They  were  arrested,  thrown  into 
prison,  stripped  of  their  clothing,  convicted  on  charges  of 
heresy,  and  expelled  from  the  State.  In  Rhode  Island  the 
Friends  were  tolerated,  but  very  few  settled  there  until  1672. 
The  great  impetus  to  immigration  was  given  by  William 
Penn  after  1632  when  he  founded  Pennsylvania,  and  great 
numbers  flocked  annually  to  that  State.  "The  purity  of 
their  lives,  and  their  constant  warfare  against  all  immorality, 
war,  intemperance,  and  especially  against  slavery,  have  ex- 
ercised an  influence  over  the  opinions  and  practices  of  the 
civilized  world  greater  than  that  of  any  other  body  of  men 
of  no  greater  number  that  has  existed  in  modern  times." 

THE  HICKSITE  FRIENDS. 

In  the  year  1827,  a  portion  of  the  members  in  some  of  the 
American  Yearly  Meetings  seceded  from  the  society,  and 
set  up  a  distinct  and  independent  association,  but  still  hold- 
ing to  the  name  of  Friends.  Elias  Hicks  led  the  movement 
of  separation.  He  was  born  at  Hempstead,  L.  I.,  March  19, 
1748,  and  died  Feb.  27,  1830.  At  the  time  of  the  separation 
Hicks  was  eighty  years  old.  Parts  of  six  of  the  Yearly 
Meetings  then  existing  in  the  United  States  withdrew  from 
the  general  society,  and  the  followers  of  Hicks,  about  one- 
third  or  more  of  the  whole  number,  formed  themselves  into 
a  new  society.  Hicks  based  his  movements  upon  some  of 
the  doctrinal  points  held  by  the  Friends,  in  particular  those 
relating  to  the  divinity  of  Christ,  and  the  nature  of  the  atone- 
ment, which  were  regarded  by  many  as  being  inconsistent 


STATISTICS  AND  INSTITUTIONS.  555 

with  the  belief  of  the  orthodox.  A  document  was  issued 
bearing  the  date,  "  the  21st  of  4th  month,  1827,"  and  stating 
the  causes  of  the  secession  in  these  words  :  "  Doctrines  held 
by  one  part  of  the  society,  and  which  we  believe  to  be  sound 
and  edifying,  are  pronounced  by  the  other  part  to  be  unsound 
and  spurious." 

From  this  time  the  Friends  were  classed  as  the  Orthodox 
and  the  Hicksites,  although  the  latter  name  is  not  accepted 
by  those  to  whom  it  is  applied  by  others. 

In  1868  some  of  the  Orthodox  Friends  in  the  United  States 
established  a  foreign  missionary  society,  and  they  have  been 
very  active  in  opening  schools  among  the  freedmen,  and  in 
missionary  and  educational  work  among  the  Indians. 

STATISTICS   AND   INSTITUTIONS. 

In  1890  the  Friends  in  the  United  States  were  divided  into 
four  distinct  bodies :  the  Orthodox,  the  Hicksite,  the  Wil- 
burite,  and  the  Primitive.  The  Orthodox  body  had  10 
yearly  meetings  (corresponding  to  State  or  district  organ- 
izations), 794  meetings  (or  congregations),  815  meeting 
places,  80,655  members,  and  property  used  for  religious  pur- 
poses valued  at  $2,795,784.  The  Hicksite  body  had  7  yearly 
meetings,  201  meetings,  217  meeting  places,  21,992  mem- 
bers, and  property  valued  at  $1,661,850.  The  Wilburite 
body  had  5  yearly  meetings,  52  meetings,  53  meeting  places, 
4,329  members,  and  property  valued  at  $67,000.  The  Prim- 
itive body  had  4  yearly  meetings,  9  meetings,  9  meeting 
places,  232  members,  and  property  valued  at  $16,700.  Com- 
bining these  bodies,  there  were  in  the  United  States  26 
yearly  meetings,  1,056  meetings,  1,094  meeting  places,  107,208 
members,  and  property  used  for  religious  purposes  valued 
at  $4,541,334. 

The  first  quinquennial  conference  of  Orthodox  Friends  was 
held  in  Indianapolis,  Ind.,  October  18,  1892,  and  among 
other  projects,  a  plan  for  a  board  of  foreign  missions  was 
adopted.  In  the  United  States  Bible  Schools  were  officially 
recognized  and  supported  in  all  the  above  Yearly  Meetings 


556  THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS. 

except  Philadelphia ;  in  it,  however,  a  number  of  such 
schools  exist  without  official  recognition. 

The  Orthodox  Friends  had  three  collegiate  institutions : 
Haverford  College,  near  Philadelphia ;  Earlham  College, 
Richmond,  Ind. ;  and  Penn  College,  Oskaloosa,  Iowa.  Bryn 
Mawr  College  for  women,  near  Philadelphia,  has  been  man- 
aged by  Friends,  but  not  as  a  denominational  institution. 
Yearly  Meeting  Boarding  Schools  have  existed  in  Maine, 
Rhode  Island,  New  York,  and  Pennsylvania. 


THE 

UNITED    BRETHREN. 


FOUNDING  OF  THE  MORAVIAN  CHURCH. 

THE  United  Brethren,  sometimes  called  Moravians,  were 
originally  formed  by  the  descendants  of  the  Bohemian 
and  Moravian  Brethren,  who  being  persecuted  for  their  re- 
ligious tenets  and  non-conformity  in  their  native  country, 
founded  a  colony,  under  the  patronage  of  Count  Zinzen- 
dorf,  on  an  estate  of  his,  called  Berthelsdorf,  in  Upper  Lu- 
satia,  in  the  year  1722,  to  which  colony  the  name  of  Herrn- 
hut  was  given,  on  account  of  its  situation  on  the  southern 
declivity  of  a  hill  called  Hutberg. 

The  original  homes  of  the  church  are  Bohemia  and  Mo- 
ravia, two  small  countries  in  the  heart  of  Europe,  the  one  a 
kingdom,  the  other  a  margraviate  of  the  Austrian  empire. 
They  are  inhabited  by  the  Czechs,  who  form  a  division  of 
the  great  Slavonic  race  which  burst  into  that  continent  from 
the  far  East,  and  which  now  holds  nearly  one-half  of  its 
area.  The  Czechs  were  converted  to  Christianity  in  the 
ninth  century,  through  the  labors  of  Cyrill  and  Methodius, 
the  illustrious  apostles  of  the  Slavonians.  These  mission- 
aries came  from  the  Greek  Church,  translated  the  Bible  into 
the  vernacular,  and  introduced  a  national  ritual.  Hence, 
although  Bohemia  and  Moravia  gradually  fell  under  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  Koman  Hierarchy,  they  protested,  from 

(567) 


558  THE  UNITED  BRETHREN. 

the  earliest  times,  against  some  of  its  claims,  and  resisted, 
more  or  less,  its  spiritual  authority.  Within  the  mountain 
barriers  which  inclose  these  lands,  religious  liberty  found  a 
refuge  ;  and  Rome  could  not  wholly  suppress  the  testimony 
that  fell  from  the  lips  of  the  believers.  Even  as  the  Swiss 
were  the  first  nation  in  the  Middle  Ages  to  proclaim  from 
their  Alpine  heights  the  inalienable  right  of  man  to  govern 
himself,  so  the  Bohemians  and  Moravians  were  the  first  peo- 
ple to  herald,  from  their  Erzgebirge  and  their  Giant  Moun- 
tains, the  coming  of  that  glorious  day  when  the  human 
conscience  would  be  free.  In  the  course  of  the  fourteenth 
century  such  testimony  grew  loud  and  clear.  Preachers 
like  Conrad  Waldhausen  and  John  Milic,  who,  for  authority 
in  reforming  the  masses  and  power  in  swaying  open-air  con- 
gregations, which  numbered  thousands  of  hearers,  may  be 
put  by  the  side  of  George  Whitefield  and  John  Wesley,  and 
writers  like  Matthias  Janow,  sent  forth  truths  that  swept 
through  the  land  as  the  wind,  and  caused  the  religious  feel- 
ings of  the  people  to  swell  as  the  sea. 

THE  BOHEMIAN   REFORMATION. 

Thus  was  the  way  prepared  for  the  Bohemian  reforma- 
tion. Of  this  reformation  John  Huss  became  the  distin- 
guished leader,  until  the  Council  of  Constance,  deliberately 
breaking  the  pledge  of  personal  safety  which  had  been 
given  him,  condemned  him  to  the  stake.  He  suffered,  and, 
as  Montgomery  says,  "  To  heaven  upon  a  fiery  chariot  rose," 
on  the  6th  of  July,  1415.  His  followers  flew  to  arms,  a  meas- 
ure which  was  contrary  to  all  his  teachings,  and  inaugurated 
the  Hussite  war.  It  raged  with  fury  for  fourteen  years. 
God  himself  used  the  Hussites  as  ministers  of  his  ven- 
geance. They  were  invariably  successful,  defeating  immense 
armies  of  imperialists,  driving  before  them,  with  their  iron- 
pointed  flails,  the  flower  of  the  chivalry  of  Europe,  and 
spreading  the  terror  of  their  name  far  beyond  the  confines 
of  their  own  country.  But  they  were  divided  among  them- 
selves. The  one  faction  bore  the  name  of  Taborites,  from  a 


THE  BOHEMIAN  REFORMATION.  5/5*, 

fortified  hill,  which  they  made  the  centre  of  their  operations. 
The  other  was  known  as  the  Calixtines,  from  Calix,  a  cup, 
because  they  contended  mainly  for  the  restoration  of  the 
cup  to  the  laity  in  the  Lord's  Supper.  These  two  parties 
the  Council  of  Basle  succeeded  in  arraying  against  each 
other.  In  the  spring  of  1434,  a  battle  was  fought  between 
them,  which  resulted  in  the  triumph  of  the  Calixtines. 
Many  of  the  more  liberal  Taborites  thereupon  joined  them, 
and  they  were  now  constituted  the  National  Church,  with 
certain  concessions  granted  by  the  Council,  such  as  the 
Lord's  Supper  in  both  kinds,  and  the  use  of  the  vernacular 
in  public  worship. 

From  the  midst  of  this  communion  those  men  of  God 
proceeded  who  founded  the  church.  They  were  true  fol- 
lowers of  John  Huss,  and  had  discountenanced  the  Hussite 
war.  They  longed  to  work  out  their  own  salvation,  and  to 
reform  the  National  Church,  which  was  rapidly  passing 
to  affiliation  with  the  Roman  Catholic  Church.  John 
Rokyzan,  the  head  of  the  Calixtines,  and  an  illustrious 
preacher,  was  inveighing  against  the  corruptness  of  the 
times.  Around  him  these  fathers  gathered,  and  besought 
him  to  begin  a  reformation.  But  he  was  afraid  of  the 
danger  to  which  he  would  expose  himself,  and  loved  the 
praise  of  men  more  than  the  praise  of  God.  Hence,  they 
determined  to  carry  out  among  themselves  the  principles  of 
Huss,  and  to  unite  in  some  quiet  retreat  for  the  exercise  of 
personal  religion.  About  100  miles  east  of  Prague,  on  the 
confines  of  Silesia,  was  an  estate  called  Lititz,  owned  by  the 
Regent  of  Bohemia.  It  had  been  devastated  in  the  war,  was 
sparsely  inhabited,  and  brought  him  but  a  small  revenue. 
The  associates  begged  Rokyzan  to  induce  the  Regent  to 
grant  them  an  asylum  there.  Rokyzan,  who  was  anxious 
to  get  rid  of  them,  eagerly  consented.  The  Regent,  think- 
ing that  such  a  settlement  would  tend  to  develop  his  estate 
and  increase  his  income,  as  eagerly  gave  the  desired  per- 
mission. 

The  associates  immediately  left  Prague,  and  built  them- 
selves cottages  at  Kunwalde.  In  that  village,  in  the  midst 


560  THE  UNITED  BRETHREN. 

of  dense  forests,  and  in  the  shadow  of  the  Giant  Mountains, 
before  ever  the  Pilgrim  Fathers  had  planted  the  standard  of 
liberty  in  our  land,  before  ever  the  Anglican  Reformation 
had  separated  the  Church  of  England  from  that  of  Rome, 
before  even  Luther  had  kindled  the  torch  of  truth  at  the 
fire  which  burns  on  God's  own  altar — when,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  the  Waldenses,  all  Europe  yet  lay  in  the  dark- 
ness of  mediaeval  superstition,  and  America  was  still  undis- 
covered—in 1457,  the  church  of  the  United  Brethren  was 
founded.  "Brethren"  was  the  name  which  its  members 
adopted,  and  which  has  remained  to  the  present  day. 

The  principles  that  they  enunciated  were,  in  brief,  the 
following  three :  The  Bible  is  the  only  source  of  Christian 
doctrine ;  public  worship  is  to  be  conducted,  and  a  discipline 
is  to  be  administered,  in  accordance  with  what  the  Scriptures 
teach,  and  on  the  model  of  the  Apostolic  Church  ;  the  Lord's 
Supper  is  to  be  received  in  faith,  to  be  doctrinally  denned 
in  the  language  of  Scripture,  and  every  human  explanation 
of  that  language  is  to  be  avoided. 

Lititz  soon  became  the  rallying-point  for  awakened  persons 
throughout  Bohemia  and  Moravia,  so  that  the  brethren  in- 
creased in  numbers.  During  the  first  ten  years  of  their 
history,  however,  they  constituted  merely  a  little  church 
within  the  National  Church,  from  which  they  had  not  yet 
formally  separated.  Some  of  its  converted  priests  joined 
the  Association,  and  ministered  to  them  in  holy  things. 
But  when  this  church  began  a  cruel  persecution,  that  added 
many  to  the  noble  army  of  martyrs,  and  when  the  Brethren 
found  that  it  would  be  impossible  to  secure  a  sufficiency  of 
Calixtine  priests,  they  began  to  consider  the  propriety  of 
severing  the  last  tie  which  united  them  with  the  Establish- 
ment, and  of  instituting  a  ministry  of  their  own.  They 
made  the  question  one  of  special  prayer  for  several  years, 
and  called  frequent  synods  to  discuss  it,  until  it  was  finally 
decided  in  the  affirmative,  in  1464,  through  the  use  of  the 
lot. 


THE  SYNOD  OF  1467.  661 

THE  SYNOD  OF  1467. 

At  last,  on  the  occasion  of  a  synod  held  at  Lhota,  in  1467, 
nine  men,  of  high  repute  for  piety,  were  elected  by  ballot 
as  the  nominees  of  the  church.  Then  the  question  was  a 
second  time  put  absolutely  into  the  hands  of  the  Lord. 
Twelve  lots  were  prepared,  nine  being  blank,  and  three  in- 
scribed with  the  Bohemian  word  Jest.  Thereupon  a  fer- 
vent prayer  was  offered  up  beseeching  God  to  designate  of 
these  nine  nominees,  either  one,  or  two,  or  three,  as  his 
ministers  ;  but  if  this  should  not  be  the  time  which  he  had 
ordained  for  such  a  consummation,  to  cause  all  the  nine  to 
receive  blanks.  In  this  event,  the  Brethren  would  have  de- 
ferred further  action  to  some  future  period.  Nine  lots 
having  been  drawn  singly  from  a  vase  and  given  to  the 
nominees,  it  appeared  that  Matthias  of  Kunwalde,  Thomas 
of  Prelouc,  and  Elias  of  Chrenovic,  had  each  received  one 
marked  Jest.  The  whole  synod  instantly  rose  to  its  feet, 
and  every  member  hastened  to  acknowledge,  by  the  right 
hand  of  fellowship,  these  three  men  as  the  future  ministers 
of  the  church.  A  thanksgiving  hymn,  composed  for  the 
occasion,  was  joyfully  sung,  after  which  followed  the  Lord's 
Supper. 

When  Martin  Luther  nailed  his  theses  to  the  door  of  the 
Wittenberg  Cathedral,  on  the  31st  day  of  October,  1517, 
there  existed  a  church  of  Reformers  before  the  Reformation 
in  Bohemia  and  Moravia,  numbering  at  least  200,000  mem- 
bers, among  whom  were  some  of  the  noblest  and  most  in- 
fluential families  of  the  realm,  counting  over  four  hundred 
parishes,  using  a  hymn-book  and  a  catechism  of  its  own, 
proclaiming  its  doctrines  in  a  confession  of  faith,  employing 
two  printing-presses,  and  scattering  Bohemian  Bibles  broad- 
cast through  the  land. 

As,  in  the  days  of  the  apostles,  the  great  persecution  at 
Jerusalem  scattered  the  Christians  abroad  throughout  the 
regions  of  Judea  and  Samaria,  where  they  converted  many, 
and  thus  extended  the  church,  so  now  the  cruel  hand  that 
thrust  the  Brethren  out  of  their  native  country,  unwittingly 
36  — 


562  THE  UNITED  BRETHREN. 

helped  to  plant  a  new  branch  of  them  in  Poland.  This 
branch  grew  so  rapidly  that  in  1557,  at  a  general  synod,  the 
Polish  churches  were  admitted  as  an  organic  part  of  the 
Unitas  Fratrum,  which  now  became  larger  and  more  influ- 
ential than  ever,  having  three  provinces,  the  Bohemian,  the 
Moravian,  and  the  Polish,  each  governed  by  bishops  of  its 
own,  but  all  combined  as  one  unity. 

PROCLAMATION   OF  RELIGIOUS  LIBERTY. 

In  1609  religious  liberty  was  proclaimed  in  Bohemia  and 
Moravia,  and  the  Brethren  were  constituted  one  of  the 
legally  acknowledged  churches  of  the  land.  From  the 
pinnacle  of  prosperity,  however,  which  they  reached  in 
1609,  they  were  soon  cast  down  by  that  hand  which  has,  for 
ages,  been  smiting  at  the  truth.  In  1617,  Ferdinand  II. 
ascended  the  throne.  The  following  year  witnessed  the 
beginning  of  that  scourge  of  Europe,  the  Thirty  Years'  War. 
In  the  course  of  the  complications  which  ensued,  the  Prot- 
estants of  Bohemia  rebelled,  and  elected  Frederick  of  the 
Palatinate  as  their  king.  But  his  army  suffered  a  total  de- 
feat near  Prague  in  1620.  Ferdinand  inaugurated  what  is 
generally  termed  the  Bohemian  Anti- Reformation.  When 
this  work  was  accomplished,  Bohemia  and  Moravia  lay 
chained,  while  more  than  thirty  thousand  of  their  Protest- 
ant families  were  in  exile.  Among  these  were  three  or  four 
Brethren  to  every  one  Lutheran  or  Reformed.  Their  pastors 
were  banished  or  slain ;  their  churches  taken  from  them ; 
their  ecclesiastical  organization  ceased  to  exist.  For  a  time, 
Poland  became  their  refuge,  and  the  town  of  Lissa  their 
rallying-point. 

It  was  at  this  juncture  that  the  Brethren  accepted  the 
offer  of  Count  Zinzendorf,  and  made  a  settlement  upon  his 
estate.  They  have  since  been  allowed  to  worship  in  peace. 

THE  BRETHREN"  EST  THE  HOTTED   STATES. 

Count  Zinzendorf  came  to  America  in  1741,  and  preached 
at  Germantown  and  Bethlehem.  On  February  11, 1742,  he 


THE  BRETHREN  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES.       663 

ordained  at  Oley,  Pa.,  the  missionaries  Ranch  and  Bnettner ; 
and  Ranch  baptized  three  Indians  from  Shekomeco,  east  of 
the  Hudson,  "  the  firstlings  of  the  Indians."  He  soon,  with 
his  daughter  Benigna,  and  several  brethren  and  sisters, 
visited  various  tribes  of  Indians. 

For  an  entire  century,  from  1742  to  1843,  the  exclusive 
polity  was  enforced.  Even  those  churches  which  were  not 
in  Moravian  towns,  felt  the  influences  of  this  system.  Ag- 
gressiveness was  no  part  of  their  work.  They  were  looked 
upon  by  the  synods  as  little  more  than  preaching-places, 
with  a  handful  of  the  faithful  clustering  around  them,  who 
were  to  do  all  the  good  they  could  by  evangelizing,  without 
proselyting.  Hence  the  question  with  regard  to  the  small- 
ness  of  the  Moravian  Church  in  this  country  cannot  apply 
to  the  first  century  of  its  existence.  It  remained  small  on 
principle.  And  when  a  new  era  had  dawned,  in  1844,  through 
the  abolition  of  the  exclusive  polity  at  Bethlehem,  the  mother 
of  the  whole  province,  twelve  years  elapsed  before  all  the 
settlements  followed  her  example ;  Salem,  in  North  Caro- 
lina, the  last  Moravian  town,  not  yielding  its  position  until 
1856.  Since  that  time,  and  not  before,  the  American  Mora- 
vian Church  adopts  extension  as  one  of  its  principles,  and 
stands,  in  all  other  respects,  on  the  same  basis  as  its  sister 
denominations  of  Christians. 

The  ecclesiastical  church  officers  are  the  bishops,  through 
whom  the  regular  succession  of  ordination,  transmitted  to 
the  United  Brethren  through  the  ancient  Church  of  the 
Bohemian  and  Moravian  Brethren,  is  preserved,  and  who 
alone  are  authorized  to  ordain  ministers,  but  possess  no 
authority  in  the  government  of  the  church,  except  such  as 
they  derive  from  being  the  presidents  of  the  governing 
boards  ;  the  presbyters,  or  ordained  stated  ministers  of  the 
communities,  and  the  deacons.  The  degree  of  deacon  is  the 
first  bestowed  upon  young  ministers  and  missionaries,  by 
which  they  are  authorized  to  administer  the  sacraments. 

The  Moravians  formerly  had  separate  communities  at  Beth- 
lehem, Nazareth,  and  Lititz,  in  Pennsylvania,  and  at  Salem, 
North  Carolina.  The  first  named  of  these  is  still  their  largest 


§64  THE  UNITED  BRETHREN. 

establishment  in  America,  and  they  have  there  an  educational 
institution  which  enjoys  a  large  patronage  and  an  enviable 
reputation.  The  education  of  youth  is  regarded  by  the 
Brethren  as  worthy  of  the  greatest  attention,  and,  therefore, 
wherever  their  communities  are  located  the  most  thorough 
and  excellent  schools  will  be  found.  At  Lititz,  Nazareth, 
and  Salem,  Moravian  schools  are  located,  which,  although 
not  enjoying  the  extensive  patronage  of  the  Bethlehem  in- 
stitution, are  deservedly  popular  and  well  sustained. 

The  Moravians  in  the  United  States  are  divided  into  the 
Northern  and  Southern  Districts.  The  former  made  strong 
efforts  in  1881-'82  to  effect  a  union  of  both  bodies,  but  with- 
out success.  In  1890  there  were  reported,  in  the  Northern 
District,  79  organizations,  96  churches  and  halls,  9,962  mem- 
bers, and  church  property  valued  at  $621,750 ;  and  in  the 
Southern  District,  15  organizations,  22  churches,  1,819  mem- 
bers, and  church  property  valued  at  $59,500  ;  total,  94  organ- 
izations. 118  churches  and  halls,  11,781  members,  and  church 
property  valued  at  $681,250. 

THE  UNITED  BRETHREN  IN   CHRIST. 

This  denomination  took  its  rise  in  the  United  States 
about  the  year  1755,  and  is  distinguished  from  the  Mora- 
vian Church  by  the  additional  phrase  of  "  In  Christ."  In 
1752  William  Otterbein,  a  distinguished  divine  in  the  Ger- 
man Ref@rmed  Church,  came  to  America,  and  immediately 
began  preaching.  He  formed  a  connection  with  two  other 
divines  of  his  church,  Messrs.  Beohm  and  Geeting,  and  in 
1771  Messrs.  Asbury  and  Wright,  arriving  from  England, 
united  with  the  German  Brethren  in  their  religious  labors. 
The  number  of  German  Brethren  increased  rapidly,  and  the 
work  spread  through  Maryland,  Pennsylvania,  and- Virginia, 
and  rendered  necessary  a  union  of  workers  for  the  benefit  of 
the  cause.  The  first  conference  was  held  in  Baltimore,  Md., 
in  1789.  At  this  time  the  Brethren  represented  not  only  the 
German  Reformed,  but  the  Presbyterian,  Lutheran,  Mennon- 
ite,  and  Methodist  interests.  The  first  annual  conference 
was  held  in  1800,  when  their  present  name  was  adopted. 
Messrs.  Otterbein  and  Beohm  were  elected  superintendents 
or  bishops,  and  it  was  agreed  that  each  should  be  allowed  to 


DOCTRINES  OF  THE  CHURCH.  565 

act  according  to  his  own  convictions  as  to  the  mode  of  bap- 
tism. In  1815  the  first  General  Conference  was  held  at  Mount 
Pleasant,  Pa.,  and  after  prayful  deliberation  a  Discipline 
was  prepared,  containing  the  doctrines  and  rules  for  the 
government  of  the  church. 

William  Otterbein.  the  founder  of  the  church,  was  born 
March  6,  1726,  and  died  November  17,  1813.  He  resided 
twenty-six  years  in  Germany,  and  sixty-one  in  America,  all 
of  which  latter  term  he  labored  in  the  ministry. 

DOCTRINES   OF  THE   CHURCH. 

The  doctrines  of  the  church  may  be  briefly  summed  up : 

1.  They  believe  in  the  only  true  God,  the  Father,  Son,  and  Holy 
Ghost;  that  these  three  are  one,  the  Father  in  the  Son,  the  Son  in  the 
Father,  and  the  Holy  Ghost  equal  in  essence  or  being  with  both. 

2.  They  believe  in  Jesus  Christ,  that  he  is  very  God  and  man ;  that  he 
became  incarnate  by  the  Holy  Ghost  in  the  Virgin  Mary,  and  was  born 
of  her;  that  he  is  the  Saviour  and  Mediator  of  the  whole  human  race,  if 
they,  with  full  faith,  accept  the  grace  proffered  in  Jesus. 

3.  They  believe  in  the  Holy  Ghost;  that  he  is  equal  in  being  with  the 
Father  and  Son ;  and  that  he  comforts  the  faithful  and  guides  them  into 
all  truth. 

4.  They  believe  that  the  Holy  Bible,  Old  and  New  Testaments,  is  the 
Word  of  God ;  that  it  contains  the  only  true  way  to  our  salvation ;  that 
every  true  Christian  is  bound  to  receive  it  with  the  influence  of  the  Spirit 
of  God,  as  the  only  rule  and  guide ;  that  without  faith  in  Jesus  Christ, 
true  repentance,  forgiveness  of  sins,  and  following  after  Christ,  no  one 
can  be  a  true  Christian. 

6.  They  believe  that  the  fall  in  Adam  and  the  redemption  through 
Jesus  Christ,  shall  be  preached  throughout  the  world. 

7.  They  believe  that  the  ordinances,  namely,  baptism  and  the  remem- 
brance of  the  sufferings  and  death  of  Christ,  are  to  be  in  use  and  prac- 
ticed by  all  Christian  societies,  but  the  manner  of  which  ought  always 
to  be  left  to  the  judgment  of  every  individual.   The  example  of  washing 
the  saints'  feet  is  left  to  the  judgment  of  all  to  practice  or  not. 

In  1889  there  was  a  division  in  the  Church  over  a  new 
constitution,  and  a  minority  withdrew  and  formed  an  Old 
Constitution  branch.  In- 1890  there  were  reported  in  the 
original  denomination  3,731  organizations,  2,836  churches, 
780  halls  used  for  church  purposes,  202,474  members,  and 
church  property  valued  at  $4,292,643.  The  Old  Constitution 
branch  had  22,807  members. 


Ufie 

LInitarian 


DISTINGUISHING  DOCTRINES. 

T  TNITARIANISM  takes  its  name  from  its  distinguishing 
LJ  tenet,  the  strict  personal  unity  of  God,  which  Unitari- 
ans hold  in  opposition  to  the  doctrine  which  teaches  that  God 
exists  in  three  persons.  They  believe  in  only  one  supreme, 
self-existent  God,  the  Father,  who  exists  as  one  person,  one 
being,  infinite  in  his  attributes,  and  the  only  proper  object 
of  the  highest  love  and  adoration.  They  regard  Jesus  Christ 
as  a  person  distinct  from  God,  and  dependent  on  God,  from 
whom  he  derived  his  being  and  power.  They  accept  literally 
his  saying :  "  My  Father  is  greater  than  I." 

While  agreeing  in  the  doctrine  of  the  subordination  of 
Christ  to  God  they  differ  very  much  in  their  views  of  the 
nature  of  Christ  and  of  his  precise  relation  to  God.  Some 
regard  him  as  simply  a  man,  distinguished  for  his  goodness 
and  spiritual  endowments,  the  son  of  Joseph  and  Mary ; 
others,  as  the  son  of  the  Virgin  Mary  by  supernatural  gener- 
ation, especially  enlightened,  empowered,  and  sent  into  the 
world  by  God ;  others,  as  the  highest  representative  of  hu- 
manity and  of  God ;  others,  again^  believe  in  his  pre-exist- 
ence,  and  super-angelic  nature. 

Unitarians  have  never  believed  in  the  Holy  Spirit  as  a 
person,  but  regard  it  as  an  attribute  or  influence  of  God,  or 

(566) 


HISTORICAL  SKETCH.  fi$7 

<Srod  himself  acting  on  the  spiritual  nature  of  man.  But 
there  are  other  doctrines  and  principles  to  which  Unitarians, 
considered  as  a  denomination  or  a  class  of  Christian  be- 
lievers, attach  great  importance.  They  believe  especially  in 
the  fatherhood  of  God,  that  his  government  is  paternal,  and 
that  his  mercy  and  love  are  never  withheld  from  his  chil- 
dren. As  a  consequence  of  this  belief,  while  they  maintain 
that  there  will  be  a  sure  and  just  retribution  for  sin,  they 
believe  that  the  punishment  for  sin  which  the  soul  suffers, 
both  in  this  life  and  in  the  future  life,  is  sent  in  love,  not  in 
wrath  ;  is  disciplinary  in  its  nature,  and  is  intended  to  pu- 
rify the  soul,  and  bring  it  back  to  holiness  and  happiness. 

They  reject  the  doctrine  of  the  vicarious  atonement  of 
Christ,  and  deny  that  he  died  to  make  it  just  and  possible 
for  God  to  pardon  man,  by  satisfying  the  claims  of  the  law,  ap- 
peasing the  divine  wrath,  or  bearing  himself  the  punishment 
which  the  sinner  otherwise  would  suffer.  Their  theory  is 
that  Christ  saves  men  by  his  truth,  by  the  influence  of  his 
example  and  life,  by  generating  in  them  his  spirit  of  faith, 
of  love,  of  obedience,  and  of  self-sacrifice ;  by  bringing  them 
to  repentance,  and  to  new  and  holy  living. 

HISTORICAL   SKETCH. 

Unitarians  maintain  that  Christ,  the  apostles,  and  the  evan- 
gelists taught  the  same  doctrine,  according  to  their  interpre: 
tation  of  the  New  Testament.  They  believe  that,  as  the  Jews 
have  ever  been  tenacious  defenders  of  the  unity  of  God,  if 
Christ  had  taught  a  contrary  doctrine  a  violent  opposition 
would  have  been  excited,  a  record  of  which  would  have  been 
preserved  in  the  New  Testament  writings.  In  support  of 
the  position  that  only  Unitarianism  was  taught  in  the  Chris- 
tian Church  before  the  date  of  John's  gospel,  which  is  sup- 
posed to  have  been  written  after  the  other  gospels  and  after 
the  Epistles  of  Paul,  about  the  year  68,  they  claim  that  the 
early  Christian  fathers  knew  of  no  doctrine  of  the  deity  of 
Christ  in  the  Church  before  John  wrote  his  gospel.  In  ac- 
cordance with  this  admission,  all  who  were  converted  to 


568  UNITARIAN  CONGREGATIONALISTS. 

Christianity  for  nearly  forty  years  by  Christ  and  his  apos- 
tles, were  converted  to  Unitarian  Christianity. 

In  that  awakening  of  free  thought,  and  in  the  renewed 
study  of  the  Scriptures,  which  accompanied  and  followed 
the  Reformation,  Unitarian  opinions  began  to  be  adopted 
and  expressed.  They  were  avowed  and  defended  by  Cella- 
rius,  at  one  time  an  intimate  friend  of  Luther  and  Melanch- 
thon.  Several  learned  men  in  Germany  and  Switzerland 
embraced  the  same  sentiments.  In  Italy  two  learned  men, 
Faustus  and  Lelius  Socinus,  became  Unitarians.  They  taught 
that  the  doctrine  of  the  trinity  was  no  more  a  doctrine  of 
the  Bible  than  that  of  transubstantiation.  They  gained  many 
followers,  of  whom  two  were  put  to  death  for  their  faith, 
others  were  banished  or  imprisoned,  and  they  themselves 
were  obliged  to  flee  the  country.  They  finally  took  refuge 
in  Poland,  where  Unitarianism  had  been  planted  by  a  Dutch- 
man of  the  name  of  Spiritus,  in  1546.  Poland  was  the  only 
country  at  that  time  where  religious  liberty  was  enjoyed, 
there  being  severe  edicts  in  other  countries,  even  where  the 
Reformed  religion  prevailed,  forbidding  the  denial  of  the 
trinity.  Here  Unitarians  became  very  numerous,  and  their 
academy  or  university  at  Rakow  at  one  time  had  more  than 
one  thousand  students  from  different  countries. 

But  this  prosperity  excited  the  jealousy  of  both  Catholics 
and  Calvinistic  Protestants.  Decrees  were  passed  depriving 
the  Unitarians  of  the  rights  of  citizens,  and  closing  their 
churches,  schools,  and  printing-  offices.  Their  pastors  and 
professors  were  banished,  the  profession  of  Unitarianism  was 
forbidden  on  pain  of  death,  and  every  Unitarian  was  obliged 
to  quit  the  kingdom  within  three  years.  They  fled,  some 
to  England,  some  to  Transylvania,  where  a  large  and  flour- 
ishing community  of  Unitarians  still  exists,  and  others  to 
Holland,  where  now  a  majority  of  the  Protestants  are  Uni- 
tarians. 

In  England  there  were  severe  laws  against  Unitarians. 
Joan  Bocher  was  put  to  death  by  burning,  Edward  the  Sixth 
signing  her  death  warrant.  Under  Elizabeth  a  number  of 
persons  were  burned  alive  for  being  Unitarian  Anabaptists, 


UNITARIANISM  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES.        569 

In  the  reign  of  James,  two  Englishmen  and  a  Spaniard  were 
burned  for  being  Unitarians.  These  were  the  last  executions 
in  England  for  this  cause,  though  an  act  of  the  Long  Parlia- 
ment, in  1648,  makes  the  denial  of  the  doctrine  of  the  trin- 
ity felony,  punishable  with  death  ;  and  a  Mr.  Biddle,  for  his 
Unitarianism,  was  cast  into  prison,  where  he  died  in  1662. 

But  legal  prohibition  did  not  prevent  the  growth  of  Uni- 
tarianism. Milton  and  Locke  were  Unitarians,  and  afterwards 
Sir  Isaac  Newton,  Lardner,  Dr.  Samuel  Clarke,  and  many 
other  men  distinguished  for  their  scholarship  and  learning. 
Since  religious  freedom  has  prevailed  in  the  Protestant 
countries  of  Europe  there  has  been  great  progress  of  Unita- 
rianism. It  prevails  extensively  in  Holland,  Germany,  Swit- 
zerland, and  France,  where  it  is  embraced  and  openly  pro- 
fessed by  many  pastors  and  congregations  connected  with 
the  national  churches. 

In  the  United  States  the  Puritan  settlers  of  New  England 
were  Calvinists  in  their  theology,  yet  they  were  diligent 
students  of  the  Scriptures,  defenders  of  the  rights  of  private 
judgment,  and  supporters  of  religious  liberty  as  it  was  then 
understood. 

UNITAEIANISM  IN  THE  UNITED   STATES. 

The  Pilgrim  Fathers,  who  settled  at  Plymouth,  had  resided 
for  more  than  eleven  years  in  Leyden,  the  seat  of  a  famous 
university  to  which  Arminius,  Grotius,  and  other  distin- 
guished thinkers  had  belonged,  and  without  doubt  shared 
in  the  more  liberal  sentiments  which  there  found  expression. 
The  parting  address  of  their  pastor,  Robinson,  warning  them 
not  to  be  bound  by  the  theology  of  Luther  or  Calvin,  and 
exhorting  them  to  receive  whatever  further  truth  God  should 
reveal  to  them,  he  "  being  very  confident  the  Lord  had  more 
truth  and  light  yet  to  break  forth  out  of  His  Holy  Word," 
must  have  had  a  permanent  influence  on  their  minds.  The 
seeds  of  Unitarian  thought  were  thus  early  sown  in  the 
minds  of  the  Pilgrim  Fathers,  the  covenants  of  their  churches 
were  so  indefinitely  expressed  that  they  allowed  much  lib- 
erty of  interpretation,  and,  although  for  more  than  a  nun- 


570  UNITARIAN  CONGREGATIONALISTS. 

dred  years  there  was  no  open  dissent  from  Calvinism,  yet 
the  parishes  of  the  Old  Colony  were  ready  to  sympathize 
with  the  Unitarian  or  liberal  movement  which  showed  itself 
about  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century. 

Unitarianism  grew  up  in  New  England  imperceptibly,  not 
so  much  because  the  ministers  preached  its  doctrines,  as  be- 
cause they  ceased  to  preach  Calvinism.  The  early  Unitarians 
were  called  Moderate  Calvinists  and  Arminians.  Edwards 
dates  in  1734  the  beginning  "of  the  great  noise  in  this  part 
of  the  country  about  Arminianism. "  President  John  Adams 
asserted  that  in  1750  Jonathan  Mayhew  and  a  number  of 
other  ministers,  whose  names  he  gave,  were  Unitarians.  In 
1756  Emlyn's  Scripture  account  of  Jesus  Christ  was  repub- 
lished  in  Boston,  and  extensively  read.  During  the  latter 
part  of  the  eighteenth  century  many  became  Unitarian  in 
their  theology.  During  the  first  fifteen  years  of  the  present 
century  the  drift  of  thought  in  most  of  the  Congregational 
churches  in  Boston,  and  in  the  eastern  part  of  Massachu- 
setts, was  towards  Liberal  Christianity,  as  Unitarianism  was 
then  called.  In  1805  a  controversy  arose  of  considerable 
violence  between  the  Orthodox  and  Liberal  Congregational- 
ists,  on  the  appointment  of  Dr.  Ware  to  the  Hollis  Proies- 
sorship,  of  Harvard  College. 

But  there  was  no  open  division  in  the  churches,  or  final 
severing  of  fellowship  and  interchange  of  pulpits  till  1815, 
when  after  the  republication  in  Boston  of  Belsham's  article 
on  "  The  Progress  and  State  of  the  Unitarian  Churches  in 
America,"  party  lines  were  more  strictly  drawn,  the  liberal 
churches  were  compelled  to  occupy  the  position  of  a  sect, 
and  the  name  of  Unitarian  was  bestowed  upon  them,  but  by 
which  many  of  the  older  parishes  have  never  consented  to 
be  called.  Another  controversy,  occasioned  by  a  sermon 
preached  by  Dr.  Channing  in  Baltimore  at  the  ordination  of 
Mr.  Sparks  in  1819,  arose,  in  which  Professor  Stuart  and 
Dr.  Woods,  of  Andover,  and  Dr.  Miller,  of  Princeton,  in 
behalf  of  the  Orthodox,  and  Mr.  Norton  and  Dr.  Ware,  of 
Cambridge,  and  Mr.  Sparks,  of  Baltimore,  on  the  side  of  the 
Unitarians,  took  a  prominent  part. 


MEANS  OF  DENOMINATIONAL   WORK.  571 

Since  that  time  the  separation  between  the  Orthodox  and 
Unitarian  Churches  has  been  complete :  except  that  for  the 
administration  of  certain  charities  the  ministers  of  the  two 
denominations  in  Massachusetts  meet  annually  in  conven- 
tion as  Congregationalists. 

MEANS   OF  DENOMINATIONAL  WORK. 

The  American  Unitarian  Association  was  organized  in  Bos- 
ton, May  25, 1825.  Its  objects,  as  denned  in  the  report  of  the 
committee  on  organization,  are  as  follows :  j 

1st.  To  collect  and  diffuse  information  respecting  the  state  of  Unitarian 
Christianity  in  our  country. 

2d.  To  produce  union,  sympathy,  and  co-operation  among  liberal 
Christians. 

3d.  To  publish  and  distribute  books  and  tracts,  inculcating  correct 
views  of  religion,  in  such  form  and  at  such  price  as  shall  afford  all  an 
opportunity  of  being  acquainted  with  Christian  truth. 

4th.  To  supply  missionaries,  especially  in  such  parts  of  our  country  as 
are  destitute  of  a  stated  ministry. 

5th.  To  adopt  whatever  other  measures  may  hereafter  seem  expedient, 
— such  as  contributions  in  behalf  of  clergymen  with  insufficient  salaries, 
or  in  aid  of  building  churches. 

The  Church  Building  Loan  Fund,  organized  Jan.  13, 1885, 
has  for  its  object  the  assisting  of  Unitarian  Societies  in  the 
erection  of  churches,  and  was  created  by  the  American  Uni- 
tarian Association,  with  the  co-operation  and  assistance  of 
the  National  Conference.  The  trustees  of  the  fund  are 
elected  by  the  directors  of  the  Association  ;  but  in  the  trans- 
action of  business  the  trustees  are  an  entirely  independent 
board. 

The  National  Conference  of  Unitarian  and  other  Christian 
Churches  owes  its  organization  to  a  special  meeting  of  the 
American  Unitarian  Association,  held  Dec.  7, 1864 ;  at  which, 
in  view  of  the  need  of  enlarged  denominational  activity,  a 
resolution  was  adopted  calling  "  a  convention,  to  consist  of 
the  pastor  and  two  delegates  from  each  church  or  parish  in 
the  Unitarian  denomination,  to  meet  in  the  city  of  New 
York,  to  consider  the  interests  of  our  cause,  and  to  institute 


572  UNITARIAN  CONGREGATIONALISTS. 

measures  for  its  good."  This  convention  was  held  in  New 
York  on  the  5th  and  6th  of  April,  1865,  and  organized  the 
National  Conference.  The  second  meeting  of  the  conference 
was  held  Oct.  10  and  11, 1866,  in  Syracuse,  N.  Y. ;  the  third, 
Oct.  7, 8,  and  9, 1868,  in  the  city  of  New  York ;  the  fourth,  at 
the  same  place,  Oct.  19,  20,  and  21, 1870 ;  the  fifth  in  Boston, 
Mass.,  Oct.  22,  23,  24,  and  25, 1872  ;  the  sixth,  in  Saratoga, 
N.  Y.,  Sept.  15, 16,  17,  and  18,  1874;  the  seventh,  in  Sara- 
toga, Sept.  12, 13, 14,  and  15, 1876  ;  the  eighth,  in  Saratoga, 
Sept.  17, 18, 19,  and  20, 1878 ;  the  ninth,  in  Saratoga,  Sept. 
21,  22,  23,  and  24, 1880  ;  the  tenth,  in  Saratoga,  Sept.  19,  20, 
21,  and  22, 1882 ;  the  eleventh,  in  Saratoga,  Sept.  22,  23,  24, 
25,  and  26, 1884. 

The  Women's  Auxiliary  Conference  of  Unitarian  and  other 
Christian  Churches  was  organized  to  meet  the  wish,  express- 
ed by  women  in  all  parts  of  the  country,  that  they  might 
share  more  definitely  in  the  work  of  the  National  Confer- 
ence. To  serve  the  great  cause  of  liberal  religion  is  the  pur- 
pose of  the  Association,  and  it  will  seek  to  do  this  by  increasing 
and  quickening  faith  in  the  grand,  vital  truths  of  religion, 
and  by  making  practical  their  power  to  help  and  bless  all 
who  may  be  reached  by  its  influence.  A  preliminary  meet- 
ing was  held  at  Saratoga,  at  the  time  of  the  meeting  of  the 
National  Conference  in  September,  1878,  and  the  organiza- 
tion was  completed  at  the  next  meeting  of  that  conference, 
in  September,  1880. 

The  Unitarian  Sunday-school  Society  was  instituted  1827 ; 
reorganized,  1854  ;  incorporated,  1838.  It  publishes  at  a  low 
price  a  large  number  of  valuable  text-books  for  Sunday- 
schools,  a  Sunday-school  Service  Book  and  Hymnal,  and 
various  other  helps  for  Sunday-school  work.  Its  missionary 
work  is  increasing  in  scope  and  importance,  and  it  solicits 
the  co-operation  of  all  the  Unitarian  churches  in  America  in 
fostering  the  religious  nurture  of  the  young. 

A  payment  of  ten  dollars  at  any  one  time  constitutes  a 
person  a  life-member  of  this  society ;  and  a  contribution  to 
the  funds  of  the  society  by  any  Unitarian  parish  or  Sunday- 
school  connected  therewith  entitles  such  parish,  either  direct 


MEMBERSHIP.— SCHOOLS.  573 

ly  or  by  its  Sunday-school,  to  appoint  three  persons  who  be- 
come members  of  this  society  for  the  term  of  one  year,  begin- 
ning with  the  first  day  of  October  next  following  the  receipt 
of  such  contribution  ;  and  such  persons  are  denominated  Dele- 
gate Members.  The  society  holds  a  special  meeting  in  Bos- 
ton in  Anniversary  Week,  and  has  its  annual  meeting,  for 
business,  election  of  officers,  and  discussion  of  Sunday-school 
work,  in  October. 

The  theological  schools  are  the  Divinity  School  of  Harvard 
University,  Cambridge,  Mass.,  formerly  established  in  1817, 
and  the  school  at  Meadville,  Pa.,  which  latter  is  open  to  both 
sexes. 

In  1890  there  were  reported  421  organizations,  424  church 
edifices  and  55  halls  used  for  church  purposes,  67,749  mem- 
bers, and  church  property  valued  at  $10,335,100.  There 
were  organizations  in  32  States  and  in  the  District  of  Colum- 
bia, and  more  than  half  the  entire  membership  was  in  Mas- 
sachusetts, New  York  ranking  second,  California  third,  and 
New  Hampshire  fourth.  There  were  but  few  organizations 
in  the  Southern  States. 


THE 

GHURGM 


THE  FOUNDERS   AND   THEIR  TIMES. 

AS  a  denomination,  Universalists  began  their  organiza- 
tion in  England  about  1750,  under  the  preaching  of 
the  Rev.  James  Relly,  who  gathered  the  first  church  of  be- 
lievers in  that  sentiment,  in  the  city  of  London.  It  is 
claimed  by  some  historians  of  the  church  that  its  doctrines 
were  first  preached  in  the  United  States  by  Dr.  George  De 
Benneville,  of  Germantown,  Pa.,  in  1741.  In  1754-'59  they 
were  preached  by  Rev.  Richard  Clark,  of  the  Episcopal 
Church,  Charleston,  S.  C.  In  1762  Dr.  Jonathan  Mayhew 
preached  them  in  Boston  ;  and  prefacing  his  "  Dialogues," 
Rev.  Elhanan  Winchester  speaks  of  a  lawyer  and  of  an  Epis- 
copal minister,  each  of  whom,  without  knowledge  of  the 
other,  had  advocated  them  "a  few  years  before"  1778,  in 
Virginia.  John  Murray  was  the  pioneer  of  the  church,  and 
the  church  dates  its  history  from  his  first  sermon  at  Good 
Luck,  N.  J.,  September  30,  1770.  Thomas  Potter  dwelt 
there.  Holding  peculiar  opinions,  he  had  years  before 
built  a  house  of  worship,  saying  that  God  would  send 
him  a  preacher.  The  house  was  opened  for  any  who 
wished  it,  but  time  passed  and  the  expected  one  came 
not.  At  length,  seeing  a  vessel  in  Cranberry  Inlet,  Potter 
was  impressed  that  his  preacher  had  arrived.  Murray  was 

(574) 


ORGANIZATION.  575 

the  man.  A  WMtefieldian  Methodist  in  England,  he  had 
become  a  Universalist  under  Kelly,  and,  bereaved  and  beset 
by  various  discouragements,  had  taken  passage  for  this  coun- 
try, resolved  to  hide  himself  among  strangers  and  never  to 
speak  in  public  again.  Providentially,  the  craft  in  which 
he  made  the  voyage  was  thrown  into  the  inlet,  and  on  its 
becoming  necessary  to  transfer  a  portion  of  her  cargo  to  a 
sloop,  he  was  put  in  charge,  and  by  a  change  of  wind  was 
left  behind.  Going  ashore  for  provisions,  he  was  led  to 
Potter's  door,  to  be  told  that  he  had  been  sent  there  to 
preach  the  next  Sunday.  He  protested  and  refused,  but 
was  assured  by  Potter  that  he  would  not  be  able  to  leave 
until  he  had  delivered  his  message.  And  so  it  proved; 
Murray  preached,  and  thus  began  the  career  which  made 
him  one  of  the  most  distinguished  religious  pioneers  of  this 
continent.  Caleb  Rich  followed  in  1778,  and  Elhanan  Win- 
chester in  1781.  To  them  others  slowly  joined  themselves — 
among  the  rest,  in  1791,  Hosea  Ballou. 

ORGANIZATION". 

At  first,  those  who  preached  Universalism  did  so  in  widely 
separated  districts,  solely  upon  their  individual  responsibil- 
ity, without  personal  acquaintance,  or  the  slightest  concert 
of  action.  But  as  ministers  and  congregations  increased, 
the  necessity  for  acquaintance  and  co-operation  asserted 
itself,  and  attempts  at  organization  ensued.  The  first  so- 
ciety was  formed  in  Gloucester,  Mass.,  January  1,  1779. 
Not  far  from  1780,  the  believers  in  Warwick,  Mass.,  and 
Richmond  and  Jaffrey,  N.  H.,  associated  themselves  as  a 
society,  establishing  church  discipline,  and  ordaining  Caleb 
Rich  to  be  their  minister.  The  General  Convention— or 
rather  the  body  which  became  the  present  General  Convention 
— was  formed  in  September,  1785.  Since  that  time,  and  espe- 
cially during  the  last  thirty  years,  the  elements  have  been 
gradually  crystallizing,  and  through  various  plans  and 
amendments  the  church  has  been  developing  towards  an 
effective  and  harmonious  ecclesiastical  system.  The  prob- 


676  THE  UNIVERSALIST  CHURCH. 

lem  has  been  to  combine  individual  freedom  and  congrega- 
tional independence  with  denominational  method  and  church 
unity  and  authority.  This  problem,  those  interested  think, 
was  solved  at  the  Centenary  session  of  the  General  Conven- 
tion held  at  Gloucester,  Mass.,  in  September,  1870,  where  a 
plan,  reported  by  a  committee,  was  adopted  by  a  virtually 
unanimous  vote,  providing  that 

The  ecclesiastical  organization  of  the  Universalist  Church  in  the  Uni- 
ted States  shall  be  constituted  as  follows  : 

1.  The  General  Convention,  having  jurisdiction  over  all  Universalist 
clergymen  and  denominational  organizations. 

2.  State  Conventions,  exercising  within  State  limits  a  similar  jurisdic- 
tion, subject  to  the  General  Convention. 

3.  Parishes,  composed  of  persons  associated  for  religious  improvement 
and  the  support  of  public  worship. 


DOCTKIJTE. 

Murray,  Winchester,  and  all  the  early  Universalists  were 
in  substantial  doctrinal  accord  with  the  existing  churches 
of  their  time  except  as  to  the  extent  of  salvation.  But  in 
1796,  Hosea  Ballou  began  to  preach  the  strict  unity  of  God 
and  the  corresponding  doctrine  of  the  Atonement ;  and  un- 
der his  lead  the  opinions  of  the  entire  body  soon  became 
modified  accordingly.  In  1803  the  General  Convention 
framed  a  Statement  of  Faith,  which  has  ever  since  stood 
as  the  basis  of  fellowship,  known  as  the  "Winchester 
Confession,"  because  adopted  at  Winchester,  N.  H.  It  is 
as  follows : 

AKTIOLE  1.  We  believe  that  the  Holy  Scriptures  of  the  Old  and  New 
Testaments  contain  a  revelation  of  the  character  of  God,  and  of  the 
duty,  interest,  and  final  destination  of  mankind. 

ARTICLE  2.  We  believe  that  there  is  one  God,  whose  nature  is  Love, 
revealed  in  one  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  by  one  Holy  Spirit  of  Grace,  who  will 
finally  restore  the  whole  family  of  mankind  to  holiness  and  happiness. 

ARTICLE  3.  We  believe  that  holiness  and  true  happiness  are  insep- 
arably connected,  and  that  believers  ought  to  be  careful  to  maintain 
order  and  practice  good  works,  for  these  things  are  good  and  profitable 
unto  men. 


CHRISTIAN  MARTYR.— DELAROCHK.— A  celebration  by,  modern  Art  of  the  night 
of  terror  through  which  the  Christians  of  the  first  ages  of  the  faith  passed. 


VIEWS  ON  FUTURE  PUNISHMENT.  577 

This  Statement  is  so  general  as  to  admit  of  numerous  dif- 
ferences in  a  common  loyalty  to  it ;  but  agreeing  in  its  sub- 
stance, whatever  their  other  differences,  Universalists  are  a 
unit  on  these  points,  viz. :  the  authenticity  of  the  Bible ; 
the  absolute  unity  and  universal  Fatherhood  of  God ;  the 
universal  brotherhood  of  man ;  the  sonship  and  dependence, 
but  none  the  less  the  infallibility  and  Divine  efficiency  of 
Christ ;  the  impersonality  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  but  its  neces- 
sity and  power  as  Comforter  and  Sanctilier  ;  the  unescapa- 
ble  certainty  of  Retribution ;  the  readiness  of  God  to  for- 
give sin ;  the  reality  of  the  Atonement  as  the  process  of 
man's  reconciliation  to  God  through  Christ ;  the  necessity 
of  faith,  penitence,  and  the  new  birth  as  the  indispensable 
conditions  of  salvation ;  and  the  certain  ultimate  triumph 
of  Christ  in  the  victory  of  good  over  evil,  as  God  shall  be 
"all  in  all." 

VIEWS    ON   FUTURE   PUNISHMENT. 

Universalism  is  commonly  supposed  to  be  synonymous 
with  the  doctrine  of  no  future  punishment.  But  such  is 
not  the  fact.  Until  1816-'17  very  little  was  heard  of  this 
doctrine  among  Universalists.  About  1817  Mr.  Ballou 
reached  the  conclusion  "  that  the  Scriptures  begin  and  end 
the  history  of  sin  in  flesh  and  blood";  and  for  ten  or  fifteen 
years  subsequent  to  1824,  on  account  of  his  great  personal 
influence,  his  theory  that  all  punishment  is  confined  to  this 
life  became  the  predominant  sentiment  of  the  denomination 
— resulting,  in  August,  1831,  in  the  secession  of  eight  minis- 
ters, headed  by  Revs.  Adin  Ballou,  Paul  Dean,  and  Charles 
Hudson,  for  the  organization  of  a  new  sect,  under  the  name 
of  "  Restorationists."  But  Universalism  never  became  iden- 
tical with  this  theory  of  Mr.  Ballou ;  nor  has  the  Univers- 
alist  Church,  as  such,  ever  been  committed  to  it,  or  respon- 
sible for  it.  Even  when  most  prevalent,  many  in  the 
denomination,  including  some  of  the  most  esteemed  and 
prominent  of  its  leaders,  never  accepted  the  theory.  They 
discountenanced  it,  and  condemned  the  secession  (which  soon 
came  to  naught)  fomented  because  of  it,  confident  that  time 
37 


578  THE  UNIVERSALIST  CHURCH. 

would  bring  its  due  reactions.  Their  anticipations  have  not 
been  disappointed.  Personally,  Mr.  Ballou  is  held  in  the 
highest  honor  as  the  patriarch  of  the  church,  and  his  theory 
as  to  punishment  still  has  its  believers ;  but  for  the  last 
thirty  years  the  movement  of  opinion  has  been  very  decid- 
edly away  from  it,  and  a  considerable  majority,  both  of  min- 
isters and  people,  now  hold  to  the  continuity  of  character, 
insisting  that  those  who  die  in  sin  must  take  their  character 
and  its  consequences  with  them,  and  that  they  are  to  be 
saved  only  because  they  will  at  some  time  comply  with  the 
conditions  of  salvation. 

So  early  as  May  25,  1790,  "  the  representatives  of  sundry 
societies  believing  in  the  salvation  of  all  men,"  convened  in 
Philadelphia,  bore  testimony  against  offensive  war  and 
against  slavery,  recommending  "  a  total  refraining  from  the 
African  trade,  and  the  adoption  of  prudent  measures  for  the 
gradual  abolition  of  the  slavery  of  the  negroes  in  our  coun- 
try, and  for  the  education  of  their  children  ";  and  ever  since, 
while  it  has  not  been  without  the  usual  differences  of  opin- 
ion among  its  individual  members,  the  Universalist  Church, 
as  a  church,  has  been  with  those  most  advanced  and  emphatic 
in  its  utterances  and  labor  against  slavery,  intemperance,  and 
capital  punishment,  and  in  favor  of  peace,  prison  reform, 
Christian  legislation  against  the  liquor-traffic,  and  all  efforts 
looking  to  the  relief  of  the  poor,  the  rescue  of  the  perishing, 
and  the  triumph  of  justice  and  purity  in  the  world. 

THE   CONDITION   OF   THE  CHURCH. 

In  1890  there  were  reported  40  State  conventions,  956  or- 
ganizations, 832  church  edifices  and  61  halls  used  for  church 
purposes,  49,194  members,  and  church  property  valued  at 
$8,054,333.  The  oldest  and  strongest  State  convention  was 
that  of  New  York,  organized  in  1825,  and  with  44,600  mem- 
bers ;  Massachusetts,  with  40,500  members,  had  the  largest 
value  of  church  property,  $2,110,193 ;  New  York  ranking 
second  in  value  of  church  property,  $1,798,250.  Maine, 
Ohio,  Vermont,  Illinois,  Pennsylvania,  New  Hampshire,  and 
Indiana,  followed  Massachusetts  in  strength  of  membership, 
in  the  order  named. .  The  educational  institutions  were : 


THE  CONDITION  OF  THE  CHURCH.  579 

Tufts  College,  The  Divinity  School  of  Tufts  College,  St. 
Lawrence  University,  St.  Lawrence  Theological  School,  Lom- 
bard University,  Lombard  Theological  Department,  Buchtel 
College,  Clinton  Liberal  Institute,  Westbrook  Seminary, 
Dean  Academy,  Goddard  Seminary,  and  Green  Mt.  Perkins 
Academy. 

The  Universalist  General  Convention  appropriates  each 
year  a  certain  amount  to  assist  worthy  young  men  who  may 
desire  to  enter  the  ministry  of  the  Universalist  Church,  after 
a  course  of  study  in  one  of  its  theological  schools.  This  aid 
is  given,  when  needed,  through  the  Trustees  of  the  General 
Convention,  and  on  the  terms  and  conditions  herewith  indi- 
cated :  He  must  well  sustain  an  examination  in  the  follow- 
ing branches  of  learning :  Rhetoric,  mental  and  moral  sci- 
ence, and  English  prose  composition.  It  is  desirable,  also, 
that  he  be  acquainted  with  the  Greek  of  the  New  Testament 
and  with  logic.  He  shall  make  declaration  of  his  desire  and 
purpose  to  devote  his  life  to  the  ministry  of  the  Universalist 
Church,  and  affirm  his  acceptance  of  the  Winchester  Profes- 
sion of  Faith.  It  is  only  in  view  of  such  a  desire  and  pur- 
pose that  he  is  aided. 

The  following  days  of  special  observance  are  recommended 
by  the  Universalist  General  Convention :  1.  Christmas  Sun- 
day. 2.  Easter  Sunday,  a  service  of  Recognition.  3.  The 
third  Sunday  in  May,  as  Educational  Sunday.  4.  The  second 
Sunday  in  June,  as  Children's  Sunday.  5.  The  first  Sunday 
in  October,  as  Memorial  Sunday.  6.  The  first  Sunday  in  No- 
vember, as  All-Souls  Sunday. 

These  several  Sundays  are  to  be  observed  each  year  by 
pastors  and  churches  for  the  purposes  designated  by  the 
topics  suggested. 


THE 


EMANUEL   SWEDEHBOKG. 

HMHOSE  who  compose  this  body  of  Christians  are  popu- 
I  larly  called  Swedenborgians,  from  Emanuel  Sweden- 
borg.  They  hold  to  the  doctrines  of  the  supreme  divinity 
of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  full  inspiration  of  the  Sacred 
Scriptures,  and  the  necessity  of  a  good  life. 

To  understand  their  system  of  religious  belief,  something 
must  be  said  concerning  their  founder. 

This  remarkable  man,  the  son  of  Jesper  Swedberg,  Bishop 
of  Skara,  in  Sweden,  was  born  in  Stockholm,  January  29, 
1688.  His  father  was  highly  esteemed  as  a  man  of  piety  and 
learning,  and  held  important  positions  in  the  church.  His 
son  early  received  a  good  education,  and  careful  religious 
training,  and  exhibited,  at  a  very  early  age,  a  strong  inclina- 
tion towards  pious  and  holy  meditations,  which  seemed  to 
foreshadow  his  subsequent  remarkable  spiritual  experiences. 
He  was  not,  however,  educated  for  the  ministry,  but  gradu- 
ated in  his  twenty- second  year,  as  Doctor  of  Philosophy  in 
the  University  of  Upsala.  He  early  manifested  a  strong  taste 
for  mathematics,  and  soon  began  to  publish  works  on  scien- 
tific subjects,  after  spending  four  years  in  travel  in  Europe, 
and  becoming  distinguished  as  a  man  of  science.  Charles 
XII.  appointed  him  Assessor  of  the  Board  of  Mines,  of  Swe- 


EMANUEL  SWEDENBORG.  581 

den,  an  office  which  was  regarded  as  one  of  great  import- 
ance, requiring  an  extensive  knowledge  of  metallurgy  and 
mechanics. 

From  this  time  Swedenborg  devoted  himself  to  science, 
pursuing  various  studies  and  publishing  valuable  treatises 
on  different  subjects,  which  embraced  algebra,  mechanics, 
metallurgy,  mining,  chemistry,  anatomy,  and  physiology. 
His  largest  work,  entitled  "  Opera  Mineralia  et  Philosophica," 
was  published  at  Leipsic  and  Dresden,  1733,  in  three  volumes, 
folio.  Two  other  works  which  have  attracted  the  atten- 
tion of  the  learned  are  "  The  Animal  Kingdom,"  and  "  The 
Economy  of  the  Animal  Kingdom."  These  works  were  writ- 
ten in  Latin.  The  last  two  have  been  translated  into  English, 
and  one  volume  of  the  first  named.  After  receiving  various 
marks  of  public  favor,  having  with  his  family  been  ennobled 
by  Queen  Ulrica — the  name  being  changed  from  Swedberg 
to  Swedenborg — he  resigned  his  office  of  Assessor  in  the 
year  1747.  As  a  further  mark  of  esteem,  the  queen  con- 
tinued his  salary  during  life.  His  retiring  from  public 
office  was  in  order  that  he  might  devote  himself  to  the  study 
of  spiritual  and  divine  subjects.  He  declared  that  the  Lord 
called  him  to  a  higher  office,  and  that  in  the  year  1745  his 
spiritual  senses  were  opened  so  that  he  could  see  and  hear 
things  in  the  spiritual  world  and  converse  with  angels.  In 
justice  to  Swedenborg,  it  may  here  be  stated,  that  it  does  not 
appear  that  he  sougJit  intercourse  with  the  world  of  spirits, 
and  he  solemnly  affirmed  that  the  privilege  was  granted  to 
him  that  he  might  communicate  to  the  world  a  knowledge 
of  the  spiritual  sense  of  the  Divine  Word,  and  of  the  philoso- 
phy of  the  future  state,  in  order  that  ignorance  might  be  re- 
moved and  infidelity  overcome. 

Swedenborg  never  attempted  to  establish  a  church  or  found 
a  sect,  and  never  preached.  He  printed  his  works  at  his  own 
expense,  without  profit,  and  seemed  to  entertain  no  doubt  of 
the  ultimate  reception  of  his  doctrines  by  large  numbers  ; 
although,  he  said,  their  reception  would  be  very  slow.  He 
died  in  London,  March  29,  1772.  He  was  never  married. 
Before  his  decease,  a  few  distinguished  scholars  and  divines 


582  THE  NEW  JERUSALEM  CHURCH. 

of  Sweden,  Denmark,  and  England  received  his  doctrines, 
but  it  was  not  until  some  years  afterwards  that  any  consider- 
able number  of  persons  openly  espoused  them,  or  made  efforts 
to  propagate  them. 

SWEDENBORG'S  DOCTRINES. 

These  doctrines  may  be  summed  up  as  follows  :  He  main- 
tains the  absolute  unity  of  God  and  the  identity  of  Jehovah 
with  Jesus.  'The  Lord  Jesus  Christ  was  God  manifest  in  the 
flesh,  having  a  human  nature  like  other  men,  but  a  Divine 
nature  within,  as  the  soul  in  the  body.  The  human  nature 
was  assumed  that  the  work  of  redemption  might  be  accom- 
plished, which  was  done  through  temptations  admitted  into 
the  human  nature,  and  combats  and  victories  over  the  powers 
of  darkness,  collectively  called  in  the  Scriptures  "Satan" 
and  the  "  Devil."  He  arose  from  the  dead  a  glorious  Divine 
Man,  "  God  over  all,  blessed  forever."  Swedenborg  does  not 
deny  the  trinity  in  a  proper  sense,  but  says  there  are  not 
three  persons,  but  three  essential  principles  in  one  Divine 
Being,  all  centered  in  the  person  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 
These  three  he  distinguishes  as  the  Divine  Love,  or  essential 
Divinity,  called  the  Father ;  the  Divine  Wisdom,  or  Word, 
or  the  Humanity,  called  the  Son  ;  and  the  Divine  proceeding 
life  or  influence,  called  the  Holy  Ghost  or  Spirit.  As  to  the 
atonement,  he  teaches  that  it  was  not  the  sacrifice  of  one 
being  to  satisfy  the  wrath  of  another  ;  but  the  reconciliation 
of  man  to  God,  through  the  power  of  the  truth  by  which  evil 
was  overcome  and  a  way  opened  for  man  to  approach  God, 
the  humanity  of  Jesus  being  the  medium  or  mediator  through 
which  the  reconciliation  was  effected,  according  to  the  saying 
of  the  apostle,  "  God  was  in  Christ  reconciling  the  world 
unto  Himself  "  (2  Cor.  v.  19).  As  to  the  Sacred  Scriptures,  he 
teaches  that  such  books  of  the  Bible  as  contain  a  spiritual 
sense  are  the  very  Word  of  God,  and,  consequently,  Divinely 
inspired  and  holy.  These  are  the  five  books  of  Moses, 
Joshua,  Judges,  Samuel,  Kings,  the  Psalms  and  the  Prophets 
in  the  Old  Testament,  and  the  four  Gospels  and  the  Book  of 


SWEDENBORG1  S  DOCTRINES.  583 

revelation  in  the  New.  The  others,  he  says,  are  good  books 
of  instruction  for  the  church,  but  are  not  inspired  in  such  a 
sense  as  to  form  a  part  of  the  very  Word  of  God.  The 
spiritual  sense  lies  concealed  within  the  letter,  as  the  soul  in 
the  body,  the  Word  having  been  written  by  correspondences 
of  natural  things  with  spiritual.  The  science  of  correspond- 
ences was  known  to  the  ancients,  hence  arose  the  hieroglyph- 
ics of  Egypt  and  the  mythologies  of  Greece  and  Rome.  To 
restore  this  long  lost  science  and  thus  to  reveal  the  hidden 
or  spiritual  meaning  of  the  Word,  is  declared  to  be  the  main 
object  of  his  mission.  Indeed  Swedenborg  says  that  by  the 
second  coming  of  the  Lord  is  not  meant  a  coming  in  person, 
but  a  coming  in  the  spirit  and  power  of  His  Word.  This  is 
what  is  meant  by  the  "  Son  of  Man  coming  in  the  clouds  of 
Heaven,  with  power  and  great  glory "  (Matt,  xxiv.) ;  the 
"  clouds  of  Heaven  "  denoting  the  literal  sense,  and  "  power 
and  great  glory  "  the  spiritual  sense  of  the  Word. 

Faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  is  a  primary  principle,  but 
salvation  depends  not  on  a  mere  profession  of  belief,  but 
upon  a  life  of  obedience  to  the  commandments.  The  old 
dogma  of  justification  by  faith  alone  is  rejected,  and  charity 
and  good  works  are  insisted  upon  as  necessary. 

As  to  the  Resurrection,  Swedenborg  teaches  that  when 
man  dies  he  puts  off  the  material  body  never  to  resume  it, 
and  rises  in  a  spiritual  body.  He  is  then  judged  in  an  inter- 
mediate state,  called  the  world  of  spirits,  the  judgment  con- 
sisting in  an  unrolling  of  his  book  of  life,  in  which  all  his 
secret  motives  are  written.  After  this,  his  state  is  fixed 
either  in  heaven  or  hell,  according  to  his  life  in  the  world. 
The  last  judgment,  he  says,  has  already  taken  place  in  the 
world  of  spirits,  having  consisted  in  a  separation  of  the  good 
from  the  evil,  who  were  gathered  there  from  the  time  of  the 
Lord's  first  coming.  The  date  is  fixed  at  1757.  When  this 
judgment  was  effected  a  new  order  of  things  began  to  pre- 
vail in  heaven  and  on  earth.  A  new  heaven  and  a  new  earth 
(that  is,  a  new  church,)  began  to  be  established,  and  the  New 
Jerusalem  began  to  descend.  The  effects  of  this  judgment, 
it  is  said  by  believers  of  these  doctrines,  may  be  seen  in  the 


584  THE  NEW  JERUSALEM  CHURCH. 

vast  changes  that  have  taken  place  during  the  past  century 
in  the  civil,  social,  and  religious  condition  of  the  Christian 
world.  For  particulars  respecting  Swedenborg's  philosophy 
of  the  future  state,  the  reader  is  referred  to  his  work  on 
Heaven  and  Hell.  It  may  be  stated  here  that  there  is  little 
sympathy  between  the  members  of  the  New  Church  and 
Modern  Spiritualists,  as  Swedenborg  teaches  that  seeking 
intercourse  with  spirits  is  attended  with  danger  to  a  man's 
soul.  As  to  forms  of  worship  he  prescribes  none,  but  teaches 
that  Baptism  and  the  Holy  Supper  are  Divinely  appointed 
ordinances.  The  members  of  this  church  are  baptized  "  into 
the  name  of  the  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Spirit." 

At  the  time  of  Swedenborg's  death  but  few  had  received 
his  doctrines,  but  believers  gradually  increased,  a  number  of 
the  clergy  in  Sweden  and  England  openly  or  secretly  teach- 
ing them.  No  attempt  was  made  to  form  a  separate  organi- 
zation until  the  year  1787,  when  Robert  Hindmarsh  and 
others  formed  a  society  for  worship  in  London.  Soon  after- 
wards twelve  men  were  chosen  from  the  male  members  of 
the  society  to  ordain,  by  the  laying  on  of  hands,  James 
Hindmarsh  and  Samuel  Smith  as  ministers  of  the  New 
Church.  In  1789,  the  General  Conference,  composed  of  rep- 
resentatives from  different  places  in  Great  Britain,  first  met 
and  has  continued  ever  since. 

.  In  the  year  1885,  England  and  Scotland  reported  65  so- 
cieties ;  Austria,  1 ;  Denmark,  4  ;  France,  11  ;  Germany,  8  ; 
Hungary,  1 ;  Italy,  9  ;  Norway,  2 ;  Sweden,  13  ;  Switzerland, 
6 ;  Australia,  12. 


THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED   STATES. 

The  doctrines  were  introduced  into  this  country  by  means 
of  books  brought  by  James  Glen  into  Philadelphia,  in  the 
year  1784.  The  first  permanent  church  was  formed  in  the 
city  of  Baltimore,  in  1798.  The  growth  of  -the  denomina- 
tion in  the  United  States  has  since  been  quite  slow.  As 
there  are,  doubtless,  many  believers  who  hesitate  to  avouch 
their  faith,  no  accurate  estimate  of  their  strength  can  be 


THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES.          585 

formed.  An  approximate  idea,  however,  is  found  in  the 
fact  that  in  1885  there  were  115  societies  in  the  United 
States,  and  five  in  Canada,  each  with  a  minister  or  leader. 
The  localities  were  Arkansas,  California,  Colorado,  Con- 
necticut, Delaware,  District  of  Columbia,  Georgia,  Illinois, 
Indiana,  Iowa,  Kansas,  Maine,  Maryland,  Massachusetts, 
Michigan,  Minnesota,  Missouri,  New  Hampshire,  New  Jersey, 
New  York,  Ohio,  Pennsylvania,  Rhode  Island,  Texas,  Vir- 
ginia, and  Wisconsin,  which  returned  an  aggregate  of  nearly 
5,000  professed  members.  They  have  a  General  Convention 
meeting  annually,  and  State  Associations.  They  have  a 
university  at  Urbana,  Ohio  ;  a  theological  school,  and  a  cor- 
respondence school  (established  1884),  at  Boston,  Mas*  ;  an 
academy  of  the  New  Church,  at  Philadelphia,  Pa.;  and 
three  publication  societies.  In  1890  there  were  reported 
154  organizations  or  societies,  with  87  churches  and  70  halls 
used  for  religious  purposes,  7,095  members,  and  church 
property  valued  at  $1,386,455.  The  Church  had  the  largest 
membership  in  Pennsylvania,  Ohio,  New  York,  California, 
and  New  Jersey,  in  the  order  named. 


THE   MORMONS. 


THE  CHUECH   OF  JESUS   CHRIST  OF  LATTER-DAY   SAINTS.* 

nn  HE  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  of  Latter-Day  Saints  was 
JL     organized  April  6,  1830,  with  six  members,  at  the 
house  of  Peter  Whitmer,  Fayette,  Seneca  County,  N.  Y. 

Joseph  Smith,  Junior,  through  whose  instrumentality  the 
Church  was  organized,  was  born  at  Sharon,  Windsor  County, 
Vt.,  December  23,  1805.  When  about  ten  years  old  he. 
removed  with  his  father  and  the  family  to  Palmyra,  Ontario 
(since  Wayne)  County,  N.  Y.  About  four  years  afterward 
the  family  moved  to  Manchester,  in  the  same  county. 

In  the  second  year  after  the  removal  to  Manchester,  an 
unusual  excitement  on  religious  subjects  prevailed  there, 
commencing  with  the  Methodists.  The  interest  became 
general  and  the  excitement  great,  the  various  religious 
parties  differing  much  from  each  other  in  their  preaching 
and  teaching.  Joseph  Smith,  then  in  his  fifteenth  year, 
reflected  deeply  and  seriously  upon  religious  subjects,  but 
the  confusion  and  strife  among  the  different  denominations 
were  so  great  that  he  was  at  a  loss  to  know  which  was  right 
and  what  he  ought  to  do. 


*  This  chapter  is  from  the  pen  of  Franklin  D.  Richards,  one  of  the 
Twelve  Apostles,  and  Assistant  Historian  of  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ 
of  Latter-Day  Saints.  The  editor  has  deemed  it  best  to  make  no  re- 


JOSEPH  SMITH.  587 

Thus  exercised  and  anxious,  while  reading  the  Bible  one 
day  he  was  forcibly  impressed  with  the  fifth  verse  of  the 
first  chapter  of  the  Epistle  of  James :  "  If  any  of  you  lack 
wisdom,  let  him  ask  of  God,  that  giveth  to  all  men  liberally 
and  upbraideth  not ;  and  it  shall  be  given  him." 

This  passage  went  with  such  unusual  force  to  his  mind 
that  he  resolved  to  act  upon  the  advice  therein  given.  Con- 
sequently, one  morning  early  in  the  spring  of  1820,  he 
retired  to  the  woods  to  ask  for  knowledge  and  wisdom  of 
God.  It  was  the  first  attempt  he  had  ever  made  to  pray 
vocally.  He  knelt  down  and  began  to  offer  up  the  desires 
of  his  heart  in  prayer  and  supplication.  He  had  scarcely 
done  so,  when  he  was  seized  by  some  invisible  power  that 
prevented  him  from  speaking,  and  darkness  gathered  around 
him.  However,  exerting  all  his  powers  to  call  upon  God  to 
deliver  him  out  of  the  power  of  the  enemy,  he  saw  over  his 
head  a  pillar  of  light,  brighter  than  the  sun,  which  de- 
scended gradually  until  it  fell  upon  him,  and  he  found  him- 
self delivered  from  the  power  of  the  enemy  which  had  held 
him  bound. 

When  the  light  rested  upon  him  he  saw  two  personages, 
of  indescribable  brightness  and  glory,  standing  above  him 
in  the  air.  One  of  them  spoke  to  him,  calling  him  by  name, 
and  said,  pointing  to  the  other,  "  This  is  my  beloved  Son, 
hear  him." 

As  soon  as  Joseph  Smith  could  speak,  he  asked  the  per- 
sonages who  appeared  to  him,  which  of  all  the  sects  was 
right,  and  which  he  should  join.  He  was  answered  that  he 
must  join  none  of  them,  for  they  were  all  teaching  wrong 
doctrines  ;  and  was  also  told  many  other  things. 

A  few  days  afterward,  Joseph  Smith,  in  conversing  with 
one  of  the  most  active  Methodist  preachers,  on  the  subject  of 
religion,  gave  an  account  of  the  vision  which  he  had  seen. 
The  preacher  replied  contemptuously,  saying  it  was  all  of  the 
devil:  there  were  no  such  things  as  visions  in  these  days;  all 
such  things  had  ceased  with  the  apostles  of  old,  and  there 
never  would  be  any  more.  Among  other  professors  of  relig- 
ion around,  the  telling  of  his  experience  excited  much  preju- 


588  THE  LATTER-DAY  SAINTS. 

dice,  and  all  the  sects  united  to  persecute  him.  He  likened 
himself  unto  the  Apostle  Paul,  who,  having  seen  a  light  and 
heard  a  voice,  said  so,  but  was  ridiculed,  reviled,  and  perse- 
cuted in  consequence.  Notwithstanding,  he  did  not  flinch 
from  his  testimony. 

On  the  evening  of  September  21, 1823,  after  he  had  retired 
to  his  bed,  he  prayed  earnestly  to  Almighty  God,  asking  for 
forgiveness  and  for  another  manifestation.  While  thus 
calling  upon  God,  a  light  appeared  to  him,  which  increased 
until  the  room  was  lighter  than  at  noonday,  and  a  personage 
appeared  at  his  bedside,  standing  in  the  air,  and  having  on 
a  loose  robe  of  most  exquisite  whiteness.  His  hands  and 
part  of  his  arms,  his  feet  and  up  to  above  his  ankles,  and  his 
head  and  neck  were  bare.  His  whole  person  was  glorious 
beyond  description,  his  countenance  was  like  lightning,  and 
a  halo  enveloped  his  immediate  person. 

At  first  sight,  Joseph  Smith  was  afraid,  but  this  soon 
passed  away.  The  angelic  visitor  called  him  by  name,  and 
said  he  himself  was  a  messenger  sent  from  God,  and  his 
name  was  Moroni.  The  messenger  further  told  Joseph 
Smith  that  God  had  a  work  for  him  to  do;  that  his  name 
should  be  had  for  good  and  evil  among  all  nations  ;  that  there 
was  deposited  a  book,  written  on  gold  plates,  and  giving  an 
account  of  the  former  inhabitants  of  America  ;  that  the  ful- 
ness of  the  everlasting  Gospel  was  contained  in  the  book,  as 
delivered  by  the  Saviour  to  the  ancient  inhabitants ;  that 
with  the  plates  were  deposited  two  stones,  in  a  silver  bow, 
fastened  to  a  breasfrolate,  and  constituting  the  Urim  and 
Thummim  ;  that  the  possession  and  use  of  these  stones  were 
what  constituted  seers  in  ancient  times ;  and  that  God  had 
prepared  them  for  the  translation  of  the  book.  The  messen- 
ger then  quoted  portions  of  the  third  chapter  of  Malachi, 
eleventh  chapter  of  Isaiah,  third  chapter  of  Acts,  second 
chapter  of  Joel,  and  many  other  passages  of  Scripture,  some 
as  in  King  James'  translation  and  others  differently,  and 
informed  him  that  when  he  had  obtained  the  plates  he  must 
show  them  only  to  such  persons  as  he  should  be  commanded 
so  to  do. 


THE  PLATES.  589 

The  messenger  then  withdrew.  But  he  reappeared  twice 
the  same  night,  each  time  reiterating  the  instructions  pre- 
viously given,  and  also  giving  further  instructions,  telling 
Joseph  Smith  that  great  judgments  were  soon  to  come  upon 
the  earth,  cautioning  him  against  the  temptations  of  Satan, 
and  forbidding  him  to  have  any  object  in  view  in  obtaining 
the  plates  except  the  glory  of  God.  During  the  vision  the 
place  where  the  plates  were  deposited  was  shown  to  him. 

The  next  day,  while  in  the  field,  the  messenger  appeared 
to  him  again,  related  the  instructions  given  in  the  night,  and 
directed  him  to  go  and  tell  his  father,  which  he  did.  His 
father  told  him  the  visitations  were  of  God,  and  that  he 
should  do  as  the  messenger  had  directed  him. 

Accordingly  he  went  to  the  place  where  the  messenger 
had  shown  him  the  plates  were  deposited,  which  was  near 
the  village  of  Manchester.  They  lay  in  a  stone  box,  covered 
by  a  stone  lid,  a  portion  of  the  top  of  which  was  visible 
above  ground,  on  the  west  side  of  the  largest  hill  in  the 
neighborhood.  He  moved  the  stone  lid,  and  saw  the  plates, 
the  Urim  and  Thummim,  and  the  breastplate.  As  he  was 
attempting  to  take  them  out,  the  messenger  again  appeared 
and  forbade  him  to  do  so,  telling  him  that  the  time  for  their 
removal  would  be  four  years  later.  But  he  was  to  go  to  the 
same  place  yearly  and  the  messenger  would  meet  him  there, 
and  would  continue  to  do  so  until  the  time  should  come  to 
obtain  the  plates. 

On  the  22d  of  September,  1827,  Joseph  Smith  went  as 
usual  on  his  yearly  visit  to  the  place  of  deposit,  and  the 
same  heavenly  messenger  delivered  the  plates,  the  Urim  and 
Thummim,  and  the  breastplate  to  him,  with  the  charge  that 
he  should  be  responsible  for  them,  and  that  he  was  not  to 
let  them  go  carelessly,  but  that  if  he  would  endeavor  to  pre- 
serve them  until  the  messenger  should  call  for  them,  they 
would  be  protected. 

Joseph  Smith  quickly  discovered  the  necessity  for  this 
strict  caution,  for  as  soon  as  it  was  noised  around  that  he 
had  such  things  in  his  possession,  all  manner  of  devices  and 
stratagems  were  invented  and  adopted  to  obtain  them  from 


590  THE  LATTER-DAY  SAINTS. 

him.  But  lie  was  enabled  to  preserve  them,  and  they  were 
kept  safely  until  the  Book  of  Mormon  was  translated,  when 
they  were  returned  to  the  same  heavenly  messenger. 

The  excitement  and  persecution  became  so  great  that 
Joseph  Smith  left  Manchester  and  went  to  Susquehanna 
County,  Pa.,  where  he  commenced  to  translate  the  plates  by 
means  of  the  TJrim  and  Thummim,  Martin  Harris  acting  as 
copyist,  and  afterward  Oliver  Cowdery. 

On  the  15th  of  May,  1828,  Joseph  Smith  and  Oliver  Cow- 
dery went  into  the  woods  to  pray,  and,  while  they  were  call- 
ing on  the  Lord,  a  messenger  from  heaven  descended  in  a 
cloud  of  light,  laid  his  hands  upon  them,  and  ordained 
them,  saying,  "  Upon  you,  my  fellow-servants,  in  the  name 
of  Messiah,  I  confer  the  priesthood  of  Aaron,  which  holds 
the  keys  of  the  ministering  of  angels,  and  of  the  gospel  of 
repentance,  and  of  baptism  by  immersion  for  the  remission 
of  sins  ;  and  this  shall  never  be  taken  again  from  the  earth, 
until  the  sons  of  Levi  do  offer  again  an  offering  unto  the 
Lord  in  righteousness." 

The  messenger  said  his  name  was  John,  the  same  as  is 
called  John  the  Baptist  in  the  Bible  ;  that  he  acted  under 
the  direction  of  the  apostles  Peter,  James,  and  John,  who 
held  the  keys  of  the  priesthood  of  Melchisedek,  which 
priesthood  should  afterward  be  conferred  upon  them  ;  and 
that  Joseph  should  be  called  the  first  elder  and  Oliver  the 
second. 

The  messenger  further  said  that  the  Aaronic  priesthood  * 
had  not  the  power  of  laying  on  of  hands  for  the  gift  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  but  that  should  be  conferred  afterward,  and 
commanded  them  to  go  and  baptize  each  other,  Joseph  to 
baptize  Oliver  first,  then  Oliver  to  baptize  Joseph,  and  then 
they  were  to  ordain  each  other  to  the  Aaronic  priesthood. 
They  went  and  baptized  each  other,  after  which  Joseph  laid 
his  hands  upon  Oliver's  head  and  ordained  him  to  the 
Aaronic  priesthood,  and  then  Oliver  laid  his  hands  on 
Joseph  and  ordained  him  to  the  same  priesthood. 

A  few  days  afterward  Samuel  H.  Smith,  brother  to  Joseph, 
was  baptized,  and  the  next  month  Hyrum  Smith,  David 


THE  BOOK  OF  MORMON.  591 

Whitmer,  and  Peter  Whitmer,  Junior,  were  baptized  in 
Seneca  Lake. 

In  June,  1829,  Joseph  Smith,  Oliver  Cowdery,  David 
Whitmer,  and  Martin  Harris,  the  three  latter  having  been 
designated,  by  revelation  from  God,  to  be  special  witnesses 
of  the  divine  origin  of  the  work,  retired  to  the  woods  to 
pray.  In  answer  to  their  prayers  an  angel,  enveloped  in 
great  brightness,  stood  before  them,  with  the  plates  in  his 
hand.  He  turned  over  some  of  the  leaves  one  by  one,  and 
then,  addressing  David  Whitmer,  said,  "  David,  blessed  is 
the  Lord,  and  he  that  keeps  his  commandments." 

Immediately  afterward,  a  voice  was  heard  out  of  the 
bright  light  above  them,  saying,  "  These  plates  have  been  re- 
vealed by  the  power  of  God,  and  they  have  been  translated 
by  the  power  of  God.  The  translation  of  them  which  you 
have  seen  is  correct,  and  I  command  you  to  bear  record  of 
what  you  now  see  and  hear." 

Eight  other  witnesses  have  testified  that  Joseph  Smith 
showed  the  plates  to  them,  and  that  they  handled  those 
of  the  plates  which  had  been  translated.  The  names  of 
these  witnesses  are:  Christian  Whitmer,  Jacob  Whitmer, 
Peter  Whitmer,  Junior,  John  Whitmer,  Hiram  Page,  Joseph 
Smith,  Senior,  Hyrum  Smith,  Samuel  H.  Smith. 

The  testimony  of  these  eleven  witnesses  is  prefaced  to  the 
Book  of  Mormon,  as  the  translation  from  the  plates  is  en- 
titled. Though  most  of  these  men  afterward  became  dis- 
satisfied and  left  the  Church,  not  one  of  them  has  ever 
repudiated  the  testimony  he  was  commanded  of  the  Lord 
to  bear. 

At  another  time  the  priesthood  of  Melchisedek  was  con- 
ferred upon  Joseph  Smith  through  the  ministration  of  the 
apostles  Peter,  James,  and  John  ;  Joseph  was  also  com- 
manded to  ordain  Oliver  Cowdery  an  Apostle,  and  then  Oliver 
was  to  ordain  Joseph  an  Apostle,  which  they  did  April  6, 1830, 
when  the. Church  was  organized. 

The  Book  of  Mormon  contains  an  account  of  the  people 
of  Jared,  who  went  from  the  tower  of  Babel ;  also  of  the 
people  of  Nephi,  who  left  Jerusalem  about  600  years  before 


592  THE  LATTER-DAY  SAINTS. 

Christ,  and  of  those  with  Mulek,  who  left  eleven  years 
later;  all  settling  in  America.  The  plates  on  which  the 
Book  of  Mormon  was  engraved  were  hid  up  in  the  earth, 
in  the  hill  called  Cumorah,  by  the  prophet  Moroni,  in  the 
early  part  of  the  fifth  century  after  Christ. 

Oliver  Cowdery  describes  this  hill  where  the  plates  were 
deposited  as  follows : 

"As  you  pass  on  the  mail-road  from  Palmyra,  Wayne 
County,  to  Canandaigua,  Ontario  County,  N.  Y.,  before  ar- 
riving at  the  little  village  of  Manchester,  say  from  three  to 
four,  or  about  four  miles  from  Palmyra,  you  pass  a  large 
hill  on  the  east  side  of  the  road.  Why  I  say  large,  is  be- 
cause it  is  as  large,  perhaps,  as  any  in  that  country. 

"  The  north  end  rises  quite  suddenly  until  it  assumes  a 
level  with  the  more  southerly  extremity,  and,  I  think  I  may 
say,  an  elevation  higher  than  at  the  south,  a  short  distance, 
say  half  or  three-fourths  of  a  mile.  As  you  pass  toward 
Canandaigua  it  lessens  gradually,  until  the  surface  assumes 
its  common  level,  or  is  broken  by  other  smaller  hills  or 
ridges,  watercourses  and  ravines.  I  think  I  am  justified  in 
saying  that  this  is  the  highest  hill  for  some  distance  round, 
and  I  am  certain  that  its  appearance,  as  it  rises  so  suddenly 
from  a  plain  on  the  north,  must  attract  the  notice  of  the 
traveller  as  he  passes  by."  "The  north  end  (which  has 
been  described  as  rising  suddenly  from  the  plain)  forms  a 
promontory  without  timber,  but  covered  with  grass.  As 
you  pass  to  the  south  you  soon  come  to  scattering  timber, 
the  surface  having  been  cleared  by  art  or  wind  ;  and  a  short 
distance  further  left,  you  are  surrounded  with  the  common 
forest  of  the  country.  It  is  necessary  to  observe,  that  even 
the  part  cleared  was  only  occupied  for  pasturage  ;  its  steep 
ascent  and  narrow  summit  not  admitting  the  plow  of  the 
husbandman  with  any  degree  of  ease  or  profit.  It  was  at 
the  second  mentioned  place,  where  the  record  was  found  to 
be  deposited,  on  the  west  side  of  the  hill,  not  far  from  the 
top  down  its  side  ;  and  when  myself  visited  the  place  in  the 
year  1830,  there  were  several  trees  standing — enough  to 
cause  a  shade  in  summer,  but  not  so  much  as  to  prevent  the 


ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  CHURCH.  593 

surface  being  covered  with  grass,  which  was  also  the  case 
when  the  record  was  first  found." 

The  plates  had  the  appearance  of  gold.  Each  was  about 
six  by  eight  inches,  not  quite  so  thick  as  Common  tin.  The 
number  of  plates  is  not  known,  but  altogether  they  were 
about  six  inches  thick,  and  were  fastened  together  at  one 
edge  by  three  rings  running  through  the  whole.  Some  of 
them  were  sealed.  The  unsealed  plates  were  engraved  with 
small  characters  on  both  sides,  and  were  translated. 

When  the  translation  was  about  ready  to  be  printed, 
a  contract  was  made  with  Egbert  Grandon,  of  Palmyra, 
Wayne  County,  K  Y.,  to  print  5,000  copies  for  $3,000.  It 
was  published  in  1830. 

Thenceforth  Joseph  Smith  and  others  in  the  Church 
preached  the  Gospel,  baptizing  those  who  believed.  The 
first  public  discourse  was  preached  by  Oliver  Cowdery,  April 
11,  1830,  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Whitmer,  at  Fayette.  The 
first  Conference  of  the  Church  was  held  June  1,  1830.  Per- 
secution and  mobbing  followed,  and  also  vexatious  and 
illegal  assaults,  arrests,  and  trials,  which  have  continued  to 
follow  the  mf«nbers  of  the  Church  in  divers  places  to  the 
present  time, 

ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

The  LevUml  or  Aaronic  priesthood,  comprising  bishops, 
priests,  teachers,  and  deacons,  was  conferred  by  John  the 
Baptist  upon  Joseph  Smith  and  Oliver  Cowdery,  May  15, 
1829. 

The  Melchisedek  priesthood,  comprising  apostles,  patri- 
archs, high-priests,  seventies,  and  elders,  was  conferred  on 
Joseph  Smith  by  the  apostles  Peter,  James,  and  John,  a 
short  time  after. 

The  Aaronic  priesthood  is  an  appendage  to  the  Melchis- 
edek priesthood,  and  is,  therefore,  subject  to  it.  In  both 
priesthoods  presidencies  arise  or  grow  out  of  the  necessities 
of  organization. 

The  various  offices,  and  the  duties  of  their  incumbents,  in 


594  THE  LATTER-DAY  SAINTS. 

both  priesthoods  were  made  known  to  the  Church  by  revela 
tion  through  Joseph  Smith  at  various  times. 

Both  priesthoods  have  been  continued  in  the  Church  to 
the  present  time  by  ordination,  through  the  laying  on  of 
hands  of  those  having  the  requisite  authority. 

Men  are  called  by  revelation  from  God,  or  by  the  inspira- 
tion of  His  Holy  Spirit,  and  ordained  to  office  by  those  who 
hold  presiding  authority,  or  under  their  direction. 

The  First  Presidency  of  the  Church  consists  of  a  Presi- 
dent and  two  Counsellors.  The  first  President  was  Joseph 
Smith,  with  Sidney  Rigdon  and  Frederick  G.  Williams  as 
his  counsellors,  accepted  as  such  in  Kirtland,  Ohio,  February 
17, 1834. 

The  duty  of  the  First  Presidency  is  to  preside  over  the 
Church  and  officiate  in  its  various  offices,  as  may  be  necessary. 

The  election  of  the  First  President  and  the  presiding 
Council  is  regulated  by  The  Book  of  Doctrine  and  Cove- 
nants, sec.  107,  par.  22,  which  says :  "  Of  the  Melchisedek 
Priesthood,  three  presiding  High  -  Priests,  chosen  by  the 
body,  appointed  and  ordained  to  that  office,  and  upheld 
by  the  confidence,  faith,  and  prayer  of  the  Church,  form 
a  quorum  of  the  Presidency  of  the  Church." 

The  Twelve  Apostles  are  a  travelling  presiding  high  coun- 
cil, next  in  order  of  precedence  and  authority  to  the  First 
Presidency.  The  Presidency  of  this  body  goes  by  seniority 
of  membership  in  the  council.  The  first  council  of  the 
Twelve  Apostles  was  chosen  at  Kirtland,  February  14, 1835. 
Apostles  are  appointed  by  the  First  Presidency  and  the 
Twelve  Apostles.  Wilford  Woodruff  was  accepted  and  sus- 
tained as  president  of  the  council  of  the  Twelve  Apostles, 
October  10, 1880.  The  duties  of  the  twelve  are  to  preach 
the  Gospel  and  build  up  the  Church  and  regulate  the  affairs 
of  the  same  in  all  nations,  under  the  direction  of  the  First 
Presidency.  On  the  death  of  the  President  of  the  Church, 
the  presiding  authority  rests  with  the  Council  of  the  Twelve 
Apostles,  until  another  First  Presidency  is  chosen  and  in- 
stalled. 

The  Seventies  are  organized  into  various  councils  of  sev- 


ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  CHURCH.  595 

enty  members  each,  commonly  spoken  of  as  quorums.  Each 
of  these  councils  has  seven  presidents,  numbered  in  the 
seventy,  one  of  the  seven  presiding  over  the  others  and  over 
the  whole  seventy.  The  seven  presidents  of  the  first  of 
these  councils  or  quorums  preside  over  all  the  other  coun- 
cils or  quorums  of  seventies.  Members  of  seventies  are 
appointed  by  presidents  of  seventies  ;  presidents  of  seventies 
by  the  Presidency  of  the  Church,  or  by  the  Twelve  Apostles, 
or  by  presidents  of  seventies  under  the  direction  of  the 
Presidency  of  the  Church.  The  first  council  of  seventies 
was  chosen  at  Kirtland,  February  28, 1835.  In  1887  there 
were  nearly  one  hundred  quorums  of  seventies. 

Elders  are  organized  in  councils  of  ninety-six  members, 
priests  in  councils  of  forty-eight,  teachers  in  councils  of 
twenty-four,  and  deacons  in  councils  of  twelve,  each  council 
having  a  president  and  two  counsellors. 

The  president  of  the  council  of  priests  should  be  a  bishop. 
Priests,  teachers,  and  deacons  are  appointed  by  the  ward 
bishops  or  persons  holding  higher  offices. 

Apostles,  high-priests,  seventies,  and  elders  belong  to  the 
Melchisedek  priesthood,  whose  chief  duties  are  the  minis- 
tration in  spiritual  things.  The  President  of  the  Church 
presides  over  the  Melchisedek  priesthood. 

Bishops,  priests,  teachers,  and  deacons  belong  to  the 
Aaronic  priesthood,  whose  chief  duties  are  the  ministration 
in  outward  ordinances  and  temporal  things.  The  Presiding 
Bishop  is  appointed  by  the  First  Presidency,  or  by  the 
Twelve  Apostles,  and  with  his  two  counsellors,  presides  over 
the  Aaronic  priesthood. 

William  B.  Preston  was  appointed  and  sustained  by  vote, 
as  presiding  bishop,  April  6, 1884,  at  the  General  Conference 
of  the  Church  at  Salt  Lake  City.  Robert  T.  Burton  and 
John  R.  Winder  are  his  counsellors. 

At  the  gathering  places  of  the  Saints  there  is  a  local 
organization  into  districts,  called  Stakes  of  Zion.  In  Utah, 
each  stake  is  usually,  though  not  necessarily,  but  for  con- 
venience, coextensive  with  a  county.  Each  stake  has  a 
president,  with  his  two  counsellors,  and  also  has  a  high 


596  THE  LATTER-DAY  SAINTS. 

council  of  twelve  high-priests,  who  are  accepted  by  vote 
of  the  conference  of  the  stake  in  which  they  reside,  the  lat- 
ter presided  over  by  the  president  of  the  stake  and  his  two 
counsellors.  The  jurisdiction  of  a  high  council  is  mostly 
appellate,  and  its  decisions  are  usually  final,  although  ap- 
peals are  sometimes  taken  from  it  to  the  Presidency  of  the 
Church,  who  can  call  in  twelve  high-priests  to  assist  them. 
The  jurisdiction  of  the  various  councils  extends  only  to 
fellowship  and  standing  in  the  Church. 

THE  STAKE  PRESIDENT  AND  Two  COUNSELLORS  are  ap- 
pointed by  the  First  Presidency,  or  under  their  direction,  by 
the  Twelve  Apostles.  The  High  Council  of  Twelve  High- 
Priests  by  the  First  Presidency,  or  by  the  Twelve  Apostles, 
or  by  the  Presidency  of  the  Stake. 

Each  stake  is  divided  into  a  convenient  number  of  wards, 
over  each  of  which  a  bishop  with  his  two  counsellors  pre- 
sides. THE  BISHOP  AND  Two  COUNSELLORS  PRESIDING 
OVER  A  WARD  are  appointed  by  the  Presidency  of  the 
Church,  or  by  the  Twelve  Apostles,  generally  on  recommen- 
dation of  the  Presidency  of  the  Stake,  or  of  the  Presiding 
Bishop.  Each  ward  commonly  has  its  own  meeting-house. 

Each  stake,  as  a  rule,  holds  a  quarter-yearly  conference, 
lasting  two  days.  The  Church  usually  holds  two  general 
conferences  every  year  ;  one,  the  annual  conference,  on  April 
6,  and  the  other,  the  semi-annual,  on  October  6,  each  ordi- 
narily lasting  three  or  four  days. 

It  is  a  ruling  principle  in  the  Church  that,  so  far  as  is  rea- 
sonably possible,  all  things  should  be  done  by  common 
consent. 

FURTHER    HISTORY. 

In  1831  Joseph  Smith  removed  to  Kirtland,  Ohio.  The 
same  year  settlements  were  made  at  or  near  Independence, 
Jackson  County,  Missouri,  the  members  of  the  Church  soon 
after  spreading  into  other  counties  of  that  State.  The 
Church  had  a  hard  time  in  Missouri,  being  grievously  perse- 
cuted and  driven  from  place  to  place,  and  eventually  ex- 


FURTHER  HISTORY.  597 

pelled  from  the  State,  under  the  exterminating  order  of 
Governor  Boggs  in  1838. 

The  next  principal  place  of  refuge  and  gathering  was 
Nauvoo,  formerly  Commerce,  Hancock  County,  Illinois.  Soon 
persecution  followed  them  there.  Joseph  Smith  was  arrested 
many  times  on  false  charges.  Finally,  while  under  pledge  of 
safe  keeping  by  Governor  Ford,  he  and  his  brother  Hyrum 
were  shot  dead  in  Carthage  jail,  June  27,  1844,  by  an  armed 
mob,  with  faces  blackened,  under  the  dictum  that,  if  the  law 
of  the  land  could  not  reach  him,  powder  and  ball  should. 
John  Taylor  was  severely  wounded  on  the  same  occasion. 

On  the  death  of  Joseph  Smith,  the  Council  of  the  Twelve 
Apostles,  with  Brigham  Young  president,  became  the  pre- 
siding council  of  the  Church. 

Persecution  continuing,  the  Church  determined  to  go  west- 
ward to  some  far  distant  place  to  live  in  peace.  Brigham 
Young  and  a  large  company  left  Nauvoo  early  in  1846,  arriv- 
ing at  Council  Bluffs,  Iowa,  in  July  of  the  same  year,  when 
the  Mormon  battalion  of  five  hundred  men  was  called  for  and 
enlisted  by  the  Federal  Government,  to  aid  in  the  war  with 
Mexico.  The  grand  encampment,  however,  named  Winter 
Quarters,  was  located  across  the  Missouri,  where  Florence  is 
now  situated.  It  was  Indian  territory  then,  the  main  body 
of  the  Latter-Day  Saints  resting  there  awhile,  on  their  west- 
ward pilgrimage,  by  permission  of  the  Indians.  The  fol- 
lowing September,  the  remainder  of  the  Latter-Day  Saints 
at  Nauvoo,  including  many  aged,  infirm,  poor,  and  sick, 
were  attacked  by  an  armed  mob,  despoiled  of  most  of  their 
property,  driven  across  the  river,  and  otherwise  abused,  and 
several  were  killed. 

In  the  spring  of  1847,  Brigham  Young,  with  143  pioneers, 
started  to  cross  the  plains  and  Rocky  Mountains,  arriving  in 
Great  Salt  Lake  Yalley  July  24  of  the  same  year,  locating 
upon  the  site  of  and  founding  Great  Salt  Lake  City,  now 
Salt  Lake  City. 

On  December  27, 1847,  a  First  Presidency  was  accepted,  of 
which  Brigham  Young  was  president.  Heber  C.  Kimball 
and  Willard  Richards  were  his  counsellors. 


f>9S  THE  LATTER-DAY  SAINTS. 

In  1857,  in  consequence  of  prejudice  and  false  reports, 
President  Buchanan  sent  an  army  to  Utah,  which  entered 
Salt  Lake  Valley  the  next  spring,  the  inhabitants  vacating 
their  homes  and  moving  southward.  Peaceable  arrange- 
ments having  been  shortly  entered  into,  most  of  the  people 
returned  to  their  homes  after  a  few  months.  The  army  had 
little  to  do,  and  finally  went  back. 

On  the  29th  of  August,  1877,  Brigham  Young  died,  and  the 
care  of  the  Church  fell  upon  the  Council  of  the  Twelve 
Apostles,  John  Taylor  presiding. 

On  the  10th  of  October,  1880,  John  Taylor,  President,  with 
George  Q.  Cannon  and  Joseph  F.  Smith,  counsellors,  were 
accepted  as  the  First  Presidency  of  the  Church. 

On  the  25th  of  July,  1887,  John  Taylor  died,  in  exile  for 
religion's  sake.  The  presidency  of  the  Church  then  fell  once 
more  upon  the  Council  of  the  Twelve  Apostles,  to  remain 
until  the  inauguration  of  another  First  Presidency. 

MISSIONS. 

Since  the  organization  of  the  Church,  about  five  thousand 
missionaries  have  been  sent  to  various  nations  and  States  to 
preach  the  Gospel.  Elders  went  to  Canada  in  1833  ;  Eng- 
land in  1837 ;  Wales,  Scotland,  Isle  of  Man,  Ireland,  Aus- 
tralia, and  East  Indies  in  1840 ;  Palestine  in  1841,  passing 
through  the  Netherlands,  Bavaria,  Austria,  Turkey,  and 
Egypt  on  the  way  ;  Society  Islands  in  1844  ;  Channel  Islands 
and  France  in  1849  ;  Denmark,  Sweden,  Italy,  Switzerland, 
and  the  Sandwich  Islands  in  1850 ;  Norway,  Iceland,  Ger 
many,  and  Chili  in  1851 ;  Malta,  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  Bur 
mah,  Siam,  and  the  Crimea  in  1852 ;  Gibraltar,  Prussia. 
China,  Ceylon,  and  the  West  Indies  in  1853 ;  the  Nether- 
lands in  1861 ;  Austria  in  1864  ;  Mexico  in  1877. 

PUBLICATIONS. 

"The  Book  of  Mormon"  was  published  in  English  in 
1841 ;  in  Danish  in  1851 ;  in  Welsh,  French,  German,  and 
Italian  iu  1852  ;  in  Hawaiian  in  1855  ;  in  Swedish  *n  1878  r 


EMIGRA  TION— TEMPLES. 

portions  in  Spanish  in  1876  and  the  whole  in  1886.  It  has 
been  translated  into  Hindustanee  and  Dutch,  and  in  1887  a 
translation  was  being  made  into  Maori. 

"The  Book  of  Doctrine  and  Covenants"  is  a  selection 
from  the  revelations  of  God,  chiefly  to  Joseph  Smith. 
Numerous  editions  of  this  book,  as  well  as  of  "  The  Book 
of  Mormon,"  have  been  published  in  America  and  England. 
"The  Doctrine  and  Covenants"  was  also  published  in 
Welsh  in  1851,  in  Danish  in  1852,  and  in  German  in  1876. 
Many  thousands  of  the  "Hymn-Book"  in  many  editions 
have  been  published  in  America  and  England,  as  well  as 
hymn-books  in  Welsh  and  Danish.  Divers  periodicals  of 
various  kinds,  advocating  the  doctrines  of  the  Church,  have 
been  published  in  America,  England,  Wales,  Denmark, 
Sweden,  France,  Germany,  Switzerland,  Australia,  and  Ind^a. 
Hundreds  of  thousands  of  other  books  and  tracts  have  been 
published  in  the  interests  of  the  Church,  in  various  parts  of 
the  globe. 

EMIGRATION. 

The  emigration  of  Latter-Day  Saints,  from  Europe  chiefly, 
amounted  to  about  80,000  souls  up  to  1887,  and  was  being 
added  to  at  the  rate  of  one  to  two  thousand  yearly. 

TEMPLES. 

In  addition  to  ordinary  meeting-houses,  the  Latter-Day 
Saints  build  temples,  which  are  used  as  houses  of  learning, 
or  select  schools  for  theological  instruction,  and  also  for  the 
administration  of  the  various  ordinances  of  the  Gospel  for 
the  living  and  for  the  dead.  The  following  temples  have  been 
erected  :  One  at  Kirtland,  Ohio  ;  corner-stone  laid  in  1833, 
dedicated  in  1836.  Another  at  Nauvoo,  111.;  corner-stone 
laid  in  1841,  dedicated  in  1846.  The  third  at  St.  George, 
Washington  County,  Utah  ;  corner-stone  laid  in  1873,  dedi- 
cated in  1877.  The  fourth  at  Logan,  Cache  County,  Utah ; 
corner-stone  laid  in  1877,  dedicated  in  1884.  One  at  Salt 
Lake  City,  Utah ;  corner-stone  laid  in  1853 ;  and  one  n1 
Manti,  Sanpete  County,  Utah;  corner-stone  laid  in  1879 


600  THE  LATTER-DAY  SAINTS. 

The  site  for  a  temple  was  dedicated  at  Independence,  Jack- 
son County,  Mo.,  in  1831,  and  the  corner-stone  of  another 
at  Far  West,  Caldwell  County,  Mo.,  was  laid  in  1838. 

CELESTIAL   MARRIAGE. 

On  the  12th  of  July,  1843,  about  one  year  before  his  death, 
Joseph  Smith  received  a  revelation  from  God  on  the  eter- 
nity of  the  marriage  covenant,  including  plurality  of  wives, 
wherein  the  Lord  explained  the  principle  and  doctrine  of 
men  of  God  having  more  wives  than  one,  also  imposing  it 
upon  the  Church,  and  commanding  its  observance,  under 
strict  and  righteous  regulations.  In  consequence  of  the 
prevailing  prejudice  and  opposition  to  this  doctrine,  it  was 
not  considered  prudent  to  make  it  public  at  the  time,  more 
especially  as  it  was  not  applicable  to  persons  not  members 
of  the  Church.  Consequently  it  was  not  made  public  until 
about  eight  years  after  Joseph  Smith's  death,  when  it  was 
publicly  read  to  the  Church  in  special  conference  at  Salt 
Lake  City,  and  was  accepted  by  the  conference  August  29, 
1852.  It  is  well  understood  among  Latter-Day  Saints  that 
Joseph  Smith  and  many  other  prominent  members  of  the 
Church  married,  or  had  sealed  to  them,  several  wives.  Jo- 
Beph  Smith's  first  wife  was  Emma  Hale,  who  was  married  to 
him  January  18, 1827.  Of  the  names  or  number  of  his  other 
wives,  as  also  the  dates  of  their  marriage  to  him,  we  are  not 
informed.  After  the  publication  of  this  doctrine,  the  custom 
of  having  several  wives  prevailed  to  an  increased  extent  in 
the  Church.  These  several  wives  have  always  been  con- 
sidered as  honorable  and  their  children  as  legitimate,  in  the 
sight  of  God  and  of  the  accepted  members  of  the  Church, 
as  any  other  wives  and  children,  and  have  been  treated  as 
Buch. 

REPRESSIVE  LEGISLATION. 

Of  late  years,  at  nearly  every  session,  legislation  of  a 
special  character  has  been  urged  upon  Congress,  and  oc- 
casionally a  bill  of  this  kind  has  become  law,  meant  ex- 
pressly for  Utah  and  the  Latter-Day  Saints.  All  this  legis- 


DOCTRINES.  601 

lation  is  of  a  repressive  character,  much  of  which  Latter-Day 
Saints  regard  as  outrageous  and  unconstitutional,  restrict- 
ing the  rights  and  privileges  of  the  people  in  regard  to  civil 
and  religious  liberty  and  local  self-government. 

Among  those  laws  regarded  as  unjust  are  the  anti-polyg- 
amy and  confiscatory  law  of  1862,  the  Poland  law  of  1874, 
the  Edmunds  law  of  1882,  the  Hoar  amendment  to  the  civil 
appropriation  law  of  the  same  year,  and  the  Edmunds- 
Tucker  law  of  1887.  These  various  laws  annul  divers  ter- 
ritorial laws,  forbid  and  punish  plural  marriage  and  living 
with  plural  wives,  confiscate  real  estate  and  other  Church 
property,  appoint  civil  officers  to  control  Church  affairs, 
curtail  the  jurisdiction  of  Territorial  courts,  extend  the 
jurisdiction  of  Federal  courts,  diminish  the  number  and 
powers  of  locally  elective  officers,  multiply  the  number  and 
powers  of  Federal  officers,  compel  instant  attendance  of  wit- 
nesses by  attachment  without  subpcsna,  require  Federal 
officers  to  do  police,  sheriff,  and  constable  duty,  fill  local 
offices  by  Federal  appointment  instead  of  by  local  election, 
abolish  woman  suffrage,  deprive  citizens,  without  process  of 
law,  of  the  vested  right  of  voting,  and  impose  test  oaths 
on  officers,  jurors,  and  voters. 

In  administering  these  repressive  measures  it  is  held  that 
most  of  the  governors,  judges,  prosecuting  attorneys,  com- 
missioners, marshals,  and  other  Federal  officials  in  the  Ter^ 
ritory  have  stretched  and  strained  the  law  to  the  utmost, 
and  at  times  have  exceeded  it  so  greatly  and  so  grossly  as 
to  call  down  the  severe  rebuke  of  the  President  and  of  the 
Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States. 

DOCTRINES. 

The  following  summary  of  doctrines  believed  in  is  from  a 
letter  by  Joseph  Smith,  written  in  1842  : 

We  believe  in  God,  the  Eternal  Father,  and  in  His  Son, 
Jesus  Christ,  and  in  the  Holy  Ghost. 

We  believe  that  men  will  be  punished  for  their  own  sins 
and  not  for  Adam's  transgression. 


602  THE  LATTER-DAY  SAINTS. 

We  believe  that  through  the  atonement  of  Christ  all 
mankind  may  be  saved  by  obedience  to  the  laws  and  ordi- 
nances of  the  Gospel. 

We  believe  that  these  ordinances  are  :  First,  Faith  in  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ ;  second,  Repentance  ;  third,  Baptism  by 
immersion  for  the  remission  of  sins ;  fourth,  Laying  on  of 
hands  for  the  Gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 

We  believe  that  a  man  must  be  called  of  God,  by  "  proph- 
ecy, and  by  laying  on  of  hands,"  by  those  who  are  in  au- 
thority to  preach  the  Gospel  and  administer  in  the  ordi- 
nances thereof. 

We  believe  in  the  same  organization  that  existed  in  the 
primitive  church,  viz. :  apostles,  prophets,  pastors,  teachers, 
evangelists,  etc. 

We  believe  in  the  gift  of  tongues,  prophecy,  revelation, 
visions,  healing,  interpretation  of  tongues,  etc. 

We  believe  the  Bible  to  be  the  word  of  God,  as  far  as  it 
is  translated  correctly  ;  we  also  believe  the  Book  of  Mormon 
to  be  the  word  of  God. 

We  believe  all  that  God  has  revealed,  all  that  He  does 
now  reveal,  and  we  believe  that  He  will  yet  reveal  many 
great  and  important  things  pertaining  to  the  Kingdom  of 
God. 

We  believe  in  the  literal  gathering  of  Israel  and  in  the 
restoration  of  the  Ten  Tribes.  That  Zion  will  be  built  upon 
this  continent.  That  Christ  will  reign  personally  upon  the 
earth,  and  that  the  earth  will  be  renewed  and  receive  its 
paradisiac  glory. 

We  claim  the  privilege  of  worshipping  Almighty  God  ac- 
cording to  the  dictates  of  our  conscience,  and  allow  all 
men  the  same  privilege,  let  them  worship  how,  where,  or 
what  they  may. 

We  believe  in  being  subject  to  kings,  presidents,  rulers, 
and  magistrates,  in  obeying,  honoring,  and  sustaining  the 
law. 

We  believe  in  being  honest,  true,  chaste,  benevolent,  vir- 
tuous, and  in  doing  good  to  all  men ;  indeed  we  may  say 
that  we  follow  the  admonition  of  Paul,  "We  believe  all 


PLURAL  MARRIAGE  IN  UTAH.  603 

things,  we  hope  all  things,"  we  have  endured  many  things, 
and  hope  to  be  able  to  endure  all  things.  If  there  Is  any- 
thing virtuous,  lovely,  or  of  good  report,  or  praiseworthy, 
we  seek  after  these  things. 


PLURAL  MARRIAGE  IN   UTAH. 

The  establishment  of  the  Plural  Marriage  System  among 
the  Mormons  has  been  a  work  of  years.  It  was  no  sudden 
social  revolution,  but  has  been  a  steady  growth.  The  "  Rev- , 
elation  on  Celestial  Marriage  "  was  made  known  at  first  to 
but  a  few  and  to  them  in  secret.  Their  testimony  as  to  its 
effects  on  their  minds  is  on  record.  Trained  in  modern 
Christian  traditions  and  reared  in  monogamic  society,  they 
were  shocked  and  amazed.  Strange  to  say,  the  women  were 
scarcely  more  averse  to  it  than  the  men.  The  Apostles  and 
others  to  whom  it  was  explained  by  Joseph  and  Hyrum  Smith 
in  1843,  were  sorely  troubled  until,  as  they  say,  by  prayer 
and  investigation  they  became  thoroughly  convinced  as  to 
its  rightfulness  and  divinity  ;  and  their  wives,  imbued  with 
the  same  earnest  desires  after  truth,  accepted  the  revelation 
and  consented  to  its  practice.  In  a  few  instances  the  women, 
guided  by  feeling  instead  of  faith,  and  by  involuntary  repug- 
nance rather  than  reason,  rejected  and  opposed  it  until  the 
power  of  example  and  the  desire  to  obtain  as  many  blessings 
as  their  neighbors,  overcame  their  objections,  and  they 
joined  in  assisting  to  make  it  practicable  and  honorable. 

Here  came  in  the  exercise  of  charity,  forbearance,  patience, 
and  self-sacrifice  as  remarkable  as  it  would  be  considered 
admirable  in  any  other  cause.  Loving  wives  gave  to  their 
husbands  others  in  what  they  understood  to  be  sacred  wed- 
lock, like  the  holy  women  of  old  ;  and  in  doing  so,  claimed 
to  have  received  divine  manifestations  of  approval  which 
softened  the  trial  and  sanctified  the  sacrifice. 

The  tragic  death  of  the  Prophet  and  Patriarch  and  the 
exodus  from  Nauvoo,  with  the  subsequent  toilsome  march 
across  the  wilderness  to  the  vales  of  the  Rocky  Mountains, 
somewhat  retarded  the  increase  of  Plural  Marriages,  but 


THE  LATTER-DAY  SAINTS. 

at  the  same  time  spread  a  knowledge  as  to  the  doctrine  and 
the  relations  existing  under  it,  because  everybody  became 
acquainted  with  his  neighbor's  affairs. 

In  1852  the  revelation  was  made  public  both  to  the  saints 
and  to  the  world.  The  example  of  men  and  women,  recog- 
nized as  good  citizens  and  worthy  and  leading  members  of 
the  church,  who  lived  in  harmony  and  advocated  the  system, 
aided  the  exposition  of  the  doctrine  by  the  preaching  of  the 
Elders  in  establishing  the  practice  among  the  general  com- 
munity. Only  those  considered  worthy  were  permitted  to 
engage  in  it,  and  the  ceremony  of  sealing  in  each  case, 
whether  of  a  first  wife  or  a  plural  wife,  being  exactly  the 
same  and  solemnized  in  the  name  of  Deity  for  time  and 
all  eternity,  thus  laying  hold  upon  the  world  to  come,  it 
came  to  be  viewed  as  a  mark  of  distinction  and  a  sacred 
privilege  to  be  practically  connected  with  what  was  called 
the  "  Eternal  Order  of  Patriarchal  Marriage,"  in  which  were 
the  "blessings  of  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob."  The  term 
polygamy  is  not  considered  by  the  Mormons  as  properly 
applied  to  their  marriage  system.  They  call  it  Celestial 
Marriage,  because  it  is  an  eternal  contract  under  divine 
regulation  ;  and  think  that  "  Plural  Marriage  "  is  more  ap- 
propriate to  them  than  "Polygamy." 

The  Bible, — King  James'  translation, — has  been  one  of  the 
great  instruments  in  the  establishment  of  Mormon  Polyg- 
amy. A  plurality  of  wives  being  permitted  in  patriarchal 
times,  provided  for  and  regulated  under  the  Mosaic  law, 
and  permitted  and  not  anywhere  forbidden  under  the  early 
teachings  of  the  Christian  dispensation,  the  Bible  as  a  whole 
is  polygamous  in  its  tendency,  viewed  apart  from  modern 
ideas,  bias,  and  interpretations.  The  Mormons  are  a  Bible- 
believing  people ;  and  they  repudiate  the  commentaries, 
spiritualizations,  and  renderings  of  the  divines  of  all  the 
sects,  taking  its  language,  pure  and  simple,  as  a  guide  as  to 
what  God  revealed  in  the  times  and  for  the  people  when  its 
several  books  were  written.  And  they  think  that  what  a 
Being  who  never  changes  sanctioned  and  did  not  forbid 
ages  ago,  cannot  be  essentially  evil  in  these  latter  days. 


PLURAL  MARRIAGE  IN  UTAH.  605 

it  nas  gradually  grown  among  the  Mormons  until, 
to  the  astonishment  of  Christendom,  women  of  ability,  fine 
feeling,  and  gentle  training  have  become  the  most  ardent 
advocates  of  a  system  that  revolts  the  civilized  world.  In 
addition  to  the  religious  zeal  and  fervent  faith  which  act- 
uate these  women,  they  claim  to  have  learned  by  expe- 
rience and  observation  many  practical  advantages  to  their 
sex  growing  out  of  the  system.  While  they  have  to  share 
the  time  at  the  disposal  of  their  husbands  with  others,  de- 
pendent upon  his  care  and  objects  of  his  affection,  they  are 
protected  during  anticipated  maternity  and  other  seasons 
from  associations  which  for  their  own  good  and  that  of  their 
progeny  are  better  to  be  discontinued.  They  become  more 
self-reliantv  devoted  to  their  children  and  better  able  to  bear 
the  cares  QI  maternity  than  their  monogamous  sisters,  and 
they  learn  to  appreciate  these  advantages.  They  smile  at 
the  idea,  often  advanced,  that  they  have  but  a  fractional 
part  of  a  husband  and  say  that  this  is  a  physical  impossi- 
bility, and  an  error  in  principle  and  in  fact.  And  they  ask 
if  each  child  has  the  fractional  part  of  a  mother,  or  their 
love  or  hers  is  lessened  by  increase  of  offspring.  To  "  love 
iky  neighbor  as  thyself  "  is  a  Christian  duty,  and  they  con- 
glder  they  cannot  perform  it  more  faithfully,  in  spirit  and 
in  act,  than  by  willingly  recognizing  the  right  of  other 
women  holding  the  same  relations  and  feeling  the  same  love 
for  their  husbands  as  tney  do  themselves.  The  harem,  a 
feature  of  Asiatic  polygamy,  is  not  an  adjunct  of  Mormon 
plural  marriage.  Each  wife  usually  has  her  own  home. 
Often  it  is  her  own  property,  held  in  her  own  right ;  for  the 
laivs  of  Utah  are  very  liberal  as  to  the  property  rights  of 
women,  married  or  single.  If  circumstances  render  this  im- 
possible or  inexpedient,  she  lives  in  her  own  apartments 
with  the  control  of  her  own  children  and  affairs.  Nowhere 
is  the  acme  principle  cherished  more  than  among  the  Mor- 
mons ;  for  the  family  is  considered  as  the  present  and  future 
Iieaven.  And  as  "  the  woman  is  the  glory  of  the  man,"  so 
th^  children  are  the  glory  of  the  mother  and  the  basis 
of  her  kingdom  with  her  "love"  in  the  world  to  come 


606  THE  LATTER-DAY  SAINTS. 

Thoughtful  young  women,  looking  to  eternity  as  well  as 
time,  believing  that  their  happiness  forever  is  involved  in 
the  choice  of  a  husband,  in  many  instances  prefer  to  trust 
their  destiny  to  an  honorable,  God-fearing,  industrious  man 
who  has  proven  his  integrity  in  the  family  relation,  both  to 
his  wife  and  his  children,  rather  than  chance  the  risks  of  an 
untried  and  possibly  unstable  youth,  who  may  turn  out  a 
blank  in  that  which  some  call  the  lottery  of  wedlock.  The 
subjects  of  love,  marriage,  maternity,  and  conjugal  and 
parental  relations  are  freely  discussed  by  ladies  in  the 
organization  known  as  the  Relief  Society,  which  has  its 
branches  in  every  part  of  Utah,  and  has  for  its  object  the 
relief  of  the  poor,  and  the  intellectual  and  spiritual  culture 
of  its  members.  It  is  supplemented  by  the  Mutual  Im- 
provement Societies  for  the  younger  ladies  of  the  com- 
munity. Principle  instead  of  passion  is  advocated,  and 
everlasting  interests  are  held  up  as  paramount. 

The  support  of  plural  families  is  a  puzzle  to  inquirers 
familiar  with  the  struggles  in  monogamic  society  to  support 
an  ordinary  family  and  keep  up  appearances.  In  the  valleys 
of  Utah  there  are  opportunities  for  accumulating  means 
other  than  by  daily  toil  which  enterprising  men  are  not  slow 
to  take  advantage  of.  And  these  are  the  class,  as  a  rule, 
that  enter  into  polygamy.  The  very  courage  and  confidence 
which  they  must  have  to  assume  the  cares,  responsibilities, 
and  extra  burdens  of  extra  families,  are  qualities  likely  to 
make  them  successful  in  the  battle  of  life.  And  it  is  a  fact 
well  known  to  the  people  who  live  in  connection  with  this 
marriage  system,  that  these  men  of  large  families  are  "  pros- 
pered "  in  their  business  undertakings  ;  and  the  exigencies 
of  the  situation  are  a  stimulus  to  energy  and  perseverance. 
The  wives,  too,  learn  to  be  economical  and  thrifty,  and  are 
mutually  helpful,  assisting  each  other  in  times  of  sickness 
and  willing  to  share  with  each  other  in  the  comforts  as  well 
as  toils  of  family  life.  These  women  are  not  butterflies  of 
fashion,  but  working  bees  in  the  family  hive.  The  increase, 
not  the  suppression  of  progeny,  is  their  desire  and  am- 
bition. Their  pleasures  are  simple  and  are  not  the  chief 


PLURAL  MARRIAGE  IN  UTAH.  607 

object  of  exertion  and  existence.  All  this  must  be  taken 
into  account  in  an  endeavor  to  understand  the  workings  of 
Mormon  polygamy. 

Of  course  there  are  cases  of  unhappiness  and  discord  in 
polygamous  relations.  The  people  are  human  beings  with 
like  passions  and  feelings  to  others.  Both  men  and  women, 
in  polygamy  as  in  monogamy,  sometimes  act  foolishly  or 
wickedly  or  both.  The  very  opportunities  that  polygamy 
affords  for  the  exercise  of  patience,  forbearance,  charity, 
self-control,  and  regard  for  the  wishes  of  others,  are  open- 
ings for  indulgence  in  their  opposites.  But  experience  has 
demonstrated  that  those  virtues  are  absolutely  necessary  to 
the  very  existence  of  plural  families,  to  say  nothing  of 
peace  and  content,  which  are  the  groundwork  of  happiness. 

Therefore  the  fact  that  such  families  have  continued  for 
periods  extending  from  a  few  years  to  over  forty  years,  re- 
peating themselves  in  the  succeeding  generation,  speaks 
more  than  theory  or  argument  as  to  the  exercise  of  those 
Christian  qualities  in  homes  popularly  supposed  to  be  hot- 
beds of  passion  and  breeding-spots  of  discord  and  conten- 
tion. The  teachers,  whose  duty  it  is  to  visit  the  church 
members  and  assist  in  the  settlement  of  disputes,  report  that 
as  a  rule  there  is  far  less  family  trouble  in  the  polygamous 
than  in  the  monogamous  households.  As  there  is  no  rule  or 
obligation  that  compels  a  plural  wife  to  remain  in  relations 
which  she  desires  to  sever,  fairness  and  a  proper  deportment 
are  rendered  necessary  on  the  part  of  the  husband,  in  order 
to  retain  her  allegiance  and  her  affections.  When  all  its 
aspects  are  viewed  impartially,  there  will  be  more  general 
surprise  that  men  will  assume  the  multiplied  responsibilities 
of  Mormon  polygamy,  than  that  women  can  accept  their 
position  in  the  system. 

The  feelings  and  views  of  the  Mormon  women,  to-day,  on 
this  subject,  may  be  learned  from  the  expressions  of  their 
representatives  at  the  Ladies'  Mass  Meeting,  held  in  Salt 
Lake  City  Theatre,  March  6, 1886,  the  proceedings  of  which 
are  published  in  pamphlet  form  by  the  Deseret  News  Com- 
pany. 


608  THE  LATTER-DAY  SAINTS. 

The  large  majority  of  the  people  of  Utah  are  monog- 
amous in  practice.  The  female  population  is  less  than  the 
male.  "  Celestial  marriage,"  as  the  plural  system  is  called, 
is  only  for  persons  of  elevated  character,  recommended  by 
the  local  and  endorsed  by  the  General  Church  Authorities. 
While  all,  with  but  a  very  few  exceptions,  believe  in  the 
rightfulness  of  plural  marriage  under  given  circumstances, 
all  do  not  consider  it  obligatory  upon  them  or  that  they  are 
suited  to  its  conditions  and  responsibilities. 

The  two  classes  are  not  divided  on  principle,  but  are  dif- 
ferent as  to  its  practice.  The  polygamists  are  all  disfran- 
chised. No  one  can  vote  or  hold  office  who  is  a  polygamist 
or  who  will  not  take  an  oath  to  obey  the  laws.  The  voters, 
then,  are  monogamist,  present  and  prospective.  They  have 
framed  a  State  Constitution  embodying  provisions  already 
in  existence  under  the  laws  of  the  United  States.  They 
propose  to  execute  them  fairly  as  other  laws  are  enforced, 
and  not  partially  and  in  the  spirit  of  persecution  as  the 
Edmunds  law  has  been  administered.  Practically,  every 
accused  Mormon  is  considered  guilty  and  is  required  to 
prove  his  innocence  or  suffer  the  extreme  penalties.  It  is 
proposed  to  reverse  this  and  give  defendants  in  polygamy 
cases  the  same  rights  as  other  defendants. 

The  monogamous  Mormons  do  not  refer  to  matters  of 
faith  in  the  Constitution  they  have  framed,  for  these  are 
outside  of  politics.  But  they  intend  in  good  faith  to  carry 
out  the  provisions  they  have  made  under  the  State  in  defer- 
ence to  the  pronounced  decision  of  the  vast  majority  of  the 
nation,  not  as  a  religious  but  as  a  political  measure.  The 
polygamists  have  no  voice  in  the  matter,  for  they  have  no 
votes.  The  people  who  have  broken  no  law  claim  the  rights 
of  citizens  under  the  law,  and  they  deny  the  justice  of  de- 
priving them  of  political  rights  because  of  the  alleged  mis- 
demeanor of  others  over  whom  they  have  no  control. 

THE  LAWS   AGAINST   POLYGAMY, 

To  the  foregoing  contribution  from  Mr.  Franklin  D.  Rich- 
ards, the  editor  deems  it  advisable  to  add  a  statement  re- 


THE  EDMUNDS  LAW  OF  1882.  609 

specting  the  legislation  of  Congress  against  the  practice  of 
polygamy.  The  Mormons  justify  themselves  on  the  ground 
of  "the  rights  of  conscience"  to  practice  their  religion. 
The  people  of  the  United  States  concede  "  the  rights  of  con- 
science "  so  far  as  belief  is  concerned,  but  not  as  to  practice, 
and  hold  that  if  it  were  conceded  to  each  citizen  the  right 
to  practice  anything  he  believed  to  be  right,  then  civil  gov- 
ernment in  the  United  States  must  necessarily  become  ex- 
tinct. In  consequence  of  the  conflict  between  these  views 
and  the  general  opposition  to  a  plurality  of  wives,  the 
question  has  been  discussed  in  Congress  year  after  year  and 
much  legislation  has  been  had  to  suppress  polygamy,  all  of 
which,  however,  seemed  insufficient. 


THE  EDMUNDS   LAW   OF  1882. 

At  length  United  States  Senator  Edmunds,  of  Vermont, 
drafted  a  bill  which  passed  both  Houses  of  Congress,  and  is 
known  as  the  Edmunds  Act  of  1882.  Its  main  provisions 
are: 

That  if  any  male  person  in  a  Territory  or  other  place  over  which  the 
United  States  have  exclusive  jurisdiction  hereafter  cohabits  with  more 
than  one  woman,  he  shall  be  deemed  guilty  of  a  misdemeanor,  and  011 
conviction  thereof  shall  be  punished  by  a  fine  of  not  more  than  $300,  or 
by  imprisonment  for  not  more  than  six  months,  or  by  both  said  punish- 
ments, hi  the  discretion  of  the  court ;  that  every  person  who  has  a  hus- 
band or  wife  living  who,  in  a  Territory  or  other  place  over  which  the 
United  States  have  exclusive  jurisdiction,  hereafter  marries  another, 
whether  married  or  single,  and  any  man  who  hereafter  simultaneously, 
or  on  the  same  day,  marries  more  than  one  woman,  in  a  Territory  or 
other  place  over  which  the  United  States  have  exclusive  jurisdiction,  is 
guilty  of  polygamy,  and  shall  be  punished  by  a  fine  of  not  more  than 
$500  and  by  imprisonment  for  a  term  of  not  more  than  five  years ;  but 
this  section  shall  not  extend  to  any  person  by  reason  of  any  former  mar- 
riage, whose  husband  or  wife  by  such  marriage  shall  have  been  absent 
for  five  successive  years  and  is  not  known  to  such  person  to  be  living 
and  is  believed  by  such  person  to  be  dead,  nor  to  any  person  by  reason 
of  any  former  marriage  which  shall  have  been  dissolved  by  a  valid  de- 
cree of  a  competent  court,  nor  to  any  person  by  reason  of  any  former 


610  THE  LATTER-DAY  SAINTS. 

marriage  which  shall  have  been  pronounced  void  by  a  valid  decree  of  a 
competent  court,  on  the  grounds  of  nullity  of  the  marriage  contract; 
that  the  President  is  hereby  authorized  to  grant  amnesty  to  such  classes 
of  offenders  guilty  of  bigamy,  polygamy,  or  unlawful  cohabitation  be- 
fore the  passage  of  this  act,  on  such  conditions  and  under  such  limita- 
tions as  he  shall  think  proper;  but  no  such  amnesty  shall  have  effect 
unless  the  conditions  thereof  shall  be  complied  with ;  that  the  issue  of 
bigamous  or  polygamous  marriages,  known  as  Mormon  marriages,  in 
cases  in  which  such  marriages  have  been  solemnized  according  to  the 
ceremonies  of  the  Mormon  sect  in  any  Territory  of  the  United  States, 
and  such  issue  shall  have  been  born  before  the  first  day  of  January, 
Anno  Domini  eighteen  hundred  and  eighty-three,  are  hereby  legiti- 
mated ;  and  that  no  polygamist,  bigamist,  or  any  person  cohabiting  with 
more  than  one  woman,  and  no  woman  cohabiting  with  any  of  those  per- 
sons described  as  aforesaid  in  this  section  in  any  such  Territory  or  other 
place  over  which  the  United  States  have  exclusive  jurisdiction,  shall  be 
entitled  to  vote  at  any  election  held  in  any  such  Territory  or  other  place, 
or  be  eligible  for  election  or  appointment  to,  or  be  entitled  to  hold  any 
office  or  place  of  public  trust,  honor,  or  emolument  in,  under,  or  for 
any  such  Territory  or  place,  or  under  the  United  States.  , 

The  reports  of  the  Commissioners  appointed  under  the  Act 
furnish  an  interesting  view  of  Mormonism  under  the  new 
regime.  In  the  report  to  Congress  of  1884,  the  Commission- 
ers stated  that  after  two  years'  experience  it  became  their 
duty  to  advise  the  government  that  although  the  law  had 
been  successfully  administered  in  respect  to  the  disfran- 
chisement  of  polygamists,  the  effect  of  the  same  upon  the 
preaching  and  practice  of  polygamy  had  not  improved  the 
tone  of  the  former,  or  materially  diminished  the  latter. 
The  law  of  1882  provided  for  the  punishment  of  polygamy 
or  unlawful  cohabitation  by  fine  and  imprisonment  upon 
conviction ;  also  for  the  disfranchisement  of  polygamists. 
Prior  to  August,  1882,  nearly  all  the  offices  in  the  Territory 
were  held  by  polygamists,  but  within  two  years  after  the 
Commissioners  entered  upon  their  duties,  there  were  elected 
1,351  officers,  not  one  of  whom  was  a  polygamist.  They  esti- 
mated the  number  of  voters  who  had  been  disfranchised  by 
reason  of  polygamy  at  12,000,  and  declared  that  in  April, 
1884,  there  was  not  a  polygamist  in  office  in  the  Territory. 
They  further  claimed  that  three-fourths  or  more  of  the  Mor- 


THE  CHURCH  ABANDONS  POLYGAMY.  611 

mon  adults,  male  and  female,  do  not  enter  the  polygamatic 
relation,  but  all  believe  it  authorized  by  divine  revelation. 

THE  CHURCH  ABANDONS  POLYGAMY. 

On  January  8, 1886,  Congress  passed  a  bill,  which,  among 
other  actions,  annulled  all  laws  recognizing  illegitimate  chil- 
dren, and  the  territorial  laws  creating  and  continuing  the 
Mormon  Church  Corporation ;  abolished  all  immigration 
companies  ;  and  directed  the  attorney-general  of  the  United 
States  to  institute  proceedings  to  forfeit  and  escheat  all 
property  acquired  by  the  Mormon  Church  Corporation  in 
contravention  of  the  United  States  laws,  the  escheated  prop- 
erty to  be  then  sold  and  the  proceeds  devoted  to  common 
school  purposes  in  the  territory,  but  no  building  was  to  be 
forfeited  that  was  used  exclusively  for  worship.  The  United 
States  Supreme  Court  affirmed  the  constitutionality  of  the 
Edmunds  law,  and  declared  the  property  of  the  Mormon 
Church  escheated  to  the  United  States,  in  1890.  On  Sep- 
tember 24,  following,  Wilford  Woodruff,  president  of  the 
Mormon  Church,  published  an  official  declaration  for- 
bidding plural  marriages.  The  great  semi-annual  confer- 
ence of  the  Church  held  in  the  following  month  unanimously 
adopted  resolutions  recognizing  his  authority  as  binding. 
Almost  immediately  Chief -Justice  Charles  S.  Zane  accepted 
the  action  of  the  Church  as  sincere  and  final,  and  rescinded 
the  order  of  the  court  excluding  Mormon  aliens  from  nat- 
uralization. In  December,  1891,  the  president  and  apostles 
of  the  Church  formally  petitioned  the  President  of  the 
United  States  for  amnesty  for  the  members  of  the  Church, 
reciting  the  foregoing  facts,  and  pledging  their  own  faith 
and  honor  for  the  faithful  observance  of  the  laws  of  the 
land  by  their  people.  In  forwarding  this  petition  both  the 
governor  and  the  chief- justice  of  the  territory  testified  to 
their  belief  in  its  sincerity  and  recommended  its  favorable 
consideration  by  the  President.  On  February  17,  1893, 
President  Harrison  issued  a  proclamation  granting  amnesty 
and  pardon  to  those  who,  under  this  act  of  Congress,  had 
been  denied  the  right  of  registering  and  voting. 


THE 


THE  REORGANIZED  CHURCH   OF  JESUS   CHRIST  OF  LATTER- 
DAY   SAINTS.* 

CTIHIS  society,  sometimes  called  Mormon,  is  radically  op- 
_L  posed  to  polygamy  in  any  form,  and  all  its  concomitants. 
It  regards  the  Mormon  church  in  Utah  as  being  in  apostasy 
from  the  original  faith,  as  set  forth  in  the  standard  works 
of  the  church  during  the  lifetime  of  the  prophet  Joseph 
Smith,  and  it  denies  that  he  ever  gave  to  the  church  the 
purported  revelation  of  July,  1843,  authorizing  and  com- 
manding polygamy  or  plural  marriage. 

It  also  claims  that  Brigham  Young  was  not,  and  that  by 
the  law  and  order  of  the  church  could  not  be  the  rightful 
successor  to  the  prophet  Joseph  Smith  as  the  president  of 
the  church  ;  but  that  Joseph,  the  eldest  son  of  the  prophet, 
who  now  resides  at  Lamoni,  Iowa,  was  and  is  the  rightful 
and  divinely  appointed  successor. 

After  the  assassination  of  the  prophet  Joseph,  in  Carthage 
jail,  Illinois,  July  27, 1844,  many  aspired  to  the  leadership  of 
the  church,  and  there  arose  discord  and  division.  Brigham 
Young,  with  seven  of  the  twelve  apostles  and  about  ten 
thousand  followers,  went  to  Salt  Lake  Valley  in  1847  ;  while 

*  This  sketch  was  specially  furnished  for  the  work  by  Bishop  G.  A.  Blakes- 
lee,  of  Galien,  Mich, 

(612) 


REORGANIZED  CHURCH  OF  LATTER-DAY  SAINTS.613 

Sidney  Rigdon,  with  a  following  of  a  few  hundred,  made 
his  headquarters  at  Pittsburgh,  Pennsylvania;  James  J. 
Strang  locating,  with  a  few  hundred  of  his  followers,  first 
at  Voree,  Wisconsin,  and  afterward  at  Beaver  Island,  in 
Lake  Michigan ;  William  Smith,  a  brother  of  the  prophet, 
made  his  headquarters  at  Palestine,  Lee  County,  Illinois ; 
and  other  divisions  and  subdivisions  occurred  afterward, 
but  in  process  of  time  very  many  of  these  organizations  uni- 
ted with  the  Reorganized  Church. 

This  society  has  organized  churches  throughout  the  United 
States,  the  Canadas,  England,  Denmark,  Switzerland,  Aus- 
tralia, and  the  Society  Islands,  and  has  an  active  missionary 
body  laboring  in  all  these  regions.  Its  churches  number  be- 
tween five  hundred  and  six  hundred,  have  a  membership  of 
about  150,000,  and  gain  about  6,000  each  year.  A  Sunday- 
school  is  connected  with  each  organized  church.  The  avail' 
able  property  of  the  society  is  valued  at  about  $1,500,000. 

It  is  worthy  of  note  that  none  of  the  family  of  the  prophet 
Joseph  Smith  united  with  any  of  the  divisions  of  the  church, 
but  that  in  1860,  Emma,  the  widow  of  the  prophet,  and 
Joseph,  the  eldest  son,  with  Alexander  H.  and  David  H., 
youngest  sons  of  the  prophet,  became  identified  with  the 
Reorganized  church.  It  is  also  a  fact  that  none  of  the 
brothers  or  sisters  of  the  prophet  were  in  any  way  connected 
with  the  Brighamite  church,  but  that  all  have  united  with 
the  Reorganized  church. 

The  widow  of  the  prophet  remained  with  her  family  at 
Nauvoo,  Illinois,  until  the  time  of  her  death  in  1877.  She 
was  ever  an  active  opponent  of  polygamy  and  its  like,  and 
stoutly  denied,  up  to  the  time  of  her  death,  that  her  prophet- 
husband  ever  had  any  other  wife  than  herself.  She  pro- 
nounced the  revelation  which  Brigham  Young  gave  to  the 
Mormons  of  Utah,  in  1852,  a  fraud. 

The  following  epitome  of  the  faith  and  doctrines  of  the 
church  gives  the  outline  of  what  they  hold  to  be  essential 
in  order  to  serve  God  aright : 


614    REORGANIZED  CHURCH  OF  LA  TTER-DA  Y  SAINTS. 


EPITOME   OF  THE   FAITH   AND   DOCTKLNES. 

We  believe  in  God  the  Eternal  Father,  and  in  his  Son  Jesus  Christ, 
and  in  the  Holy  Ghost.  Matt.  28  : 19.  1  John  1  :  3.  St.  John  11  :  26. 

We  believe  that  men  will  be  punished  for  their  own  sins,  and  not  for 
Adam's  transgression.  Ecc.  12  : 14.  Matt.  16  :  27.  1  Cor.  3  : 13.  Eev. 
20  : 12-15. 

We  believe  that  through  the  atonement  of  Christ,  all  men  may  be 
saved  by  obedience  to  the  laws  and  ordinances  of  the  gospel.  1  Cor. 
15  :  3.  2  Tim.  1  : 10.  Eom.  8  : 1-6. 

We  believe  that  these  ordinances  are  :— 

(1st.)  Faith  in  God  and  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.    Heb.  11  :  6.     1  Pet. 

I  :  21.     1  Tim.  4  : 10.     John  3  : 16,  18,  36.     Mark  11  :  22.     John  14  : 1. 
(2d.)  Eepentance.    Matt.  3  :  2,  8, 11.   Luke  13  :  3  ;  24  :  47.   Ezek.  18  :  30. 

Mark  1  :  5,  15.     Acts  2  :  38.     Eom.  2:4.     2  Cor.  7  : 10. 

(3d.)  Baptism  by  immersion  for  the  remission  of  sins.  Matt.  3  : 13-15. 
Mark  1  :  4,  5.  Luke  3  :  3.  John  3  :  5.  Acts  2  :  38  ;  22  : 16  ;  2  :  41  ;  8  : 
12,  37,  38.  Mark  16  : 16.  Col.  2  : 12.  Eom.  6  :  4,  5.  John  3  :  23.  Acts 
8  :  38,  39. 

(4th.)  Laying  on  of  hands  for  the  gift  Oi  the  Holy  Ghost.  Deut.  34  : 9. 
John  20  :  21,  22.  Acts  8  : 17  ;  19  :  6.  1  Tim.  4  : 14.  Acts  9  : 17.  1  Cor. 
12  :  3.  Acts  19  :  1-6. 

(5th.)  We  believe  in  the  Eesurrection  of  the  Body  ;  that  the  dead  in 
Christ  will  rise  first,  and  the  rest  of  the  dead  will  not  live  again  until 
the  thousand  years  are  expired.  Job  19  : 25,  26.  Dan.  12  : 2.  1  Cor. 
15  :  42.  1  Thes.  4  : 16.  Eev.  20  :  6.  Acts  17  :  31.  Phil.  3  :  21.  John 

II  : 24.     Isa.  26  : 19.     Ps.  17  : 15. 

(6th.)  We  believe  in  the  doctrine  of  Eternal  Judgment,  which  pro- 
vides that  men  shall  be  judged,  rewarded,  or  punished  according  to  the 
degree  of  good,  or  evil,  they  shall  have  done.  Eev.  20  : 12.  Ecc.  3  : 17. 
Matt.  16  :  27.  2  Cor.  5  : 10.  2  Pet.  2  :  4,  13,  17. 

We  believe  that  a  man  must  be  Called  of  God,  and  ordained  by  the 
Laying  on  of  Hands  of  those  who  are  in  authority,  to  entitle  him  to 
preach  the  Gospel,  and  Administer  in  the  Ordinances  thereof.  Heb.  5  : 
1,  5,  6,  8.  Acts  1  :  24,  25  ;  14  :  23.  Eph.  4  : 11.  John  15  : 16. 

We  believe  in  the  same  kind  of  organization  that  existed  in  the  prim- 
itive church,  viz.  :  Apostles,  Prophets,  Pastors,  Teachers,  Evangelists, 
etc.  1  Cor.  12  :  28.  Matt.  10  : 1.  Acts  6  :  4.  Eph.  4  : 11  ;  2  :  20.  Titus 
1  :5. 

We  believe  that  in  the  Bible,  is  contained  the  word  of  God,  so  far  as 
it  is  translated  correctly.  We  believe  that  the  canon  of  scripture  is  not 
full,  but  that  God,  by  His  Spirit,  will  continue  to  reveal  His  word  to 
man  until  the  end  of  time.  Job  32  :  8.  Heb.  13  :  8.  Prov.  29  : 18.  Amos 


EPITOME  OF  FAITH  AND  DOCTRINES.  615 

3  :  7.  Jer.  23  :  4  ;  31  :  31,  34  ;  33  :  6.  Ps.  85  : 10,  11.  Luke  17  :  26  Eev. 
14  :  6,  7  ;  19  :  10. 

We  believe  in  the  powers  and  gifts  of  the  everlasting  gospel,  viz. :  the 
gift  of  faith,  discerning  of  spirits,  prophecy,  revelation,  healing,  visions, 
tongues,  and  the  interpretation  of  tongues,  wisdom,  charity,  brotherly 
love,  etc.  1  Cor.  12  : 1-11  ;  14  :  26.  John  14  :  24.  Acts  2  :  3.  Matt.  28  : 
19,  20.  Mark  16  : 16. 

We  believe  that  Marriage  is  ordained  of  God  ;  and  that  the  law  of  God 
provides  for  but  one  companion  in  wedlock,  for  either  man  or  woman, 
except  in  cases  where  the  contract  of  marriage  is  broken  by  death  or 
transgression.  Gen.  2  : 18,  21-24  ;  7  : 1,  7,  13.  Prov.  5  : 15-21.  Mai.  2  : 
14, 15.  Matt.  19  ;  4-6.  1  Cor.  7  :  2.  Heb.  13  :  4.  D.  &  C.  42  :  7  ;  49  :  3. 

We  believe  that  the  doctrines  of  a  plurality  and  a  community  of  wives 
are  heresies,  and  are  opposed  to  the  law  of  God.  Gen.  4  : 19,  23,  24  ; 
7  :  9';  22  :  2,  in  connection  Gal.  4th  and  5th  c.  Gen.  21  :  8-10.  Mai.  2  : 
14,  15.  Matt.  19  :  3-9.  The  BOOK  OF  MORMON  says  :— "  Wherefore,  my 
brethren,  hear  me,  and  hearken  to  the  word  of  the  Lord  :  for  there  shall 
not  any  man  among  you  have  save  it  be  ONE  WIFE,  and  concubines  he 
shall  have  none,  for  I,  the  Lord  God,  delighteth  in  the  chastity  of 
women.  And  whoredoms  are  an  abomination  before  me,  saith  the  Lord 
of  hosts  "—Jacob  2  :  6-9. 

We  believe  that  in  all  matters  of  controversy  upon  the  duty  of  man 
toward  God,  and  in  reference  to  preparation  and  fitness  for  the  world 
to  come,  the  word  of  God  should  be  decisive  and  the  end  of  dispute  ; 
and  that  when  God  directs,  man  should  obey. 

We  believe  that  the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ,  as  taught  in  the  New 
Testament  Scriptures,  will,  if  its  precepts  are  accepted  and  obeyed,  make 
men  and  women  better  in  the  domestic  circle,  and  better  citizens  of 
town,  county,  and  State,  and  consequently  better  fitted  for  the  change 
which  cometh  at  death. 

We  believe  that  men  should  worship  God  in  "Spirit  and  in  truth  "; 
and  that  such  worship  does  not  require  a  violation  of  the  constitutional 
law  of  the  land.  John  4 :  21-24.  Doctrine  and  Covenants,  sec.  58,  par.  5. 

We  claim  the  privilege  of  worshipping  Almighty  God  according  to 
the  dictates  of  our  conscience,  allow  all  men  the  same  privilege,  let 
them  worship  how,  where,  or  what  they  may. 

They  hold  the  following  in  respect  to  Civil  Governments 
and  Laws  in  general : 

1.  We  believe  that  governments  are  instituted  of  God  for  the  benefit 
of  man,  and  that  He  holds  men  accountable  for  their  acts  in  relation  to 
them,  either  in  making  laws  or  in  administering  them  for  the  good  and 
safety  of  society. 

2.  We  believe  that  no  government  can  exist  in  peace,  except  such 
la-vrs  are  framed  and  held  inviolate  as  will  secure  to  each  individual  the 


616    REORGANIZED  CHURCH  OF  LA  TTER-DA  Y  SAINTS. 

free  exercise  of  conscience,  the  right  and  control  of  property,  and  the 
protection  of  life. 

3.  We  believe  that  all  governments  necessarily  require  civil  officers  and 
magistrates  to  enforce  the  laws  of  the  same,  and  that  such  as  will  admin- 
ister the  law  in  equity  and  justice  should  be  sought  for  and  upheld  by 
the  voice  of  the  people  (if  a  republic)  or  the  will  of  the  sovereign. 

4.  We  believe  that  religion  is  instituted  of  God,  and  that  men  are 
amenable  'to  Him,  and  to  Him  only,  for  the  exercise  of  it,  unless  their 
religious  opinions  prompt  them  to  infringe  upon  the  rights  and  liberties 
of  others  ;  but  we  do  not  believe  that  human  law  has  a  right  to  inter- 
fere in  prescribing  rules  of  worship  to  bind  the  consciences  of  men,  nor 
dictate  forms  for  public  or  private  devotion  ;  that  the  civil  magistrate 
should  restrain  crime,  but  never  control  conscience  ;  should  punish 
guilt,  but  never  suppress  the  freedom  of  the  soul. 

5.  We  believe  that  all  men  are  bound  to  sustain  and  uphold  the  re- 
spective governments  in  which  they  reside,  while  protected  in  their 
inherent  and  inalienable  rights  by  the  laws  of  such  governments,  and 
that  sedition  and  rebellion  are  unbecoming  every  citizen  thus  protected, 
and  should  be  punished  accordingly  ;  and  that  all  governments  have  a 
right  to  enact  such  laws  as  in  their  own  judgments  are  best  calculated 
to  secure  the  public  interest,  at  the  same  time,  however,  holding  sacred 
the  freedom  of  conscience. 

6.  We  believe  that  every  man  should  be  honored  in  his  station  :  rulers 
and  magistrates  as  such,  being  placed  for  the  protection  of  the  innocent 
and  the  punishment  of  the  guilty ;  and  that  to  the  laws  all  men  owe 
respect  and  deference,  as  without  them  peace  and  harmony  would  be 
supplanted  by  anarchy  and  terror  ;  human  laws  being  instituted  for  the 
express  purpose  of  regulating  our  interests  as  individuals  and  nations, 
between  man  and  man,  and  divine  laws,  given  of  heaven,  prescribing 
rules  on  spiritual  concerns,  for  faith  and  worship,  both  to  be  answered 
by  man  to  his  Maker. 

7.  We  believe  that  rulers,  states,  and  governments  have  a  right,  and 
are  bound  to  enact  laws  for  the  protection  of  all  citizens  in  the  free  ex- 
ercise of  their  religious  belief,  but  we  do  not  believe  that  they  have  a 
right,  in  justice,  to  deprive  citizens  of  this  privilege,  or  prescribe  them 
in  their  opinions,  so  long  as  a  regard  and  reverence  is  shown  to  the  laws, 
and  such  religious  opinions  do  not  justify  sedition  nor  conspiracy. 

8.  We  believe  that  the  commission  of  crime  should  be  punished  ac- 
cording to  the  nature  of  the  offense  ;  that  murder,  treason,  robbery, 
theft,  and  the  breach  of  the  general  peace,  in  all  respects,  should  be 
punished  according  to  their  criminality  and  their  tendency  to  evil  among 
men,  by  the  laws  of  that  government  in  which  the  offense  is  com- 
mitted ;  and  for  the  public  peace  and  tranquillity  all  men  should  step 
forward  and  use  their  ability  in  bringing  offenders  against  good  laws 
to  punishment. 


MARRIAGE.  617 

9.  We  do  not  believe  it  just  to  mingle  religious  influence  with  civil 
government,  whereby  one  religious  society  is  fostered  and  another  pro- 
scribed in  its  spiritual  privileges,  and  the  individual  rights  of  its  mem- 
bers, as  citizens,  denied. 

10.  We  believe  that  all  religious  societies  have  a  right  to  deal  with 
their  members  for  disorderly  conduct  according  to  the  rules  and  regula- 
tions of  such  societies,  provided  that  such  dealings  be  for  fellowship 
and  good  standing  ;  but  we  do  not  believe  that  any  religious  society 
has  authority  to  try  men  on  the  right  of  property  or  life,  to  take  from  them 
this  world's  goods,  or  put  them  in  jeopardy  of  either  life  or  limb ;  neither  to 
inflict  any  physical  punishment  upon  them  ;  they  can  only  excommuni- 
cate them  from  their  society  and  withdraw  from  their  fellowship. 

11.  We  believe  that  men  should  appeal  to  the  civil  law  for  redress  of 
all  wrongs  and  grievances,  where  personal  abuse  is  inflicted,  or  the  right 
of  property  or  character  infringed,  where  such  laws  exist  as  will  protect 
the  same  ;  but  we  believe  that  all  men  are  justified  in  defending  them- 
selves, their  friends  and  property  and  the  government,  from  the  unlawful 
assaults  and  encroachments  of  all  persons,  in  times  of  exigencies,  where 
immediate  appeal  cannot  be  made  to  the  laws  and  relief  afforded. 

12.  We  believe  it  just  to  preach  the  gospel  to  the  nations  of  the  earth, 
and  to  warn  the  righteous  to  save  themselves  from  the  corruption  of  the 
world  ;  but  we  do  not  believe  it  right  to  interfere  with  bond-servants, 
neither  to  preach  the  gospel  to,  nor  baptize  them,  contrary  to  the  will 
and  wish  of  their  masters  ;  not  to  meddle  with,  or  influence  them  in  the 
least,  to  cause  them  to  be  dissatisfied  with  their  situations  in  this  life, 
thereby  jeopardizing  the  lives  of  men  ;  such  interference  we  believe  to 
be  unlawf ul  and  unjust,  and  dangerous  to  the  peace  of  every  govern- 
ment allowing  human  beings  to  be  held  in  servitude. 

Also  this  in  respect  to 

MARRIAGE. 

1.  According  to  the  custom  of  all  civilized  nations,  marriage  is  regu- 
lated by  laws  and  ceremonies ;  therefore  we  believe  that  all  marriages  in 
this  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  of  Latter-Day  Saints  should  be  solemnized  in 
a  public  meeting,  or  feast,  prepared  for  that  purpose  ;  and  that  the  sol- 
emnization should  be  performed  by  a  presiding  high-priest,  high-priest, 
bishop,  elder,  or  priest,  not  even  prohibiting  those  persons  who  are  desir- 
ous to  get  married  of  being  married  by  other  authority.   We  believe  that 
it  is  not  right  to  prohibit  members  of  this  church  from  marrying  out  of 
the  church  if  it  be  their  determination  so  to  do,  but  such  persons  will  be 
considered  weak  in  the  faith  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ. 

2.  Marriage  should  be  celebrated  with  prayer  and  thanksgiving  ;  and 
at  the  solemnization  the  persons  to  be  married,  standing  together,  the 
man  on  the  right  and  the  woman  on  the  left,  shall  be  addressed  by  the 


618     REORGANIZED  CHURCH  OF  LA  TTER-DA  Y  SAINTS. 

person  officiating,  as  he  shall  be  directed  by  the  Holy  Spirit ;  and  if  there 
be  no  legal  objections,  he  shall  say,  calling  them  each  by  their  names  : 
You  both  agree  to  be  each  other's  companion,  husband,  and  wife,  ob- 
serving the  legal  rights  belonging  to  this  condition  :  that  is,  keeping 
yourselves  wholly  for  each  other  and  from  all  others,  during  your 
lives.  And  when  they  have  answered  yes,  he  shall  pronounce  them 
husband  and  wife  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  by  virtue 
of  the  laws  of  the  country  and  authority  vested  in  him.  May  God  add 
his  blessings  and  keep  you  to  fulfil  your  covenants  from  henceforth  and 
forever.  Amen. 

3.  The  clerk  of  every  branch  should  keep  a  record  of  all  marriages 
solemnized  in  his  branch. 

4.  All  legal  contracts  of  marriage,  made  before  a  person  is  baptized 
into  this  church,  should  be  held  sacred  and  fulfilled. 

Inasmuch  as  this  church  of  Christ  has  been  reproached  with  the  crimes 
of  fornication  and  polygamy,  we  declare  that  we  believe  that  one  man 
should  have  but  one  wife,  and  one  woman  but  one  husband,  except  in  case 
of  death,  when  either  is  at  liberty  to  marry  again.  It  is  not  right  to 
persuade  a  woman  to  be  baptized  contrary  to  the  will  of  her  husband, 
neither  is  it  lawful  to  influence  her  to  leave  her  husband.  All  children 
are  bound  by  law  to  obey  their  parents,  and  to  influence  them  to  em- 
brace any  religious  faith,  or  be  baptized,  or  leave  their  parents  without 
their  consent,  is  unlawful  and  unjust. 

We  believe  that  husbands,  parents,  and  masters  who  exercise  control 
over  their  wives,  children,  and  servants,  and  prevent  them  from  em- 
bracing the  truth,  will  have  to  answer  for  that  sin. 

In  respect  to  church  finances,  it  holds  that  the  law  of  tithing,  as  prac- 
ticed by  Melchisedec  and  Abraham  (see  Gen.  14  :  20),  and  by  Jacob  (see 
Gen.  28  : 22),  as  enjoined  in  Mai.  3  :  8-12,  and  taught  by  the  Saviour 
(Matt.  23  :  23),  and  indorsed  by  St.  Paul  (Heb.  7  :  8),  should  be  observed 
by  the  church  of  God  in  every  age.  Also  that  free-will  offerings  and 
almsgiving  be  observed  as  circumstances  may  demand. 

Joseph  Smith,  the  president  of  the  church,  is  also  editor- 
in-chief  of  the  Saints'  Herald,  the  organ  of  the  church, 
issued  weekly  at  Lamoni,  Iowa.  The  Herald  Publishing 
House  also  issues  a  Sabbath-school  weekly,  entitled  The 
Hope ;  also  a  48-page  magazine  entitled  Autumn  Leaves. 
It  likewise  publishes  denominational  books,  pamphlets,  and 
tracts  in  large  and  constantly  increasing  numbers.  Wherever 
this  denomination  has  a  membership  they  are  noted  for  their 
honesty,  industry,  temperance,  and  loyalty  ;  their  thrif tiness 
and  their  unswerving  devotion  to  their  religious  views. 


Tfte 


of 


MOTHER  'ANN'S   IMMIGRATION  TO  AMERICA. 

THE  term  Shaker  is  given  in  mockery  and  reproach  to 
"  The  United  Society  of  Believers  in  Christ's  Second 
Appearing."  Their  origin  was  in  a  protest  against  the 
Apostolic  Church  in  England  as  having  gone  out  of  the  true 
way,  and  a  belief  that  this  sect  was  especially  raised  up  to 
restore  the  true  faith  and  practice.  James  Wardley,  a  tailor, 
and  his  wife  Jane,  Quakers,  of  Bolton-on-the-Moors,  England, 
joined  some  Frei_ch  Quakers  in  testifying  against  all  the 
churches  then  in  standing,  in  1747.  In  1757  Ann  Lee  (a 
blacksmith's  daughter),  joined  the  society  by  confessing  her 
sins  to  Jane  Wardley.  Some  years  after  joining  the  society, 
she  united  her  testimony  against  the  "root  of  human  de- 
pravity," the  lust  of  generation,  and  professed  she  had  re- 
ceived the  greatest  gift.  From  1768  or  1769  she  was  regarded 
as  the  spiritual  mother,  and  took  the  lead  of  the  society, 
being  known  thenceforth  as  "Mother  Ann."  About  1772 
Mother  Ann  claimed  to  have  received  a  revelation  from 
Heaven  to  repair  to  America.  She  prophesied  of  a  great 
increase  and  permanent  establishment  of  the  society  and  its 
work  for  God  in  this  country.  Accordingly,  as  many  as 
firmly  believed  in  her  testimony,  and  could  settle  their  tem- 
poral concerns,  procured  passage  with  her  at  Liverpool,  and 

(619) 


620  THE  SHAKERS. 

landed  at  New  York  in  1774.  In  the  spring  of  1776  they 
went  to  Albany,  and  thence  to  what  is  now  Watervliet,  eight 
miles  distant,  where  a  society  was  established  in  September, 
which  is  still  in  existence.  From  this  society  have  sprung 
all  that  have  since  come  into  being. 

Their  testimony  was  opened  to  the  world  in  1780 ;  their 
first  house  for  public  worship  was  built  at  New  Lebanon, 
N.  Y.,  in  1785 ;  and  their  first  gathering  into  a  community, 
analogous  to  the  primitive  church,  was  in  1787.  The  first 
written  covenant  of  a  full  consecration  to  God,  of  life,  time, 
service,  and  treasure,  was  signed  in  1795,  under  the  name  of 
"  The  United  Society  of  Believers  in  Christ's  Second  Appear- 
ing." Shakers  hold  that  the  True  Christian  Church  is  a 
congregation  of  souls  baptized  with  that  degree  of  the  Christ 
spirit  which  harvests  them  from  the  generative  plane,  and 
from  the  selfish,  sinful  elements  of  the  world ;  consecrates 
their  lives  to  God ;  absolves  them  from  the  bondage  of  sin 
and  the  powers  of  sinful  temptations,  and  opens  their  souls 
to  receive  continuous  revelations  of  light,  truth,  love,  mercy, 
charity,  and  forgiveness  to  penitents,  combined  with  impar- 
tiality and  merciful  judgment  from  heaven's  eternal  fountain, 
It  is  an  evangelizing  missionary  board  to  bestow  these  bless- 
ings upon  the  children  of  men.  Its  testimony  is  the  gospel 
"  net,  cast  into  the "  (worldly)  "  sea,  that  gathers  of  every 
kind  "  (of  humanity)  by  its  winning  love.  Its  work  of  con- 
fession and  forsaking  of  sin,  of  obedience  and  a  daily  cross 
against  a  carnal  life,  constitutes  the  day  of  judgment,  and 
none  other  do  its  members  fear  nor  feel.  Souls  who  abide 
this  ordeal  are  harvested  into  the  kingdom  of  God.  Those 
called  into  the  fold,  as  members  of  Christ's  Church,  who 
flinch  from  this,  are  cast  back  into  the  worldly  sea. 

The  Shaker  institution  being,  as  its  subjects  believe,  the 
"kingdom  of  Christ's  second  appearing  upon  earth,  is  not, 
therefore,  a  democracy,  it  is  a  theocracy.  Its  leaders  are 
nominated  by  the  ministry,  who  are  the  first  leading  author- 
ity of  the  Shakers'  Society,  and  in  union  with  the  covenant- 
keeping  members  are  appointed  to  office.  They  are  not 
elected  by  majority  votes  of  members.  They  are  not  con- 


VIEWS  ON  PROPERTY.  621 

sidered  infallible  oracles,  but  for  the  time,  the  occasion,  and 
the  locality,  the  most  appropriate.  The  order  of  the  lead- 
ing and  governmental  authority  is  an  infallible  institution, 
and  in  all  cases  where  ministers  and  elders  are  governed  in 
their  ministrations  by  the  Christ  spirit  which  constitutes 
this  order,  they  are  the  oracles  of  God  ;  an  authority  that 
may  not  be  impugned.  The  true  administration  of  this 
authority  is  not  the  administration  of  man  or  woman,  in  the 
selfhood  of  mere  human  capacity,  but  godliness  through 
man  and  woman,  each  sex  in  its  own  order,  but  a  united 
twain,  thus,  in  the  Christ  character,  making  one  perfect  new 
man.  In  this  Christ  order  there  is  neither  male  nor  female, 
in  the  fleshly  generative  sense.  In  the  true  order  of  all 
Shaker  institutions  both  sexes  have  equal  rights. 

In  their  communities  there  are  three  kinds  of  members : 
1st,  the  novitiates,  who  receive  the  doctrines,  but  prefer  to 
live  with  their  own  families  for  a  time ;  2d,  the  junior  ones, 
composed  of  persons  who  have  become  members  of  a  com- 
munity, but  have  not  yet  relinquished  their  property  to  the 
Society ;  and,  3d,  the  senior  ones,  comprising  those  who, 
after  a  full  experience,  voluntarily  consecrate  themselves, 
their  services,  and  their  property  to  the  Society,  not  to  be 
reclaimed  by  them  or  their  legal  heirs.  Those  who  belong 
to  the  latter  class  compose  the  "  church." 

VIEWS   ON  PROPERTY. 

True  Christianity,  as  understood  by  Shakers,  ultimates  in 
a  full  consecration  of  treasure,  as  well  as  time  and  talents, 
to  the  support  of  the  Household  of  Faith,  and  its  mission- 
ary and  charitable  enterprises.  All  persons,  without  regard 
to  property,  are  equally  welcome  to  membership  and  fellow- 
ship, by  complying  with  the  foregoing  terms  concerning 
membership. 

Persons  having  property  and  legal  heirs  are  required,  be- 
fore making  a  consecration  of  any  portion  of  their  estate,  to 
make  all  just  and  useful  provisions  for  their  heirs  ;  to  pay 
all  just  debts :  to  absolve  themselves  from  all  copartnerships 


622  THE  SHAKERS. 

in  trade,  or  business  transactions  that  may  entail  upon  them 
a  claim  for  expenses,  so  that  no  just  nor  legal  demands  can 
be  made  upon  them  for  any  portion  of  the  property  they 
propose  to  consecrate. 

The  consecration  of  property  is  to  be  entirely  an  act  of 
free  will.  No  demands  are  made. 

It  is,  however,  understood  that  any  person  who  becomes 
a  member  of  the  Community,  and  has  a  spiritual  travel  into 
a  union  and  fellowship  of  Gospel  Brotherhood  and  Sister- 
hood, in  full  conformity  to  the  Christian  Faith,  will  ultimate 
in  a  gift  of  entire  consecration  of  treasure,  as  well  as  soul, 
body,  time,  talents,  and  services ;  this,  however,  sometimes 
takes  much  time  to  accomplish. 

Persons  joining  the  Community,  and  living  within  the 
pale  of  its  association,  as  partakers  of  its  benefices  in  sick- 
ness and  in  health,  who  are  possessed  of  property,  and  who 
do  not  feel  prepared,  and  do  not  yet  choose  to  consecrate 
the  same,  are  expected  to  contribute  the  interest  of  their 
property  to  the  Community  where  they  reside,  while  the 
principal  is  subject  to  their  own  direction  and  management. 
Without  this  proviso  the  Society  is  liable,  in  some  cases,  to 
be  very  unjustly  and  unreasonably  burdened. 

All  members  of  the  Community  are  kindly  and  dutifully 
cared  for,  in  sickness  and  in  health,  no  difference  being  made 
on  account  of  property  considerations. 

Persons  having  unbelieving  families,  outside  of  the  Com- 
munity, demanding  and  justly  claiming  their  care  and  sup- 
port, may  have  full  fellowship  and  communion,  socially  and 
spiritually,  though  unable  to  enter  the  pale  of  the  Commu- 
nity as  a  member  thereof,  in  consecrated,  communal  relation. 

The  doors  of  the  Community  are  not  open  to  any  persons 
as  a  merely  charitable  institution.  Nor  is  it  anticipated 
that  persons  may  spend  their  lives  to  an  advanced  and  ener- 
vated enfeebled  age  in  the  worldly  arena,  and  then  throw 
themselves  into  the  Community  for  care  and  support,  by 
merely  professing  a  faith  in  its  cardinal  principles.  Such 
may  receive  a  degree  of  union  according  to  sincerity  and 
faithfulness,  and  remain  outside. 


EMPLOYMENTS  OF  SHAKERS.  623 

The  door  of  spiritual  fellowship  is  ever  open  to  any  and 
every  soul  who  will  honestly  confess  and  forsake  all  sin,  and 
conform  to  the  principles  of  the  gospel  of  Christ's  Second 
Appearing. 

EMPLOYMENTS   OF   SHAKERS. 

For  males,  agricultural,  horticultural,  and  mechanical  pur- 
suits. The  raising  and  preparation  of  cereals  and  fruits  for 
market.  The  Shakers  first  originated  the  drying  of  sweet- 
corn  for  food,  more  than  fifty  years  ago ;  also  the  modern 
improved  kilns  for  the  purpose.  Shakers  were  the  first  in 
this  country  who  instituted  the  raising,  papering,  and  vend- 
ing of  garden  seeds  in  the  present  styles.  Shakers  first  in- 
stituted in  this  country  the  botanical  medical  practice,  and 
first  gathered,  also  raised,  dried,  prepared,  and  papered  me- 
dicinal herbs  and  roots  for  market.  They  first  manufactured 
medicinal,  vegetable  extracts  for  market.  They  were  the 
first  who  raised  and  manufactured  broom  brush  into  brooms; 
were  the  originators  of  the  broom  business.  This  was  at 
Watervliet,  N.  Y.  The  first  buzz  saw  was  manufactured  by 
the  Shakers  both  at  Harvard,  Mass.,  and  at  New  Lebanon, 
N.  Y.,  and  the  first  saw  of  this  kind  is  now  on  exhibition 
in  the  Geological  buildings  at  Albany,  N.  Y.  The  Shakers 
first  invented  and  used  the  planing  and  matching  machine 
for  dressing  flooring  and  ceiling  lumber ;  this  was  at  New 
Lebanon.  The  Shakers  at  New  Lebanon,  N.  Y.,  were  the 
first  inventors  and  manufacturers  of  cut  nails ;  they  were 
cut  and  headed  by  hand.  The  first  machine  for  cutting 
and  bending  machine  card  teeth,  and  punching  the  leather 
for  setting,  was  invented  and  used  at  New  Lebanon,  N.  Y.; 
and  for  years  they  had  a  monopoly  of  all  the  foregoing 
business  and  trades.  Metallic  pens  were  first  invented  and 
used,  and  sold  in  market,  by  the  Shakers  at  Watervliet, 
N.  Y. ;  they  were  made  of  brass  and  silver. 

A   BEIEF   COMPEND   OF  PRACTICAL   PRINCIPLES. 

1.  Purity,  in  mind  and  body,  including  a  virgin  life,  as  exemplified 
and  inculcated  by  Jesus  Christ,  as  the  way  that  leads  to  God. 

2.  Honesty  and  integrity  in  all  their  words  and  dealings,  according 


C24  THE  SHAKERS. 

TO  the  precepts  of  the  Saviour  :  "As  ye  would  that  men  should  do  to 
you,  do  ye  even  so  unto  them." 

3.  Humanity  and  kindness  to  both  friend  and  foe,  "Charity  never 
faileth,"  "Love  is  the  fulfilling  of  the  Law,''  "Overcome  evil  with 
good."    This  rule  comprehends  the  proper  conduct  toward  all  animals. 

4.  To  be  diligent  in  business,  serving  the  Lord  !   All  labor  with  their 
hands  according  to  strength  and  ability  ;  all  are  to  be  industrious,  but 
not  slavish.     Idleness  is  the  parent  of  want  and  vice. 

5.  To  be  prudent,  economical,  temperate,  and  frugal,  but  not  parsi- 
monious. 

6.  To  keep  clear  of  debt :  owe  no  man  any  thing  ;  give  love  and 
good-will. 

7.  United  and  consecrated  interest  in  all  things  is  then-  general  Order, 
but  none  are  required  to  come  into  it  except  voluntarily,  for  this  Order 
is  the  result  of  mutual  love  and  unity  of  spirit  ;  it  cannot  be  supported 
where  the  selfish  relation  of  husband,  wife,  and  children  exists.     This 
Order  is  the  greatest  and  clearest  demonstration  of  practical  love.    "  By 
this  shall  all  men  know  that  ye  are  my  disciples,  if  ye  have  love  one  for 
another." 

8.  All  are  suitably  provided  for  in  health,  sickness,  and  old  age  ;  all 
being  equally  of  the  one  "Household  of  Faith." 

Indeed,  to  sum  it  all  up,  to  seek  and  practice  every  virtue,  without 
superstition,  is  the  leading  tenet  of  the  Shaker  profession.  "Add  to 
your  faith,  virtue." 

SHAKER  COMMUNITIES. 

These  are  divided  into  families,  varying  in  numbers  from 
a  very  few  to  150,  or  more.  The  families  consist  of  both 
sexes  and  all  ages.  Their  organization,  formulas,  and  by- 
laws are  anti-monastic ;  each  sex,  however,  occupying  sep- 
arate apartments  (including  those  married,  who  have  become 
members),  all  in  the  same  dwelling ;  both  sexes  take  meals 
in  the  same  hall,  at  the  same  time,  each  sex  by  themselves, 
except  small  parties  at  unusual  meal-times ;  these,  both  at 
the  same  table.  They  kneel  in  prayer  before,  and  in  thanks 
after  each  meal ;  partake  of  meals  in  silence.  Of  these  fam- 
ilies, socially,  morally,  and  spiritually  considered,  is  under- 
stood to  be  the  Christ  Spirit,  manifested  through  elders, 
generally  two  of  each  sex,  if  practicable. .  Temporal  leaders 
consist  of  one  or  two  deacons  and  two  deaconesses,  or  more, 
for  each  family. 


SHAKER  COMMUNITIES.  625 

In  1886  there  were  seventeen  communities  in  the  United 
States,  and  none  elsewhere,  viz.:  (1)  Watervliet,  N.  Y.  (the 
original  society) ;  (2)  Mount  Lebanon  ;  (3)  Groveland,  Liv- 
ingston County,  in  New  York  State ;  (4)  Hancock,  Berkshire 
County ;  (5)  Harvard,  and  (6)  Shirley,  Middlesex  County, 
in  Massachusetts ;  (7)  Enfield,  Grafton  County,  and  (8) 
Canterbury,  Merrimac  County,  in  New  Hampshire ;  (9) 
Alfred,  York  County,  and  (10)  New  Gloucester,  Cumberland 
County,  in  Maine ;  (11)  Enfield,  Hartford  County,  in  Con- 
necticut (the  birthplace  of  Meacham,  the  Shaker  Moses) ; 
(12)  White  Water,  Hamilton  County;  (13)  Watervliet,  Mont- 
gomery County ;  (14)  Union  Village,  Warren  County,  and 
(15)  North  Union,  Cuyahoga  County,  in  Ohio ;  (16)  Pleasant 
Hill,  Mercer  County,  and  (17)  South  Union,  Logan  County, 
in  Kentucky. 

In  1890  there  were  15  communities,  3  each  in  Massachu- 
setts and  Ohio,  2  each  in  Kentucky,  Maine,  New  Hampshire, 
and  New  York,  and  1  in  Connecticut.  There  were  16  church 
edifices,  1,728  members,  and  church  property  valued  at 
$36,800,  showing  a  decrease  since  1875  of  3  communities 
and  687  members. 


and  Histori; 


OP 


THIS  denomination  arose  from  separate  and  unprecon- 
certed  movements  in  three  of  the  leading  denomina- 
tions of  the  United  States.  The  adherents  to  the  present 
churches,  in  order  to  distinguish  their  denominational  name 
from  that  usually  applied  to  followers  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  pronounce  the  i  in  the  first  syllable  long,  as  if  the 
word  were  written  Christians. 

The  first  movement  took  place  in  North  Carolina,  where 
the  Rev.  James  O'Kelly,  and  several  other  Methodist  min- 
isters of  that  State  and  of  Virginia,  urged  a  change  in  the 
form  of  church  government,  favoring  the  congregational 
system,  and  that  the  New  Testament  be  declared  their  only 
creed  and  discipline.  Failing  to  attain  their  object,  Mr. 
O'Kelly,  several  other  ministers,  and  quite  a  considerable 
number  of  members  withdrew  from  the  Methodist  Church, 
Dec.  25, 1793,  and  formed  a  new  church  under  the  name  of 
the  "  Republican  Methodists."  In  the  following  year  they 
decided  to  be  known  as  "  Christians  "  only,  and  to  acknowl- 
edge no  head  over  the  church  but  Jesus  Christ,  and  no  creed 
nor  discipline  but  the  Holy  Bible. 

The  second  movement  occurred  in  Vermont.  The  Rev. 
Abner  Jones,  of  Hartland,  then  a  member  of  a  regular 
Baptist  church,  received  peculiar  impressions  concerning 

(626) 


GENERAL  BELIEF.  627 

sectarian  names  and  human  creeds.  The  first  he  regarded 
as  an  evil,  because  they  were  so  many  badges  of  distinct 
separation  among  the  followers  of  Christ.  The  second,  he 
contended,  served  as  so  many  lines  or  walls  of  separation  to 
keep  the  disciples  of  Christ  apart.  He  contended  that  secta- 
rian names  and  human  creeds  should  be  abandoned,  and 
that  true  piety  alone,  and  not  the  externals  of  it,  should  be 
made  the  only  test  of  Christian  fellowship  and  communion. 
He  began  preaching  his  sentiments  at  once,  and  with  such 
zeal  that,  in  September,  1800,  he  had  a  little  church  of 
twenty-five  members  gathered  about  him  in  Lyndon,  Vt. 

The  third  movement  occurred  in  Kentucky,  and  was  an 
outgrowth  of  the  remarkable  revival  of  religion  that  was 
experienced  in  the  Presbyterian  churches  in  Kentucky  and 
Tennessee  during  the  years  1800  and  1801.  Several  Presby- 
terians, who  had  heartily  entered  into  the  revival  work,  broke 
off  from  the  Calvinistic  creed  and  preached  the  gospel  of 
free  salvation.  This  led  the  Synod  of  Kentucky  to  inter- 
fere, whereupon  the  Rev.  Barton  W.  Stone,  an  eloquent 
minister  of  that  State,  and  four  other  ministers  withdrew 
from  the  synod,  and  organized  themselves  and  their  followers 
into  the  "  Springfield  Presbytery,"  which  name  was  changed 
in  1803  to  that  of  Christians. 


GENERAL   BELIEF. 

1.  That  God  is  the  rightful  arbiter  of  the  universe,  the  source  and 
fountain  of  all  good. 

2.  That  all  men  have  sinned  and  come  short  of  the  glory  of  God. 

3.  That  with  God  there  is  forgiveness  ;  but  that  sincere  repentance 
and  reformation  are  indispensable  to  the  forgiveness  of  sins. 

4.  That  man  is  constituted  a  free  moral  agent,  and  made  capable  of 
obeying  the  gospel. 

5.  That  through  the  agency  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  souls,  in  the  use  of 
means,  are  converted,  regenerated,  and  made  new  creatures. 

6.  That  Christ  was  delivered  for  our  offences  and  raised  again  for  our 
justification  ;  that  through  his  example,  doctrine,  death,  resurrection, 
and  intercession,  he  has  made  salvation  possible  to  every  one,  and  is 
the  only  Saviour  of  lost  sinners. 

7.  That  Baptism  and  the  Lord's  Supper  are  ordinances  to  be  observed 


628  THE  CHRISTIANS. 

by  all  true  believers  ;  and  that  baptism  is  the  immersing  of  the  candi- 
date in  water,  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the 
Holy  G-host. 

8.  That  a  life  of  watchfulness  and  prayer  only  will  keep  Christians 
from  falling,  enable  them  to  live  hi  a  justified  state,  and  ultimately 
secure  to  them  the  crown  of  eternal  life. 

9.  That  there  will  be  a  resurrection  of  both  the  just  and  the  unjust. 

10.  That  God  has  ordained  Jesus  Christ  judge  of  the  quick  and  dead 
at  the  last  day  ;  and  at  the  judgment,  the  wicked  will  go  away  into 
everlasting  punishment,  and  the  righteous  into  life  eternal. 

In  the  Christian  Connexion,  as  these  organizations  are 
called  when  spoken  of  as  a  distinct  religious  denomination, 
churches  are  independent  bodies,  duly  authorized  to  govern 
themselves  and  transact  their  own  affairs.  They  have  a 
large  number  of  associations  called  conferences.  Each  con- 
ference meets  annually,  sometimes  more  frequently,  and  is 
composed  of  ministers  and  messengers  from  churches  within 
its  bounds.  At  such  conferences  candidates  for  the  minis- 
try are  examined,  received,  and  commended.  Once  a  year, 
in  conference,  the  character  and  standing  of  each  minister 
is  examined,  to  the  end  that  purity  in  the  ministry  may  be 
carefully  maintained. 

Soon  after  the  discovery  was  made  of  the  existence  of 
three  distinct  organizations  in  as  many  parts  of  the  country, 
holding  the  same  general  belief,  a  fourth  movement  occurred, 
resulting  in  a  union  of  the  bodies.  This  continued  until  the 
Civil  War,  when  the  slavery  and  sectional  questions  caused 
a  separation,  and  the  establishment  of  a  Southern  branch. 

In  1890  the  Christian  Church,  North,  had  1,281  organiza- 
tions, 962  churches,  218  halls,  90,718  members,  and  church 
property  valued  at  $1,637,202.  There  were  75  annual  con- 
ferences, covering  in  whole  or  in  part  24  States,  and  the 
Church  had  the  largest  membership  in  Ohio,  25,952.  The 
Christian  Church,  South,  was  confined  to  the  States  of  Ala- 
bama, Georgia,  North  Carolina,  and  Virginia,  and  had  143 
organizations,  135  churches,  8  halls,  13,004  members,  and 
church  property  valued  at  $137,000.  The  total  strength  of 
the  Church,  was  1,424  organizations  and  103,722  members, 
with  1,097  churches,  226  halls,  and  church  property  valued 
at  $1,774,202. 


THE 

Advent    Believers, 


r  I  THE  Adventists  compose  a  sect  who  believe  in  the  speedy 
JL  second  coming  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  of  the  end 
of  the  world.  For  several  years  they  were  usually  known 
as  Millerites,  from  William  Miller,  of  Massachusetts,  who 
formulated  the  belief  and  assigned  reasons  therefor,  in  1833. 
The  time  at  which  the  Adventists  at  first  expected  the  second 
appearance  of  Christ  was  October,  1842.  Subsequently  other 
dates  were  fixed,  as  1843,  1847,  1848,  1857,  and  1861.  The 
number  of  believers  increased  rapidly,  and  preachers  scat- 
tered the  faith  in  every  direction.  Mr.  Miller  died  in  1849, 
and  some  division  in  their  views  occurred,  a  part  holding  to 
a  modification  of  the  usual  Trinitarian  view  of  the  divinity 
of  Christ,  and  some  adopting  the  doctrine  of  the  annihilation 
of  the  wicked.  The  remainder  adhered  to  the  general  views 
of  Trinitarians,  except  as  to  the  second  coming  of  Christ, 
which  they  believed  would  be  speedy ;  and  held  that  the 
first  resurrection,  that  of  the  righteous,  would  then  occur, 
while  the  wicked  would  not  be  raised  until  1,000  years  later ; 
that  during  these  1,000  years  He  would  reign  on  the  earth, 
and  that  the  reign  would  be  one  of  happiness  for  the  right- 
eous, but  one  of  terror  and  judgment  for  the  wicked. 

An  Advent  Christian  Association  was  f  ormed  in  1859.  The 
members  believe  in  the  final  destruction  of  the  wicked.  This 
sprang  from  the  American  Millennial  Association,  organized 

(629) 


630  ADVENT  BELIEVERS. 

in  Boston  in  the  preceding  year,  the  members  of  which  did 
not  believe  in  the  final  destruction  of  the  wicked,  and  called 
themselves  Evangelical  Adventists.  Another  branch  of  be- 
lievers, who  observe  the  seventh  day  as  the  Sabbath,  origi- 
nated as  early  as  1844,  and  have  maintained  their  organiza- 
tion under  the  distinguishing  name  of  Seventh- day  Advent- 
ists. They  set  no  time  for  the  second  coming  of  Christ,  be- 
lieving that  the  prophecies  which,  in  the  opinion  of  other 
Adventists,  fixed  the  second  advent  in  or  about  1842,  really 
brought  the  world  only  to  the  "  cleansing  of  the  tabernacle," 
a  period  of  brief  but  uncertain  duration  preceding  the  coming 
of  Christ. 

Mr.  Miller's  statements  of  personal  views  are  sixteen  in 
number.  Each  one  is  followed  by  quotations  from  the  Bible, 
which  he  regarded  as  proofs.  In  his  lectures  and  writings 
he  gave  what  he  termed  the  proof  of  the  time  he  had  desig- 
nated for  the  second  advent,  in  fifteen  different  ways.  Omit- 
ting this  as  well  as  the  proofs  of  his  views  for  lack  of  space, 
we  will  give  succinctly  the  views  themselves : 

1.  I  believe  that  Jesus  Christ  will  come  again  to  this  earth. 

2.  I  believe  he  will  come  in  all  the  glory  of  his  Father. 

3.  I  believe  he  will  come  in  the  clouds  of  heaven. 

4.  I  believe  he  will  then  receive  his  kingdom,  which  will  be  eternal. 

5.  I  believe  the  saints  will  then  possess  the  kingdom  forever. 

6.  I  believe  at  Christ's  second  coming  the  body  of  every  departed  saint 
will  be  raised,  like  Christ's  glorious  body. 

7.  I  believe  that  the  righteous  who  are  living  on  the  earth  when  he 
comes  will  be  changed  from  mortal  to  immortal  bodies,  and  with  them 
who  are  raised  from  the  dead,  will  be  caught  up  to  meet  the  Lord  in  the 
air,  and  so  be  forever  with  the  Lord. 

8.  I  believe  the  saints  will  then  be  presented  to  God,  blameless,  with- 
out spot  or  wrinkle,  in  love. 

9.  I  believe  when  Christ  comes  the  second  time,  he  will  come  to  finish 
the  controversy  of  Zion,  to  deliver  his  children  from  all  bondage,  to 
conquer  their  last  enemy,  and  to  deliver  thea^  f~om  the  power  of  the 
tempter,  which  is  the  devil. 

10.  I  believe  that  when  Christ  comes  he  will  ^rcroy  the  bodies  of  th* 
living  wicked  by  fire,  as  those  of  the  old  world  were  destroyed  by  water, 
and  shut  up  their  souls  in  the  pit  of  woe,  until  their  resurrection  unto 
damnation. 


THE  SECOND  ADVENT.  631 

11.  I  believe,  when  the  earth  is  cleansed  by  fire,  that  Christ  and  hia 
saints  will  then  take  possession  of  the  earth,  and  dwell  therein  forever. 
Then  the  kingdom  will  be  given  to  the  saints. 

12.  I  believe  the  time  is  appointed  of  God  when  these  things  shall  b  j 
accomplished. 

13.  I  believe  God  has  revealed  the  time. 

14.  I  believe  many  who  are  professors  and  preachers  will  never  be- 
lieve or  know  the  time  until  it  comes  upon  them. 

15.  I  believe  the  wise,  they  who  are  to  shine  as  the  brightness  of  the 
firmament  (Dan.  xii.  3), will  understand  the  tune. 

16.  I  believe  the  time  can  be  known  by  all  who  desire  to  understand 
and  to  be  ready  for  his  coming.     And  I  am  fully  convinced  that  some- 
time between  March  21,  1843,  and  March  21,  1844,  according  to  the 
Jewish  mode  of  computation  of  time,  Christ  will  come,  and  bring  all 
his  saints  with  him  ;  and  that  then  he  will  reward  every  man  as  his 
works  shall  be. 

The  Adventists  generally  practice  adult  immersion,  be- 
lieve in  the  necessity  of  a  change  of  heart,  a  godly  life,  the 
ultimate  annihilation  of  the  wicked,  and  in  the  sleep  of  the 
dead  until  the  final  judgment.  The  following  shows  the 
condition  of  the  different  bodies  of  Adventists  as  re- 
ported in  1890  :  Adventists,  Christian,  580  organizations,  294 
churches,  281  halls,  25,816  members,  value  of  church  prop- 
erty $465,605;  Adventists,  Seventh-day,  995  organizations, 
418  churches,  555  halls,  28,991  members,  value  of  church 
property  $644,675 ;  Adventists,  Age-to-Come,  95  organiza- 
tions, 29  churches,  61  halls,  2,872  members,  value  of  church 
property  $46,075  ;  Adventists,  Evangelical,  30  organizations, 
22  churches,  5  halls,  1,147  members,  value  of  church  prop- 
erty $61,400  ;  and  Church  of  God  (an  offshoot  of  the  Seventh- 
day  Adventists),  29  organizations,  I  church,  23  halls,  647 
members,  value  of  church  property  $1,400— total,  1,729  or- 
ganizations, 764  churches,  925  halls,  59,473  members,  and 
church  property  valued  at  $1,219,155. 


Spiritualism. 


IN  its  modern  sense  the  term  Spiritualism  expresses  the 
doctrines  of  those  who  believe  that  communication  be- 
tween this  world  and  the  next  is,  and  always  has  been,  a 
reality.  In  the  seventeenth  century  there  were  many  avowed 
spiritualists  in  France,  and  hosts  of  bright  minds  engaged  in 
investigating  the  various  phenomena.  The  mesmerist  Billot 
claimed  that  he  and  his  associates  had  both  seen  and  felt 
spirits.  Deleuze  declared  that  the  possibility  of  communi- 
cating with  spirits  had  been  proven  to  him.  Others  asserted 
that  phenomena,  in  all  respects  identical  with  spiritualism, 
appeared  in  ancient  histories,  in  the  Delphic  Oracles,  in  the 
occurrences  of  the  Wesley  family  in  1716,  and  in  Sweden- 
borg's  alleged  full  and  open  communication  with  the  spirit 
world  and  his  daily  converse  with  spirits. 

Robert  Dale  Owen  declared  that  spiritualism,  as  under- 
stood in  the  United  States,  had  its  birth  on  March  31, 1844, 
when  the  phenomenon  of  spirit-rapping  manifested  itself  to 
the  Fox  family  in  Hydeville,  N.  Y.  Various  members  of 
this  family  obtained  true  answers  to  many  questions  by  dis- 
tinct raps  upon  an  isolated  table.  Spiritualists  hold  that  if 
we  admit  the  probability  of  another  life  of  which  the  present 
is  the  novitiate,  we  must  also  admit  the  likelihood  that 
means  should  be  offered  us  to  obtain  assurances  touching 


HAGAR  AND  ISHMAEL.— H.  MERLE.— A  very  striking  picture  of  a  scene  full  of 
human  feeling.  The  patriarch  Abraham  became  the  father  of  Ishmael  by  an  Egyptian 
woman,  Hagar,  and  on  account  of  some  unpleasantness  his  wife,  Sarah,  brought  about  the 
sending  away  of  the  youth  and  his  mother.  Probably  the  story  means  that  the  tribes  of 
.North  Arabia  dwelt  originally  on  the  confines  of  Egypt,  and  were  kin  to  the  Hebrews. 


*>  MEDIUMS:-— PRINCIPLES.  533 

the  world  for  which  we  have  to  prepare  ourselves.  They  do 
not  believe  in  miracles,  asserting  that  the  natural  law  is 
universal,  invariable,  persistent,  and  that  all  spiritual  epiph- 
anies are  natural  phenomena.  As  a  rule,  they  do  not  regard 
Christ  as  one  of  the  persons  in  the  Godhead.  A  large  num- 
ber, who  may  be  called  Christian  Spiritualists,  regard  Christ 
with  reverence  as  the  great  spiritual  and  ethical  teacher  of 
mankind  ;  while  another  branch  speak  of  Him  as  one  of  the 
ancient  philosophers,  with  no  claim  to  distinction  beyond 
sages  like  Confucius,  Socrates,  or  Seneca. 

They  reject  the  idea  of  a  personal  devil.  Some  believe  in 
the  occasional  agency  and  influence  of  evil  spirits,  amounting, 
now  and  then,  to  what  might  be  called  possession  ;  while 
others  hold  that  such  things  may,  in  all  cases,  be  explained 
by  human  agency.  Both,  however,  agree  in  this :  that  spirit 
communications  are  by  no  means  infallible,  and  that  great 
care  should  be  taken  to  accept  nothing,  come  whence  it  may, 
until  it  has  been  submitted  to  the  scrutiny  of  reason  and 
conscience. 

The  mediums,  or  the  persons  through  whom  the  communi- 
cations are  made,  have  been  divided  as  follows:  rapping 
mediums ;  mediums  for  tipping  and  turning  tables  by  a 
slight  touch  of  the  finger  ;  for  the  movement  of  ponderous 
bodies  without  contact ;  for  the  production  of  phosphor- 
escent lights  in  a  dark  room  ;  for  playing  on  musical  instru- 
ments in  a  manner  beyond  their  ordinary  abilities ;  for 
involuntary  writing,  and  for  writing  independent  of  any 
apparent  aid  from  human  hands ;  for  the  diagnosing  and 
healing  of  diseases  ;  for  levitation  ;  and  for  the  materializa- 
tion of  spirit  forms  identical  in  appearance  with  those  of  de- 
ceased persons. 

Among  the  leading  principles  on  which  it  may  be  said  all 
intelligent  spiritualists  substantially  agree  are  these  :  This  is 
a  world  governed  by  a  God  of  love  and  mercy,  in  which  all 
things  work  together  for  the  good  of  those  who  reverently 
conform  to  His  eternal  laws.  In  strictness  there  is  no  death. 
Life  continues  from  the  life  which  now  is  to  that  which  is  to 
come.  The  earth-phase  of  life  is  an  essential  preparation 


634  MODERN  SPIRITUALISM. 

for  the  life  which  is  to  come.  The  phase  of  life  which  fol- 
lows the  death-change  is,  in  the  strictest  sense,  a  supplement 
to  that  which  precedes  it.  Our  state  here  determines  our 
initial  state  there.  We  do  not,  either  by  faith  or  works, 
earn  heaven ;  nor  are  we  sentenced,  on  any  day  of  wrath,  to 
hell.  In  the  next  life  we  simply  gravitate  to  the  position  for 
which,  by  the  life  on  e'arth,  we  have  fitted  ourselves.  There 
is  no  instantaneous  change  of  character  when  we  pass  from 
the  present  phase  of  life ;  our  faculties,  passions,  virtues,  all 
go  over  with  us.  In  the  next  world  love  ranks  higher  than 
what  we  call  wisdom,  being  itself  the  highest  wisdom. 
There,  deeds  of  benevolence  far  outweigh  professions  of 
faith.  A  trustful,  childlike  spirit  is  the  state  of  mind  in 
which  men  are  most  receptive  of  beneficent,  spiritual  impres- 
sions ;  and  such  a  spirit  is  the  best  preparation  for  entrance 
into  the  next  world.  There  have  always  existed  inter- 
mundane  laws,  according  to  which  men  can  occasionally 
obtain,  under  certain  conditions,  revealings  from  those  who 
have  passed  to  the  next  world  before  them.  A  certain  por- 
tion of  human  beings  are  more  sensitive  to  spiritual  percep- 
tions and  influences  than  their  fellows  ;  and  it  is  generally 
in  the  persons  and  through  the  medium  of  one  or  more  of 
these  that  spiritual  intercourse  occurs. 

As  regards  the  relation  of  spiritualism  to  the  mission  of 
Christ,  it  may  be  said  that  while  its  votaries  usually  reject 
Trinitarianism  and  dissent  from  the  theology  of  St.  Paul, 
many  of  the  most  experienced  spiritualists  believe  that  if 
spiritual  communications  be  sought  in  an  earnest,  becoming 
mood,  the  views  obtained  will,  in  a  vast  majority  of  cases, 
be  in  strict  accord  with  the  teachings  of  Christ.  It  is  assert- 
ed that  Christ  himself  promised  (John  xiv.  12)  that  his  fol- 
lowers should  do  the  works  he  did,  and  greater  works  also  ; 
and  further,  that  there  is  in  point  of  fact  substantial  coin- 
cidence between  the  signs  and  wonders  related  in  the  gospels 
and  the  spiritual  epiphanies  of  the  present  day. 

It  is  admitted  by  candid  spiritualists  that  many  of  the 
communications  obtained  appear  to  be  but  a  reflection  of  the 
opinions  or  suggestions,  sometimes  of  the  medium,  some- 


DISTINGUISHED  CONVERTS.  G35 

times  of  the  inquirer ;  but  it  is  also  claimed  that  in  many 
cases  the  replies  not  only  contain  information  unknown  to 
both,  and  which  is  afterwards  found  to  be  true,  but  things 
and  assertions  utterly  opposed  to  the  convictions  of  all  who 
may  hear  the  communication.  In  this  way,  it  is  held,  stub- 
born facts  come  to  light,  which  unmistakably  connect  the 
two  worlds,  and  through  which,  in  the  cases  referred  to,  the 
identity  of  the  alleged  communicating  spirits  is  demon- 
strated. 

Spiritualism  is  not  to  be  regarded  as  a  formal  sect ;  nor 
do  its  followers  desire  that  it  should  become  a  separate 
church,  with  prescribed  creed,  ordained  ministers,  and  learned 
professors.  Its  principles  are  spreading,  they  believe,  as 
fast  as  the  world  can  bear  them  understandingly,  and  in  a 
manner  the  most  desirable— in  part  through  the  agency  of 
local  preachers,  but  chiefly  in  silence  through  the  agency  of 
daily  intercourse,  in  the  privacy  of  the  domestic  circle, 
invading  the  churches  alread  7  established,  not  as  an  oppo- 
nent, but  as  an  ally. 

Besides  the  thousands  in  every  grade  of  society  through- 
out the  civilized  world,  who  are  more  or  less  influenced  by 
a  belief  in  the  supernatural  origin  of  the  manifestations, 
many  persons  in  England,  France,  Germany,  Kussia,  Switzer- 
land, and  the  United  States,  distinguished  in  science,  litera- 
ture, philosophy,  and  statesmanship,  have  become  avowed 
converts,  or  have  admitted  the  phenomena  so  far  as  to 
believe  in  a  new  force  not  recognized  by  science,  or  have 
testified  that  the  manifestations  they  have  witnessed  are  not 
capable  of  explanation  on  the  ground  of  imposture,  coinci- 
dence, or  mistake,  or  at  least  have  considered  the  subject 
worthy  of  serious  attention  and  careful  investigation. 
Among  such  may  be  cited  Alexander  Aksakoff,  Robert  Cham- 
bers, Hiram  Corson,  Augustus  De  Morgan,  J.  W.  Edmunds, 
Dr.  Elliotson,  I.  H.  von  Fichte,  Camille  Flammarion,  Her- 
mann Goldschmidt,  Dr.  Hoffle,  Robert  Hall,  Lord  Lynd- 
hurst,  Robert  and  Robert  Dale  Owen,  W.  M.  Thackeray, 
T.  A.  Trollope,  Alfred  Russel  Wallace,  Nicholas  Wagner, 
and  Archbishop  Whately. 


636  MODERN  SPIRITUALISM. 

The  latest  movement  among  the  spiritualists  of  the  United 
States,  prior  to  the  beginning  of  the  year  1886,  was  the  form- 
ation of  societies  of  Rational  Spiritualists,  embracing  as  a 
rule  the  most  intelligent  believers  in  that  form  of  spiritual- 
ism which  seeks  the  cultivation  and  ennobling  of  the  human 
mind,  the  purifying  of  the  soul,  and  the  strengthening  of 
those  virtues  which  enter  into  the  formation  of  the  perfect 
earth-life.  With  an  inborn  aversion  to  all  that  approaches 
imposition  or  sacrilege,  seeking  truth  and  knowledge  for 
the  influence  to  be  derived  therefrom  in  this  life,  they 
strictly  shunned  all  who  sought  their  highest  gratification 
in  rappings,  table-tippings,  and  other  alleged  phenomena. 
Their  gatherings  showed  men  and  wqmen  of  intelligence, 
wealth,  social,  and  public  distinction.  For  services  they  had 
rational,  liberal-minded  speakers,  of  both  sexes,  and  after 
addresses  a  brief  season  was  usually  spent  in  communication 
with  the  spirits  of  those  of  the  departed  with  whom  the 
audience  was  more  or  less  en  rapport. 

In  1890  there  were  334  organizations  of  Spiritualists,  in 
36  States,  the  District  of  Columbia,  and  the  territories  of 
Oklahoma  and  Utah.  These  had  30  church  edifices  and  307 
other  meeting-places,  45,030  members,  and  church  property 
valued  at  $573,650.  Massachusetts  ranked  first  in  members, 
7,345 ;  New  York  second,  6,351 ;  and  Pennsylvania  third, 


THE 

SALVATION     ARMY 


ITS   ORIGIN,   GROWTH,   AND   DOCTRINES,    WITH  A   SKETCH     OF 

THE  FOUNDER  OF  THE   MOVEMENT,   AND  ITS   PKOGRESS 

IN   VARIOUS   COUNTRIES. 

THIS  organization  has  become  a  power  in  almost  every 
country  where  its  flag  has  been  planted,  and  its  mis- 
sionary efforts  put  forth.    The  army  originated  with  one 
man — the  Rev.  William  Booth. 

THE  FOUNDER   OF  THE  ARMY. 

William  Booth  was  born  at  Nottingham,  Eng.,  in  1829. 
He  was  brought  up  to  attend  the  services  of  the  Episcopal 
church ;  but  at  fourteen,  with  his  father's  consent,  forsook 
the  church  for  the  Wesleyan  chapel,  where,  about  a  year 
later,  he  was  converted  to  God.  About  this  time,  two  or 
three  youths,  recently  converted,  had  commenced  meetings 
in  the  lower  parts  of  the  city,  and  into  this  work,  almost  im- 
mediately after  his  conversion,  he  threw  himself  with  all  his 
soul,  preaching  on  the  streets,  in  all  weathers.  When  seven- 
teen he  became  an  accredited  lay-preacher.  Two  years  later 
he  was  urged  by  the  superintendent  of  the  circuit  to  enter 
the  ministry,  but  his  physicians  strongly  opposed  it,  saying 
he  was  not  strong  enough,  and  that,  if  he  did  so,  twelve 
months  would  probably  end  his  career ;  he  therefore  resolved 
to  wait,  and  in  the  meantime  devoted  himself,  as  far  as  pos- 
sible, to  soul-saving  work. 

For  eighteen  months  he  was  wholly  engaged  in  preaching 

*  This  sketch  was  prepared  for  the  publishers  by  Marshal  Ballington  Booth  (son 
of  General  William  Booth),  commanding  United  States  forces^  and  his  wife, 
Mrs.  Maud  Charlesworth  Booth.  *  *''.  ' 

/637) 


638  THE  FOUNDER  OF  THE  ARMY. 

in  London  and  Lincolnshire,  and  at  the  age  of  twenty-four 
entered  the  ministry  of  the  Methodist  New-Connexion,  by 
whom  he  was  stationed  in  London. 

But  he  had  not  been  there  many  weeks  when  the  officials 
of  the  Guernsey  Society,  having  heard  of  his  great  success 
in  winning  souls,  urgently  invited  him  to  that  island  on  a 
preaching  excursion. 

He  commenced  his  labors  on  Wednesday.  Nothing  re- 
markable transpired  for  the  first  few  days,  beyond  increas- 
ing congregations  and  deepening  convictions ;  but,  on  the 
Sabbath,  thirty  persons  professed  salvation,  and  in  a  stay  of 
ten  days,  no  less  than  three  hundred  persons  decided  for 
God.  The  work  spread  like  fire  through  the  island,  other 
denominations  commenced  special  work,  and  a  large  ingath- 
ering of  souls  was  the  result. 

Returning  to  England,  he  labored  for  two  years  in  many 
of  the  largest  towns,  having  been  set  apart  by  the  Confer- 
ence, for  the  work  of  an  Evangelist. 

The  Methodist  New-Connexion  Magazine  and  other  prints 
of  the  year  showed  that  the  following  results  had  attended 
his  ministry.  At  Hanley,  "  upwards  of  four  hundred  per- 
sons of  all  ages  "  were  registered  as  converts.  At  Newcastle- 
under-Lyne,  in  "  one  week,  290."  In  Sheffield,  during  "four 
weeks,  663."  At  Halifax,  in  "four  weeks,  between  400  and 
500."  At  Chester  a  congregation  of  a  thousand  was  gathered 
every  night,  and  "  hundreds "  sought  salvation.  Fifteen 
persons  converted  in  connection  with  these  labors  are  known 
to  have  entered  the  ministry  of  different  denominations. 

"  Some  ministers,  however,  were  opposed  to  the  special 
services,  and  in  deference  to  their  wishes,  Mr.  Booth  con- 
sented to  return  for  a  season  to  the  regular  pastoral  work ; 
accordingly  he  spent  a  year  in  the  Halifax  second  circuit, 
and  three  years  at  Gateshead-on-Tyne.  At  the  latter  place 
a  large  congregation  was  established,  and  the  society  trebled 
during  this  time.  But  so  deep  were  his  convictions,  and 
those  of  his  wife,  that  he  could  more  effectually  serve  God 
and  his  generation  as  an  evangelist,  that  he  offered  himself 
again  for  this  work.  And  when  the  Conference  of  1861  de- 


THE  SALVATION  ARMY.  639 

liberately  refused  to  allow  him  to  return  to  that  sphere  for 
which  he  had  been  proved  so  peculiarly  adapted,  and  insisted 
upon  his  settling  down  permanently  to  the  routine  of  a  cir- 
cuit, he  resigned  his  position  in  the  ministry,  and  went 
forth,  trusting  in  God,  to  hold  services  wherever  a  door 
might  open. 

"  The  next  two  years  were  mostly  spent  in  Cornwall,  where 
services,  held  in  the  chapels  of  various  denominations,  were 
blessed  by  the  salvation  of  thousands  of  souls. 

"  Whole  neighborhoods  were  stirred,  religion  became  the 
all-absorbing  topic  of  the  hour  and  the  principal  theme  of 
conversation.  Men  left  the  mines  and  fields  to  seek  mercy ; 
and  in  one  case  a  chapel  had  to  be  kept  open  from  early 
morning  till  midnight  for  a  week,  so  continuous  was  the 
rush  of  desperate  seekers  after  God. 

MRS.  BOOTH. 

"  Mrs.  Booth,  the  General's  wife,  who  may  truly  be  called 
the  '  mother '  of  the  Army,  and  who  has  throughout  its  ca- 
reer been,  through  her  writings  and  preaching,  blessed  to 
tens  of  thousands,  commenced  preaching  twelve  months 
before  Mr.  Booth  left  the  ministry,  holding  evangelistic 
services  during  that  year  in  Durham,  Newcastle-on-Tyne, 
East  Hartlepool,  and  in  Sunderland,  in  addition  to  regular 
preaching  engagements  at  Gateshead. 

"  During  Mr.  Booth's  evangelistic  tours,  Mrs.  Booth  shared 
his  labors  ;  her  ministry  both  then  and  since  being  marvel- 
lously popular,  everywhere  attracting  crowded  audiences, 
and  leading  large  numbers  to  decision.  How  great  a  share 
she  has  had,  publicly  as  well  as  privately,  in  the  establish- 
ment of  the  Army  will  never  be  known." 

From  Cornwall  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Booth  proceeded  to  Cardiff, 
Newport,  Walsall,  Birmingham,  and  various  other  places. 
In  June,  1865,  Mr.  Booth  visited  London,  and  calling  at  the 
ofiice  of  the  Christian,  he  was  invited  to  hold  a  week's 
services  in  a  tent  erected  in  Whitechapel,  one  of  the  poor- 
est  neighborhoods  in  London.  Here  he  saw  the  enormous 


640  MRS.  BOOTH. 

population  of  utterly  godless  people,  who  swarmed  on  every 
side,  and  feeling  his  heart  strangely  drawn  out  for  their  sal- 
vation, he  resolved  in  the  strength  of  the  Lord  to  turn  aside 
from  those  who  in  all  directions  throughout  the  country 
would  have  invited  him  to  continue  the  work  of  an  evangel- 
ist in  their  midst,  and  to  spend  the  remainder  of  his  life  in 
endeavoring  to  Christianize  the  millions  of  his  countrymen, 
who,  instead  of  inviting,  might  be  inclined  to  repel  his 
labors. 

Mr.  Booth  had  already  gained  considerable  experience  as 
to  evangelistic  work  among  various  religious  denominations ; 
but  he  had  little  knowledge  of  the  way  to  get  at  those  who 
lay  outside  the  sphere  of  existing  religious  organizations. 
All  was  to  be  learned  through  careful,  hard-fought  steps  of 
actual  engagement  in  the  work. 

He  began  by  preaching  in  the  open  air  upon  a  piece  of 
land  where  shows,  shooting-ranges,  petty  dealers,  and  quack 
doctors  rivalled  each  other  in  attracting  the  attention  of 
the  poor. 

In  those  days  it  was  rather  a  novelty  for  any  one  to  stand 
there  statedly  and  regularly  in  all  weathers  to  preach  to  the 
people,  and  this  tall,  dark  stranger  seemed  a  new  wonder. 
Crowds  surrounded  him,  and  while  he  spoke,  a  mightier  far 
than  he  sent  into  the  depths  of  many  a  soul  the  lightning 
flash  of  conviction.  Men  and  women  long  burdened  with 
sin  followed  him  to  the  tent,  and  one  after  another  fell 
down  at  the  feet  of  Jesus  and  sought  and  found  mercy. 
These,  rallying  round  their  spiritual  father  in  the  open  air, 
soon  began,  by  their  singing  and  their  simple  relation  of 
God's  pardoning  love  to  them,  to  increase  the  general  inter- 
est in  the  affair,  and  many  who  would  have  taken  little 
notice  of  a  mere  preacher  stood  speechless  and  astounded  to 
hear  men  who  had  been  notorious  for  their  iniquity,  tell  of 
the  peace  and  joy  and  love  they  now  possessed. 

The  autumn  winds  and  rains  soon  demolished  the  tent ; 
but  the  work  went  successfully  on  in  the  open  air. 

Soon,  however,  an  old  dancing-saloon  was  secured  for  in- 
door services,  and  then  a  public-house  was  purchased  entire 


THE  SALVATION  ARMY.  641 

and  converted  into  a  mission  hall.  These  places  were  small, 
but  as  people,  crushed  together  on  floors  and  stairs  and  pas- 
sages, listened  with  eager  ears  and  hearts  to  catch  every 
sound,  often  from  lips  they  could  not  see,  the  Spirit  smote 
great  and  small  together,  and  many  were  daily  added  to  the 
Lord. 

A  large  theatre  in  the  vicinity  was  next  taken  for  Sunday 
afternoons  and  evenings,  and  there,  by  thousands,  came  old 
and  young.  Here,  on  the  stage,  by  rows  at  a  time,  poor  sin- 
ners sought  and  found  salvation. 

As  the  fame  of  the  work  spread,  hearers  came  from  every 
part  of  London.  Saved  themselves,  they  naturally  looked 
around  amongst  their  circle  of  daily  associates  and  friends 
with  longing  hearts,  and  from  Bethnal  Green,  Limehouse, 
Poplar,  and  Canning  Town  soon  came  pouring  in  earnest 
entreaties  for  the  commencement  of  similar  work  amongst 
the  masses  there. 

The  invariable  answer  was,  "  Well,  see  if  you  can  get  any 
room  suitable  for  services,  and  let  me  know  what  it  will 
cost,  and  I  will  come  and  see  about  it."  To  working  people, 
who  were  determined  to  get  something,  this  opened  a  pretty 
clear  course.  A  club-room,  a  cellar,  a  shed,  an  old  abandoned 
chapel,  an  old  factory,  a  school-room,  a  cottage  were  just  as 
eagerly  sought  after  where  nothing  larger  could  be  got,  as 
the  great  theatre  or  music  hall.  And  in  the  most  uncom- 
fortable and  most  disreputable  buildings,  just  as  in  the  orig- 
inal and  more  desirable  haunts  of  the  Army,  the  mighty 
power  of  God-  to  save  the  vilest  sinners  was  constantly  ex- 
emplified in  the  most  marvellous  manner  by  the  instrument- 
ality of  many  converts,  including  thieves,  infidels,  drunkards, 
gipsies,  sailors,  butchers,  dog-fanciers — in  short,  the  rough- 
est, most  ignorant,  and  wildest  men  and  women  who  could 
well  have  been  got  together,  and  set  up  as  witnesses  for  Him 
who  had  plucked  them  as  brands  from  the  burning.  Twos 
and  threes  of  such  men  soon  were  multiplied  in  each  locality 
to  strong  bands  of  trained  and  indefatigable  laborers. 

After  the  work  had  thus  been  extended  to  various  parts 
of  the  east  of  London,  it  was  called  for  in  one  or  two  pro- 


642        HOW  "  THE  ARMY"  RECEIVED  ITS  NAME. 

vincial  towns  where  Mrs.  Booth  had,  by  holding  special 
services,  prepared  the  way.  It  ceased  to  be  The  East  Lon- 
don Christian  Mission,  and  was  known  from  1870  to  1878  as 
The  Christian  Mission. 


HOW   "  THE  ARMY  "   RECEIVED   ITS   NAME. 

It  was  in  1878  that  the  Army  sprang  indeed  out  of  weak- 
ness into  strength,  and  by  attacking,  and  in  large  measure 
conquering,  no  less  than  fifty  towns  not  occupied  at  the  com- 
mencement of  the  year,  won  the  right  to  its  new  name,  "  The 
Salvation  Army."  This  sudden  outburst,  whereby  the  num- 
ber of  stations  occupied  was  raised  from  thirty  to  more  than 
eighty,  and  the  number  of  evangelists  or  officers  from  thirty- 
six  to  one  hundred  and  twenty-seven,  need  have  surprised 
no  one  who  was  able  to  look  beneath  the  surface  at  the  ele- 
ments of  which  the  force  consisted. 

The  adoption  of  the  new  name  for  this  organization  was 
almost  accidental.  While  drawing  up  a  brief  description  of 
the  Mission,  wishing  to  express  what  it  was  in  one  phrase,  it 
was  written,  "  The  Christian  Mission  is  a  volunteer  army  of 
converted  working  people."  "No,"  said  Mr.  Booth,  "we 
are  not  volunteers,  for  we  feel  we  must  do  what  we  do,  and 
we  are  always  on  duty."  He  crossed  out  "  volunteer"  and 
wrote  "  Salvation." 

The  change  of  name  caused  no  change  in  the  style  or  or- 
ganization of  the  work,  which  gradually  had  become  more 
and  more  military.  The  Army  had  fought  many  battles,  and 
had  become  accustomed  to  speak  of  its  work,  as  soldiers 
naturally  would.  As  early  as  October,  1877,  an  evangelist 
had  announced  his  opening  services  as  "  War  in  Whitby," 
calling  himself  "  Captain  Cadman,"  and,  describing  the  Mis- 
sion as  "  The  Hallelujah  Arm y,"  he  had  succeeded  in  gather- 
ing the  roughest  of  congregations.  Mr.  Booth  had  for  years 
been  spoken  of  in  private  by  those  who  knew  him  best,  as 
"  the  General,"  simply  because  all  who  were  near  him  saw 
that  he  was  organizing  nothing  short  of  an  army,  which  he 
was  well  able  to  direct. 


THE  SALVATION  ARMY.  «643 

But  when  the  Army  name  was  definitely  adopted,  all  this 
was  made  much  plainer  to  the  minds  of  all  the  people. 
What  was  inconsistent  with  true  soldierhood  for  Christ  was 
as  rapidly  as  possible  got  rid  of,  and  all  that  was  useful  in 
the  teachings  of  earth's  armies  was  carefully  learned.  Part 
No.  1  of  Orders  and  Regulations  for  the  Salvation  Army 
was  published  in  1878,  after  long  and  careful  study  of  the 
manuals  of  the  British  Army. 

The  adoption  of  the  Scriptural  motto,  "  Blood  and  Fire," 
signifying  the  blood  of  Christ  and  the  fire  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
and  of  a  flag  emblematic  of  these  great  thoughts,  also  helped 
to  make  the  year  1879  memorable.  The  use  of  flags  has 
done  more  than  any  one  could  have  imagined  to  bind  all 
the  soldiers  together,  and  to  encourage  and  develop  the  spirit 
of  enterprise  and  resolution. 

UNIFORMS. 

A  uniform  was  then  adopted,  consisting  of  a  simple,  plain 
dark-blue  dress,  trimmed  with  braid  of  the  same  color,  with 
yellow,  red,  blue,  or  silver  braid  upon  the  collar,  according 
to  rank,  and  the  letter  S.  A  large  bonnet,  simply  trimmed, 
for  the  women,  while  the  men  wore  red  guernseys  and  a  red 
band  around  the  cap,  bearing  the  words,  "The  Salvation 
Army."  Throughout  the  career  of  the  Salvation  Army  the 
uniform  ever  proved  to  be  most  useful,  not  only  as  a  means 
of  attracting  attention,  giving  opportunity  for  conversations, 
gathering  people  to  the  open-air  demonstrations,  but  as  a 
safeguard  against  conformity  to  the  fashions  of  the  world, 
and  a  check  upon  the  conduct  of  those  who  have  worn  it. 

ORGANIZATION. 

General  Booth  held  before  him  constantly  the  aim  of  mak- 
ing a  great  spiritual  army,  desiring  its  soldiers  never  to  set- 
tle down  into  a  church  or  sect,  out  to  maintain  the  spirit  of 
aggressive  evangelistic  work.  As  the  movement  grew,  more 
and  more  system  was  required  to  maintain  the  harmony  and 
union  of  its  hundreds  and  then  thousands  of  workers.  Books 


644  ORGANIZATION. 

of  "  Orders  and  Regulations  "  were  from  time  to  time  issued, 
until  in  1886  the  General  found  it  necessary  to  write  a  book 
of  624  pages  to  prove  the  guide  of  the  Arm j's  future  move- 
ments, laying  down  the  lines  upon  which  its  officers  should 
act  in  every  emergency,  and  containing  in  full  its  doctrines, 
aims,  and  form  of  operations.  Titles,  and  the  duties  of  those 
who  held  them,  became  more  clearly  denned,  being  as  fol- 
lows :  The  General  in  command  of  the  entire  Army ;  a  Com- 
missioner (in  some  countries  called  Marshal)  substantially  the 
General  in  command  of  all  the  officers  and  soldiers  of  any 
given  territory,  subject  always  to  the  directions  issued  to  him 
by  the  General,  from  time  to  time,  concerning  the  said  com- 
mand ;  the  lines  of  action  taken  by  such  Commissioner  be- 
ing always  in  harmony  with  the  orders  and  regulations  of 
the  Army.  The  Chief  of  Staff,  an  officer  taking  the  oversight 
of  the  staff  of  a  superior  officer  ;  a  Colonel,  having  charge  of 
a  division  and  all  those  officers  working  in  it ;  a  Major,  be- 
ing placed  over  a  district,  while  a  Captain  and  Lieutenant 
command  a  corps  ;  Adjutants,  Aide-de-Camps,  and  Staff  offi- 
cers being  set  apart  to  assist  the  General  or  the  commanders 
of  territories,  divisions,  and  districts.  Each  corps  having  its 
soldiers  (or  converts)  duly  enrolled,  and  sergeants  appointed 
to  oversee  special  departments  of  the  work.  Every  member 
of  the  Salvation  Army  being  required,  before  he  can  be  en- 
rolled, to  give  genuine  proofs  in  his  life  of  being  saved  from 
the  guilt  and  power  of  sin  through  true  repentance  and 
faith  in  the  blood  of  Christ ;  a  total  abstainer  from  all  in- 
toxicating drink,  from  cursing,  swearing,  lying,  cheating, 
and  fraud  of  every  kind,  and  is  expected  to  be  regular  in 
attending  its  meetings,  outdoor  and  in,  as  often  as  possible, 
and  taking  part  in  all  its  work  as  far  as  is  consonant  with 
his  ordinary  avocations  of  life.  No  salary  or  remuneration 
being  received  by  soldiers,  and  salaried  officers  (their  time 
being  wholly  given  up  to  its  work)  only  receiving  that  which 
is  necessary  for  their  maintenance.  General  Booth  and  his 
family  receiving  no  salary  whatever  from  the  funds  of  the 
Army,  being  supported  from  an  entirely  independent  source 
from  the  commencement  of  the  movement.  He  so  arranged 


THE  SALVATION  ARMY.  645 

matters  that  neither  he  nor  any  succeeding  General  could, 
if  he  would,  appropriate  any  of  the  money  given  in  support 
of  the  Salvation  Army,  nor  any  of  the  property  which  the 
General  holds  as  trustee  by  a  deed-roll  in  chancery. 

It  is  a  remarkable  fact  that  all  of  the  General's  family, 
consisting  of  four  sons  and  five  daughters,  have  devoted 
their  lives  to  the  service  of  the  Army,  as  also  two  daughters- 
in-law  and  two  sons-in-law. 

Such  legal  and  other  arrangements  have  also  been  made, 
as  will  secure  the  continuance  and  progress  of  the  move- 
ment after  the  death  of  the  General,  so  that  his  successor  can 
at  once  assume  command.  Each  General  or  Commander-in- 
Chief  of  the  Army  has  the  power  of  appointing  his  successor, 
being  guided  in  his  choice  by  the  principles  of  the  Army 
and  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God. 

"  The  Army,  carefully  trained  in  self-supporting  princi- 
ples, has  raised  within  its  own  borders  a  very  large  income, 
while  its  expenses  have  been  kept  down  to  figures  utterly 
unparalleled  in  the  history  of  religious  enterprise. 

"  The  Army's  oldest  friends  have,  in  times  of  emergency, 
given  large  sums  freely,  and  this,  doubtless,  has  helped  to 
produce  an  impression  that  it  was  handsomely  provided  for. 
But  in  reality  the  facts  of  the  case  are  quite  the  contrary. 
The  spirit  of  enterprise  with  which  the  operations  of  the 
Army  have  been  carried  on,  the  vast  extent  of  the  move- 
ment, and  the  continual  break-downs  in  the  health  of  the 
officers,  have  brought  upon  it  daily  fresh  burdens  of  the 
heaviest  kind. 

u  Surplus  income  has  been  a  thing  unknown  in  the  history 
of  the  Army.  It  literally  lives  from  hand  to  mouth,  hourly 
depending  on  the  good  providence  of  God." 

Carefully  prepared  balance-sheets  by  professional  account- 
ants have  been  published  annually  in  every  country  where 
the  Army  is  established. 

With  regard  to  those  who  hold  positions  of  responsibility, 
as  officers  in  this  movement,  those  only  are  accepted  as  cadets  " 
(the  first  title  received)  who  are  recommended  by  a  captain, 
major,  and  colonel,  and  who  have  filled  in  a  form  of  applica- 


646  ORGANIZATION. 

tion  stating  how  long  they  have  been  saved,  how  long  a  sol- 
dier, and  many  other  particulars.  Men  and  women  who  are 
entirely  consecrated  to  God,  willing  to  give  up  their  own 
ease  and  comfort  to  suffer  persecution,  slander,  poverty,  or 
even  death  in  the  following  of  Christ ;  willing  to  go  any- 
where where  they  can  the  best  advance  His  kingdom,  and 
be  entirely  separate  in  fashions  and  customs  from  worldlings, 
are  those  and  those  alone  who  are  accepted  as  officers.  So 
far  as  possible  these  people,  many  of  them  "  ignorant  and 
unlearned  men,"  as  were  Christ's  disciples  of  old,  are  trained 
on  first  entering  the  work.  For  instance,  in  England  there 
is  a  large  training-school,  and  a  system  by  which  some  five  or 
six  hundred  men  and  women  are  trained  at  once  for  the 
work,  and  after  three,  five,  or  six  months,  sent  out  into  the 
field,  and  their  places  filled  by  incoming  cadets.  There  are 
similar  training  homes  in  almost  every  country  where  the 
Army  operates.  No  inducements  of  ease,  money,  position, 
or  popularity  are  held  out  to  them.  All  who  offer  do  so 
out  of  love  for  the  work  of  seeking  to  save  and  reform  the 
lost,  degraded,  and  debauched,  for  whose  reclamation  the 
Army  exists. 

As  this  movement  had  for  its  aim  the  reaching  and  re- 
claiming of  the  uncared  for,  those  who  attended  no  place  of 
worship,  and  were  in  many  instances  the  most  depraved 
and  drunken  classes,  it  became  necessary,  as  far  as  possible, 
to  adapt  its  mode  of  operations  to  the  minds  and  tastes  of 
those  it  sought  to  attract  and  benefit.  This  was  accom- 
plished by  holding  meetings  of  a  lively  character,  with  short 
addresses  interspersed  with  salvation  songs  set  to  popular 
tunes,  such  as  were  well  known  and  liked  by  the  people. 
Open-air  meetings,  with  singing  and  marching  through  the 
streets,  arrested  the  attention  of  multitudes  who  would  never 
have  otherwise  come  to  the  halls.  Knowing  there  existed 
in  the  minds  of  the  godless  a  strong  prejudice  against 
churches  and  chapels,  warehouses,  factories,  theatres,  and 
the  like  were  secured  as  being  more  likely  to  be  attended  by 
the  class  sought.  The  visitation  of  saloons,  prisons,  private 
houses,  and,  in  many  instances,  tenements,  known  as  hot- 


THE  SALVATION  ARMY.  647 

beds  of  sin  and  vice,  formed  part  of  the  work ;  and  meetings 
held  in  these  places  have  been  the  means  of  reaching  thou- 
sands who  would  never  have  been  reached  had  the  Army 
waited  until  they  came  to  seek  salvation  for  themselves.  The 
method  of  using  those  who  were  themselves  reformed  through 
the  Army's  instrumentality,  as  living  witnesses  of  Christ's  sav- 
ing power,  appealed  most  effectively  to  the  hearts  of  those  who 
formerly  were  their  companions  in  sin.  The  adoption  of  brass 
bands,  drum-corps,  flags,  and  startling  announcements  in 
regard  to  the  meetings,  while  it  may  have  jarred  with  the 
feelings  and  tastes  of  refined  and  religious  people,  became 
more  and  more  attractive  to  the  lower  element  of  society. 
But  it  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  a  movement  working  in  so 
different  a  manner  from  the  existing  Christian  denomina- 
tions, and  in  direct  opposition  to  worldliness,  fashion,  drunk- 
enness, and  all  other  sins  which  are  practiced  and  cherished 
by  the  world,  should  be  allowed  to  continue  unopposed.  Its 
persecution  has  been  from  many  sources.  Firstly,  from 
those  living  sinful  lives  and  practicing  those  things  which 
the  Army  denounced.  Secondly,  from  the  critical  and  often 
lying  pens  of  those  who  understood  it  not,  and,  in  many  in- 
stances, had  never  taken  the  trouble  to  inquire  into  it.  And, 
thirdly,  in  some  countries  and  many  cities  from  the  authori- 
ties, who  have,  in  contradiction  to  their  own  laws  regarding 
religious  liberty,  tried  to  hinder  the  work  in  the  open  air, 
and,  in  some  instances,  even  in  the  Army's  halls.  Unjustly, 
but  for  the  cause  of  Christ,  many  a  Salvationist  has  slept 
upon  the  hard  boards  of  a  prison-cell.  Hundreds  have 
known  what  it  was  to  be  stoned  and  kicked  and  beaten, 
though  by  their  principles  prevented  from  retaliating,  while 
trying,  in  every  way  they  could,  to  bless  and  benefit  those 
who  opposed  them.  Some  even  have  been  maimed  for  life, 
and  not  a  few  have  died  in  consequence  of  cruel  treat- 
ment. Still  more  difficult  to  bear  have  been  the  slanders  and 
misrepresentations  ;  but,  after  all,  it  was  but  a  repetition  of 
the  treatment  received  by  Jesus  Christ  and  His  disciples, 
and  those  such  as  John  Wesley,  Fox,  and  Luther,  who  have 
stood  out  boldly  as  reformers. 


648  DOCTRINES. 


DOCTRINES. 

No  new  doctrines  were  advanced  or  promulgated  by  the 
Army ;  those  held  and  taught  were  as  follows : 

1.  We  believe  that  the  Scriptures  of  the  Old  and  New 
Testament  were  given  by  inspiration  of  God,  and  that  they 
only  constitute  the  Divine  rule  of  Christian  faith  and  prac- 
tice. 

2.  We  believe  there  is  only  one  God,  who  is  infinitely 
perfect,  the  Creator,  Preserver,  and  Governor  of  all  things. 

3.  We  believe  that  there  are  three  persons  in  the  Godhead 
— the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost,  undivided  in 
essence,  co-equal  in  power  and  glory,  and  the  only  proper 
object  of  religious  worship. 

4.  We  believe  that  in  the  person  of  Jesus  Christ  the  Di- 
vine and  human  natures  are  united,  so  that  He  is  truly  and 
properly  God,  and  truly  and  properly  man. 

5.  We  believe  that  our  first  parents  were  created  in  a  state 
of  innocence,  but  by  their  disobedience  they  lost  their  purity 
and  happiness  ;  and  that  in  consequence  of  their  fall,  all  men 
have  become  sinners,  totally  depraved,  and  as  such  are  justly 
exposed  to  the  wrath  of  God. 

6.  We  believe  that  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  has,  by  His  suf- 
fering and  death,  made  an  atonement  for  the  whole  world,  so 
that  whosoever  will  may  be  saved. 

7.  We  believe  that  repentance  toward  God,  faith  in  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  regeneration  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  are 
necessary  to  salvation. 

8.  We  believe  that  we  are  justified  by  grace,  through  faith 
in  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  that  he  that  believeth  hath  the 
witness  in  himself. 

9.  We  believe  that  the  Scriptures  teach,  that  not  only  does 
continuance  in  the  favor  of  God  depend  upon  continued 
faith  in,  and  obedience  to,  Christ,  but  that  it  is  possible  for 
those  who  have  been  truly  converted  to  fall  away  and  be 
eternally  lost. 

10.  We  believe  that  it  is  the  privilege  of  all  believers  to 
be  "  wholly  sanctified,"  and  that  "  their  whole  spirit  and  soul 
and  body"  may  "be  preserved  blameless  unto  the  coming 
of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ."    That  is  to  say,  we  believe  that 
after  conversion  there  remains  in  the  heart  of  the  believer 
inclination  to  evil,  or  roots  of  bitterness,  which,  unless  over- 
powered by  Divine  grace,  produce  actual  sin  ;  but  that  these 
evil  tendencies  can  be  entirely  taken  away  by  the  Spirit  of 


THE  SALVATION  ARMY.  649 

God,  and  the  whole  heart  thus  cleansed  from  everything 
contrary  to  the  will  of  God,  or  entirely  sanctified,  will  then 
produce  the  fruits  of  the  Spirit  only.  And  we  believe  that 
persons  thus  entirely  sanctified,  may,  by  the  power  of  God, 
be  kept  unblamable  and  unreprovable  before  Him. 

11.  We  believe  in  the  immortality  of  the  soul ;  in  the 
resurrection  of  the  body ;  in  the  general  judgment  at  the 
end  of  the  world  ;  in  the  eternal  happiness  of  the  righteous ; 
and  in  the  everlasting  punishment  of  the  wicked. 


Though  at  first  confined  to  work  among  the  lower  classes 
in  Great  Britain,  the  Army  soon  became  a  great  missionary 
power,  extending  its  efforts  to  America,  Canada,  and  most 
of  the  countries  of  Europe,  and  going  out  to  the  heathen  of 
India,  Africa,  and  the  native  tribes  in  Australia  and  New 
Zealand,  always  adapting  its  methods  in  each  country  where 
it  planted  its  flag  to  the  class  of  people  sought. 

At  the  end  of  1887  it  was  estimated  that  about  600,000 
persons  were  enrolled  in  the  rank  and  file  as  soldiers.  No 
estimate  can  be  given  of  the  number  of  converts  made,  as 
those  having  church  relationship  have  been  allowed  to  re- 
tain it. 

The  following  table  shows  the  number  of  corps  and  offi- 
cers in  fifteen  countries  at  the  close  of  the  year  1887 : 


Corps.  Officert. 

GreatBritain 1,274  2,974 

United  States 300  650 

Canada 290  822 

Australasia 240  600 

France  and  Switzerland 69  249 

South  Africa 61  177 

India  and  Ceylon 32  204 

Sweden 18  62 

Holland 4  12 

Denmark 2  13 

Germany 4  12 

Italy 1  4 

Jamaica 2 

St.  Helena 1  2 

Total...                                        2,298  5,784 


650  INDIA— CAPE  OF  GOOD  HOPE. 


INDIA. 

The  work  in  India,  under  the  command  of  Commissioner 
Tucker,  formerly  a  magistrate  there,  was  commenced  in  Au- 
gust, 1882.  Perhaps  nowhere  has  the  law  of  adaptation  been 
more  signally  successful  than  in  this  country.  From  the 
very  first  the  officers,  both  men  and  women,  adopted  the 
native  costume,  abandoning  the  wearing  of  shoes,  as  also 
the  European  mode  of  eating  and  living,  preferring  to  share 
the  diet  and  huts  of  the  natives,  that  they  might  win  the 
lowest  and  basest  inhabitants  to  Christ.  They  received  no 
salary,  but  with  a  little  begging- vessel,  their  only  article  of 
furniture,  they  begged  their  bread  from  door  to  door.  For 
want  of  better  shelter  they  often  slept  under  the  trees.  Thus 
by  self-sacrifice  and  becoming  all  things  to  all  men  they 
won  the  affection  and  confidence  of  the  natives.  The  hard- 
ships and  sufferings  of  such  a  life  were  many,  but  were 
amply  repaid  by  bringing  thousands  out  of  darkness  into 
the  light  and  knowledge  of  the  true  Christ. 


CAPE   OF   GOOD   HOPE. 

At  the  close  of  1887,  though  the  work  had  only  been  on 
foot  three  years,  successful  corps  had  been  established  in  the 
neighborhood  of  the  diamond  fields,  and  officers  had  been 
sent  forward  to  the  Transvaal  gold  fields  to  work  among  the 
new-comers  who  had  flocked  to  this  region,  and  before  there 
was  even  a  street  or  a  house  at  Barberton  the  Salvation 
Army  had  erected  its  barrack  tents  there  and  commenced 
its  operations.  The  most  important  achievement  was  the 
establishment  of  the  work  among  the  Zulus  ;  not  only  were 
there  several  Zulu-speaking  white  officers,  but  several  na- 
tive Zulus  given  up  to  this  work.  Twenty  officers  were  sent 
from  Europe  to  give  their  lives  up  for  Africa,  to  leave  all  as- 
sociations of  home  and  friends  behind  them,  making  their 
abode  in  native  huts  in  order  to  tame  these  warlike  savages 
by  the  love  of  Christ. 


THE  SALVATION  ARMY.  651 


AUSTRALASIA. 

In  1881  the  flag  of  the  Salvation  Army  was  first  unfurled 
by  a  young  captain  in  Adelaide,  South  Australia,  from  which 
it  was  carried  to  almost  every  town  of  importance  through- 
out those  colonies,  including  New  Zealand.  Each  colony  was 
placed  under  the  command  of  a  major,  the  whole  coming 
under  the  oversight  of  a  commissioner.  The  principal  fea- 
ture of  the  interest  in  the  work  in  Melbourne  was  the  great 
good  achieved  amongst  the  criminal  classes  and  fallen  wom- 
en— there  being  reported  in  1887,  two  homes  for  discharged 
prisoners,  and  four  for  fallen  women,  and  that  during  the  first 
four  years  after  the  commencement  of  this  work  3,600  men 
had  been  welcomed  to  the  homes  on  leaving  jail ;  and  95,171 
meals  and  31,698  beds  had  been  provided.  Many  hundreds 
of  young  women  had  passed  through  the  Rescue  homes. 
The  leading  members  of  the  Government  were  so  impressed 
with  the  good  accomplished  that  they  advanced  £2,000 
($10,000)  toward  these  branches  of  the  movement. 

FRANCE  AND   SWITZERLAND. 

In  1881  the  General  and  Mrs.  Booth  gave  up  their  eldest 
daughter,  Catherine  Booth,  to  commence  the  movement  in 
infidel,  pleasure-loving  Paris.  Through  seas  of  difficulty  and 
darkness  she  fought  on  bravely  until  a  good  work  was  ac- 
complished in  that  centre,  and  the  Army  had  spread  rapidly 
in  the  provinces. 

In  Switzerland,  Miss  Booth,  in  company  with  Miss  Charles- 
worth  (who  afterward  became  the  wife  of  Ballington  Booth, 
the  son  of  General  Booth)  and  other  devoted  officers,  gained 
remarkable  successes  despite  the  bitterest  opposition  from 
the  Government.  Though  Miss  Booth  and  several  others 
(some  of  whom  were  Swiss  citizens)  suffered  imprisonment 
for  the  sake  of  religious  liberty,  the  Army's  labors  were 
indeed  repaid  by  the  establishing  of  numerous  strong  corps 
of  men  and  women,  who  have  proved  themselves  willing  to 
die,  if  necessary,  for  the  salvation  of  their  country. 


652  ENGLAND. 


ENGLAND. 

In  England  the  work  of  the  Army  was  indeed  successful, 
having  in  1887,  though  only  twenty-two  years  in  existence, 
from  one  to  ten  corps  in  every  city  and  town  of  importance, 
as  well  as  in  hundreds  of  villages.  Thousands  of  drunkards, 
swearers,  wife-beaters,  and  otherwise  notorious  characters 
were  rescued  and  reformed  through  its  instrumentality. 
Besides  the  ordinary  work  of  the  Army  as  already  described, 
other  special  branches  of  labor  were  started.  At  the  end  of 
1887  there  were  reported  eleven  "  Rescue  Homes  "  for  lost 
women,  which  proved  successful  in  reclaiming  hundreds  and 
bringing  hope  and  salvation  to  the  almost  hopeless. 

The  Life  Guards,  a  troop  of  about  200  men  cadets,  marched 
hundreds  of  miles  throughout  the  provinces  under  command 
of  seven  or  eight  officers,  holding  meetings  in  every  village, 
hamlet,  or  town  on  their  route,  often  sleeping  on  the  bare 
boards  of  the  halls  at  night  after  their  long  tramp  and  weary- 
ing service. 

In  the  lowest  neighborhoods  of  London — Hackney  Wick, 
Whitechapel,  Stepney,  Seven  Dials,  and  the  Borough  (lo- 
calities known  as  the  hot-beds  of  crime) — was  started  a  work 
called  the  "Cellar,  Gutter,  and  Garret  Brigade."  Finding 
that  in  these  vile  neighborhoods  there  existed  a  class  even 
^ower  than  those  who  frequented  their  halls ;  a  starving, 
filthy,  unclothed  crowd,  living  herded  together  in  miserable 
tenements,  garrets,  and  cellars  more  like  brute  beasts  than 
human  beings,  the  Army  determined  to  adapt  itself  even  to 
this  class  with  the  hope  of  reaching  them.  To  this  end 
young  girls  from  the  Training  Home  volunteered  to  go  and 
live  amongst  the  people,  dressing  in  poor  and  ragged  clothes, 
so  as  not  to  appear  in  any  way  their  superiors,  but  to  be  of 
them.  They  visited  from  room  to  room,  not  only  singing 
and  praying  with  their  newly-made  neighbors  and  telling 
of  the  love  of  God,  but  nursing  the  sick,  washing  the 
children,  and  scrubbing  the  floors.  Thus  they  won  their 
way  into  the  hearts  of  all,  showing  that  their  religion  was 


THE  SALVATION  ARMY.  653 

one  of  love.  In  this  way  they  were  enabled  to  bring  God's 
light  and  peace  and  pardon  to  these  heathen  in  England. 

During  the  year  1887,  148,905  persons  sought  salvation 
in  the  meetings,  and  12,740,000  copies  of  the  War  Cry  (the 
official  gazette)  were  sold,  and  no  less  than  1,510  buildings 
were  occupied  by  the  Army,  many  of  which,  fine,  substan- 
tial structures,  were  erected  by  the  movement ;  the  rent  roll 
being  nearly  £200,000  ($1,000,000)  annually. 

In  Canada,  Sweden,  Denmark,  and  Holland  the  Army's 
ranks  rapidly  increased,  and  in  Italy  and  Germany,  though 
fighting  under  the  greatest  difficulties,  their  labors  were 
notably  blessed. 

THE   UNITED   STATES. 

The  year  1879  was  made  notable  by  the  dedication  of  Com- 
missioner Rail  ton  and  eight  young  women  officers,  sailing  for 
America,  to  plant  the  Army  colors  on  its  free  soil.  Here  as 
in  no  other  lands,  God  early  manifested  His  approval  of  the 
measures  of  the  organization,  by  giving  them  success  in  the 
face  of  much  criticism,  ridicule,  etc.,  and  these  early  workers 
gained  ground  in  the  confidence  of  the  people.  Owing  to 
the  pressure  of  work  upon  General  Booth,  Commissioner 
Railton  was  soon  recalled  to  England,  and  his  successor  ap- 
pointed. For  some  time  this  newly  appointed  officer  had 
considerable  success,  and  the  number  of  corps,  through  the 
efforts  of  devoted  officers,  were  increased.  But,  unfortu- 
nately, the  movement  received  a  severe  check  through  the 
action  of  the  one  whom  the  General  had  intrusted  with  its 
leadership.  This  officer,  upon  receiving  a  reprimand  on  ac- 
count of  his  method  of  managing  the  Army's  property,  left 
the  organization,  while  attempting  to  retain  his  hold  upon 
tha  officers  and  property  of  the  Army.  He  then  led  a  move- 
ment under  his  own  generalship,  which  many  mistook  for 
that  commanded  by  General  Booth;  the  Army  suffering 
much  in  reputation  thereby.  To  some  extent  he  succeeded 
in  these  efforts,  but  through  the  goodness  of  God  and  the 
untiring  leadership  of  Commissioner  Smith,  the  movement 
in  the  United  States  survived  and  grew  rapidly,  until  in 


654  ARMY  PUBLICATIONS. 

1887,  under  Marshal  and  Mrs.  Ballington  Booth  (nee  Miss 
Charlesworth),  it  numbered  its  forces  in  not  less  than  three 
hundred  and  sixty  cities  and  towns  in  the  States,  com- 
manded by  some  650  commissioned  officers.  In  the  year 
1888  a  large  building  was  obtained  in  New  York  City,  lo- 
cated on  Reade  Street,  and  containing  nearly  14,000  square 
feet,  to  be  used  as  their  central  headquarters  and  publishing 
house  for  the  United  States.  All  army  property  in  this 
country  is  held  in  trust  by  the  Marshal  for  the  organization. 
The  Army  in  the  United  States  has  achieved  remarkable 
success,  and  its  course  in  recent  years  has  been  marked  by 
several  memorable  events.  On  November  20,  21,  22, 1892,  it 
held  its  first  Continental  Congress  in  New  York  City,  at 
which  over  1 4,000  members  were  represented  by  6,000  dele- 
gates. The  year  1894  was  one  of  special  consecration  to 
more  aggressive  and  persistent  labor,  and  one  of  the  first 
evidences  of  the  results  of  the  renewed  efforts  was  the  lay- 
ing, on  August  14,  of  three  corner-stones  of  a  magnificent 
national  headquarters  building  on  West  Fourteenth  Street, 
New  York  City,  to  cost  with  the  ground  $350,000,  the  first 
memorial  in  the  world  to  Mrs.  Catharine  Booth,  the 
"mother"  of  the  Army.  During  the  latter  part  of  the 
year,  General  William  Booth,  the  founder  of  the  Army, 
made  an  inspecting  tour  of  Canada  and  the  United  States, 
and  in  several  of  the  large  cities,  New  York  most  especially, 
was  given  receptions  of  the  most  cordial  character. 

ARMY    PUBLICATIONS. 

The  War  Cry  is  the  official  gazetteer  of  the  Army.  Twenty- 
one  different  editions  of  it  are  published  in  various  countries 
and  languages.  In  addition  to  this  numerous  books  are  pub- 
lished, among  the  most  powerful  being  :  '  Aggressive  Chris- 
tianity," "  Practical  Religion,"  "  Godliness,"  "  Church  and 
State,"  and  "  Popular  Christianity,"  by  Mrs.  General  Booth  ; 
and  "  Holy  Living,"  «  Salvation  Soldiery,"  and  "  The  Train- 
ing of  Children,"  by  General  William  Booth.  The  Army 
circulates  annually  many  millions  of  publications  devoted 
to  the  salvation  of  souls  through  Christ  Jesus. 


Believers  iij  tfye 


of 


THE  Dominion  of  Canada  consists  of  the  provinces  of 
Ontario,  Quebec — formerly  Upper  and  Lower  Canada — 
Nova  Scotia,  New  Brunswick,  Manitoba,  British  Columbia, 
and  Prince  Edward  Island.  Newfoundland,  though  not  at 
present  (1886)  politically  a  part  of  the  Dominion,  is  natu- 
rally associated  with  it,  and  will  doubtless  in  time  become  a 
part  of  the  confederation.  These  provinces  were  united  in 
1867,  under  a  constitution  similar  to  that  of  the  United 
Kingdom.  The  executive  authority  is  the  sovereign  of  Great 
Britain  and  Ireland  and  of  the  Empire  of  India,  and  power 
is  exercised  by  a  governor-general  and  privy  council.  The 
provinces  forming  the  Dominion  have  each  a  separate  par- 
liament and  administration,  with  a  lieutenant-governor. 

In  the  spring  of  1534,  Jacques  Cartier,  sailing  under  the 
orders  of  the  king  of  France,  reached  Newfoundland,  and 
penetrating  the  Strait  of  Belle  Isle,  entered  the  St.  Law- 
rence, having  made  the  discovery  of  Canada.  Entering  the 
Bay  of  Chaleurs,  he  took  possession  of  the  territory  in  the 
name  of  the  king,  and  erected  a  wooden  cross  on  an  eminence. 
The  colonization  of  Canada  was  semi-military  and  semi- 
religious.  The  Recollect  and  Jesuit  missionaries  traversed 
the  country  in  all  directions,  seeking  to  convert  the  Indians. 
In  1629,  Quebec  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  English,  who, 

(655) 


656  THE  DOMINION  OF  CANADA. 

some  authorities  say,  were  led  by  three  refugee  French  Cal- 
vinists,  whose  sect  had  been  formally  excluded  from  the 
colony.  After  the  appointment  of  a  bishop  of  Quebec, 
serious  dissensions  broke  out  between  the  civil  and  the 
ecclesiastical  authorities.  Bishop  Laval  was  powerful 
enough,  however,  to  secure  the  recall  of  the  governor,  and 
the  appointment  of  a  successor  of  his  own  selection.  The 
supreme  council,  on  the  other  hand,  reduced  the  tithes  pay- 
able by  the  Roman  Catholics  from  one-thirteenth  to  one- 
twentieth.  In  1763  Canada  was  ceded  to  England  by  the 
French.  The  colonists  were  guaranteed  a  free  exercise  of 
their  religion,  and  the  Roman  Catholic  clergy  the  right  to 
continue  to  receive  their  accustomed  rights  and  dues.  In 
1774  the  British  Parliament  passed  an  act  to  provide  for  the 
government  of  the  Province  of  Quebec,  as  the  entire  colony 
was  then  called.  In  this  authority  was  given  to  reserve  one- 
seventh  of  the  public  lands  for  the  support  of  the  Protestant 
clergy,  and  for  this  purpose  some  3,400,000  acres  were  set 
apart.  It  was  supposed  this  movement  was  instituted  for 
the  purpose  of  establishing  in  the  colonies  Church  of  Eng- 
gland  rectories.  There  was,  however,  but  a  small  portion 
of  the  land  ever  applied  to  such  endowments,  and  in  1854 
an  act  of  the  provincial  legislature  was  passed  to  devote  the 
whole  of  these  lands  to  secular  purposes.  Thus  the  idea  of 
establishing  a  state  religion  in  Canada,  if  it  ever  was  really 
contemplated,  was  abandoned. 

There  is  no  state  religion  in  the  Dominion  or  in  the  whole 
of  British  America.  According  to  the  census  returns  of 
1861,  there  were  in  the  four  original  provinces,  1,372,913 
Roman  Catholics  ;  471,946  Presbyterians,  465,572  Anglicans, 
431,927  Wesleyan  Methodists,  189,080  Baptists,  29,651  Luth- 
erans, 17,757  Congregationalists,  76,176  miscellaneous  sects, 
18,860  "  no  religion,"  and  16,682  " no  creed  stated."  Roman 
Catholics  were  the  most  numerous  in  the  province  of  Que- 
bec, and  they  also  constituted  a  plurality  in  New  Brunswick. 
The  leading  religious  denomination  of  Ontario  was  the 
Wesleyans,  and  of  Nova  Scotia  the  Presbyterians. 

Between  the  years  1861  and  1891,  the  increase  in  church 


THE  METHODIST  CHURCH.  657 

membership  in  all  the  denominations  was  very  large.  A 
return  in  the  latter  year  gave  the  following  totals  of  the 
various  churches  in  the  Dominion,  which  should  be  read  in 
connection  with  the  statistics  of  1861 :  Roman  Catholic, 
1,990,681*;  Methodists,  839,637;  Presbyterians,  755,275; 
Church  of  England,  644,259 ;  Baptists,  302,565 ;  Lutherans, 
63,980  ;  Congregationalists,  28,157  ;  Salvation  Army,  13,949 ; 
Disciples,  12,763  ;  Brethren,  11,637 ;  Bible  Christians,  7,183  ; 
Jews,  6,414;  Adventists,  6,354;  Quakers,  4,650;  Universal- 
ists,  3,186  ;  Unitarians,  1,773  ;  other  sects,  51,321 ;  not  speci- 
fied, 57,187 ;  total,  4,801,071. 

The  most  important  movements  in  the  denominations 
during  the  few  years  preceding  1886  were  among  the  various 
branches  of  the  Methodist  Church.  In  1874  the  Methodist 
Church  in  Canada  was  constituted  by  a  union  between  the 
Wesleyan  Methodist  Church  in  Canada,  the  Wesleyan 
Methodist  Church  in  Eastern  British  America,  and  the  New 
Connexion  Church  in  Canada,  The  statistics  of  the  union 
church  in  1883  were :  Number  of  ministers,  1,192  ;  members, 
125,420 ;  adherents,  including  members,  625,000 ;  churches, 
2,046 ;  Sunday-schools,  1,947,  with  16,980  teachers  and 
130,629  scholars ;  domestic  missions,  332,  with  344  mission- 
aries and  30,149  members ;  total  mission  strength,  390  mis- 
sions, 394  missionaries,  and  34,607  members.  Its  educational 
institutions  were :  Victoria  College,  Cobourg,  Ont. ;  Mount 
Allison  College,  Sackville,  N.  B.,  and  a  seminary  for  young 
men  and  women  at  Sackville  ;  besides  four  institutions 
under  the  patronage  of  the  Annual  Conference,  and  100 
common  schools  in  Newfoundland. 

In  1884  there  was  a  further  union  and  the  constitution  of 
a  new  and  powerful  denomination,  under  the  name  of  the 
Methodist  Church  of  Canada.  The  parties  to  the  second 
union  were :  the  Methodist  Church  of  Canada,  whose  name 
was  retained,  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in  Canada, 
the  Primitive  Methodist  Church  in  Canada,  and  the  Bible 
Christian  Church  of  Canada.  The  doctrinal  basis  of  the 
new  church  was  the  standards  of  doctrine  and  articles  of 
religion  in  the  Book  of  Discipline  of  the  Methodist  Church 


658  THE  DOMINION  OF  CANADA. 

of  Canada,  and  also  the  rules  and  ordinances  of  that  church. 
The  doctrines  are  those  contained  in  the  twenty-five  Articles 
of  Religion,  and  those  taught  by  John  Wesley  in  his  notes  on 
the  New  Testament,  and  in  the  first  fifty-two  sermons  of  the 
first  series  of  his  discourses,  published  during  his  lifetime. 

The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in  Canada  was  organized 
in  1834.  It  had  previous  to  the  above  union  one  bishop, 
three  annual  conferences,  275  ministers,  270  local  preachers, 
536  churches,  28,070  members,  and  25,119  Sunday-school 
scholars.  Its  educational  institutions  were :  Albert  College, 
Belleville,  Ont.,  and  seminaries  for  young  women  at  Belle- 
ville and  St.  Thomas.  The  Primitive  Methodist  Church  in 
Canada  was  founded  in  1829.  It  had  before  the  union  99 
ministers,  246  local  preachers,  330  class  leaders,  237  churches, 
8,223  members,  169  Sunday-schools,  with  1,253  teachers  and 
9,343  scholars.  The  Bible  Christian  Church  in  Canada  was 
established  in  1831.  The  conference,  before  the  union,  in- 
cluded ten  districts,  two  of  which  were  in  the  United  States ; 
there  were  81  ministers,  188  churches,  7,531  members,  and 
9,378  Sunday-school  scholars. 

Reports  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  Canada  for  the 
year  ending  April  30,  1892,  showed  5  synods,  43  presbyteries, 
92,483  families,  173,904  communicants,  525,236  members 
(the  Dominion  census  gave  755,275),  1,000  ministers,  6,106 
elders,  10,045  other  office-bearers,  16,051  Sunday-school  offi- 
cers and  teachers,  138,659  Sunday-school  and  Bible  class 
scholars,  and  257  missionaries,  catechists,  and  teachers 
engaged  in  foreign  work. 

The  Baptists  in  Ontario  and  Quebec  had,  in  1883,  a  West- 
ern Convention,  with  one  association,  286  churches,  and 
20,334  members ;  an  Eastern  Convention,  with  three  asso- 
ciations, sixty  churches,  and  4,440  members ;  a  Manitoba 
and  Northwestern  Convention,  with  ten  churches  and  501 
members.  Including  Grand  Ligne  mission  churches,  there 
were  also  twenty -five  or  thirty  Baptist  churches  within  the 
two  provinces  not  connected  with  the  associations,  having  a 
membership  of  about  1,100. 


PROMINENT  CHURCH  EDIFICES.  659 

At  the  183d  anniversary  of  the  British  Society  for  the 
Propagation  of  the  Gospel  in  Foreign  Parts,  held  in  1884, 
the  reports  showed  that  the  society  had  expended  in  the 
foundation  and  development  of  the  church  in  British  North 
America,  £1,627,601. 

It  would  be  beyond  present  limits  to  attempt  to  enumerate 
either  the  historical  or  the  architecturally  striking  church 
edifices  throughout  the  Dominion.  But  a  glance  at  those 
in  a  few  of  the  principal  cities  will  doubtless  be  appreciated 
without  a  charge  of  personal  preference. 

In  Quebec  the  most  remarkable  church  is  the  Roman 
Catholic  Cathedral,  which  stands  on  the  east  side  of  Market 
Square.  It  was  elevated  to  the  rank  of  a  basilica  in  October, 
1874,  on  the  occasion  of  the  second  centenary  of  the  erection 
of  the  See  of  Quebec.  It  is  of  cut  stone,  216  ft.  long  and  180 
wide,  and  capable  of  seating  4,000  persons.  The  exterior  of 
the  edifice  is  very  plain,  but  the  interior  is  richly  decorated, 
and  contains  several  original  paintings  of  great  value  by 
Vandyke,  Caracci,  Halle,  and  others.  In  this  cathedral  lie 
the  remains  of  Champlain,  the  founder  and  first  governor  of 
the  city.  The  church  of  Notre  Dame  des  Victories  (Roman 
Catholic),  in  the  Lower  Town,  is  noticeable  for  its  antiquity; 
it  was  built  and  used  as  a  church  before  1690.  The  Anglican 
Cathedral,  a  plain  gray-stone  edifice,  surmounted  by  a  tall 
spire,  stands  in  the  centre  of  a  large  square  in  St.  Anne 
Street,  near  Durham  Terrace.  Tradition  points  to  its  site 
as  the  spot  where  Champlain  erected  his  first  tent.  Adjoin- 
ing the  Cathedral  is  the  rectory  and  the  pretty  little  Chapel 
of  all  Saints.  The  Wesleyan  Church,  in  St.  Stanislaus  Street, 
is  a  fine  specimen  of  the  flamboyant  Gothic  style.  St. 
Andrew's  (Presbyterian)  is  a  spacious  stone  structure  in  the 
Gothic  style,  situated  in  St.  Anne  Street.  Near  by  are  a 
manse  and  school  belonging  to  the  same  congregation.  St. 
John's  (Roman  Catholic),  in  St.  John  Street,  near  St.  Claire, 
is  one  of  the  largest  churches  in  the  city.  St.  Patrick's 
(Roman  Catholic),  in  St.  Helene  Street,  has  a  neat  Ionic 
interior;  and  St.  Sauveur  and  St.  Roche  are  noteworthy 


660  THE  DOMINION  OF  CANADA 

churches  in  the  suburbs.     The  Methodist  Centenary  Chapel 
is  in  the  St.  Louis  suburb. 

In  Montreal  the  Roman  Catholic  Cathedral  of  Notre  Dame, 
f  rontii  ig  on  the  Place  d' Armes,  is  the  largest  on  the  conti- 
nent, bdng  241  ft.  long  and  135  ft.  wide,  and  capable  of  seat- 
ing fron  10,000  to  12,000  persons.  It  is  of  stone,  in  the 
Gothic  jtyle,  and  has  six  towers,  one  at  each  corner  and  one 
in  the  middle  of  each  flank.  The  two  on  the  main  front  are 
213  ft.  high,  and  in  one  of  them  is  a  tine  chime  of  bells,  the 
largest  of  which  (the  "  Gros  Bourdon  ")  weighs  29,400  pounds. 
The  view  from  the  tower,  which  is  generally  open  to  visitors, 
is  very  extensive.  Even  this  huge  structure  will  be  surpass- 
ed in  size  by  the  new  cathedral  (Roman  Catholic)  at  the 
corner  of  Dorchester  and  Cemetery  Sts.,  after  the  plan  of  St. 
Peter's  at  Rome.  Christ  Church  Cathedral  (Episcopal),  in  St. 
Catherine  Street,  is  the  most  perfect  specimen  of  English- 
Gothic  architecture  in  America.  It  is  cruciform,  built  of 
rough  Montreal  stone  with  Caen-stone  facings,  and  is  sur- 
mounted by  a  spire  224  ft.  high.  The  Bishop's  Church 
(Roman  Catholic),  in  St.  Denis  Street,  is  a  very  elegant  struct- 
ure in  the  pointed  Gothic  style,  known  as  the  St.  James.  St. 
Patrick's  Church  (Roman  Catholic)  occupies  a  commanding 
position  at  the  W.  end  of  Lagauchetiere  St.  It  has  seats 
for  5,000  persons,  and  its  handsome  Gothic  windows  are  filled 
with  stained  glass.  The  Church  of  the  Gesii  (Jesuit),  in 
Bleury  Street,  has  the  finest  interior  in  the  city.  The  vast 
nave  (75  ft.  high)  is  bordered  by  rich  composite  columns, 
and  both  walls  and  ceiling  are  beautifully  painted  and  fres- 
coed. Other  important  Roman  Catholic  churches  are  Notre 
Dame  de  Lourdes,  in  Catherine  St. ;  the  Bonsecours,  near  the 
great  market ;  and  St.  Ann's,  in  Griffintown.  There  are  also 
chapels  attached  to  all  the  nunneries,  in  some  of  which  ex- 
cellent pictures  may  be  seen.  Besides  Christ  Church  Cathe- 
dral, the  principal  Episcopal  churches  are  Trinity,  a  fine  stone 
edifice  in  the  early  English-Gothic  style,  in  St.  Paul  Street ; 
St.  George's,  in  Dominion  Square ;  St.  James  the  Apostle, 
in  Catherine  St.  ;  St.  Martin's,  in  Upper  St.  XJrbain  Street ; 
and  St.  Stephen's,  in  Griffintown.  St.  Andrew's  ChurcL 


PROMINENT  CHURCH  EDIFICES.  661 

(Presbyterian),  in  Radegonde  St.,  is  a  beautiful  specimen  of 
Gothic  architecture,  being  a  close  imitation  of  Salisbury 
Cathedral,  though  of  course  on  a  greatly  reduced  scale. 
Near  by  is  the  Church  of  the  Messiah  (Unitarian),  a  lofty 
and  spacious  building.  Zion  Church  (Independent),  in  Ra 
degonde  St.,  near  Victoria  Square,  was  the  scene  of  the  saw 
riot  and  loss  of  life  on  the  occasion  of  Gavazzi's  lecture  in 
1852.  The  Wesleyan  Methodist,  in  Dorchester  St.,  is  a 
graceful  building  in  the  English-Gothic  style  ;  and  the  same 
denomination  have  a  large  and  handsome  building  in  St. 
James  Street,  and  others  in  Griffintown. 

In  Toronto  the  Cathedral  of  St.  James  (Episcopal),  corner 
King  and  Church  Streets,  is  a  spacious  stone  edifice  in  the 
Gothic  style  of  the  thirteenth  century,  with  a  lofty  tower 
and  spire,  a  clerestory,  chancel,  and  elaborate  open  roof,  of 
the  perpendicular  style.  It  is  200  by  115  feet,  and  is  sur- 
rounded by  shady  grounds.  The  Cathedral  of  St.  Michael 
(Roman  Catholic),  in  Church  Street,  near  Queen,  is  a  lofty 
and  spacious  edifice  in  the  decorated  Gothic  style,  with 
stained-glass  windows  and  a  spire  250  feet  high.  The  Wes- 
leyan Methodist  Church,  on  McGill  Square,  is  the  finest 
church  of  the  denomination  in  Canada.  It  has  a  massive 
towor  surmounted  by  graceful  pinnacles,  and  a  rich  and 
tasteful  interior.  Trinity  and  St.  George's  (both  Episcopal) 
are  neat  examples  of  the  perpendicular  Gothic  style.  The 
Jarvis  Street  Baptist  Church  is  in  the  decorated  Gothic  style, 
and  one  of  the  finest  church  edifices  in  the  Dominion.  St. 
Andrew's  (Presbyterian)  is  a  massive  stone  structure  in  the 
Norman  style. 

In  Ottawa,  after  the  government  buildings,  the  most  im- 
portant edifice  in  the  city  is  the  Roman  Catholic  Cathedral 
of  Notre  Dame,  which  is  a  spacious  stone  structure,  with 
double  spires,  made  of  timber  and  covered  with  tin,  200  feet 
high.  The  interior  is  imposing,  and  contains  a  painting 
("The  Flight  into  Egypt")  which  is  attributed  to  Murillo. 
Other  handsome  church  edifices  are  St.  Andrew's  (Presby- 
terian) and  St.  Patrick's  (Roman  Catholic).  The  Ottawa 
University  (Roman  Catholic)  has  a  large  building  in  Wil- 


662  THE  DOMINION  OF  CANADA. 

brod  Street,  and  the  Ladies'  College  (Protestant),  a  very 
handsome  one,  in  Albert  Street.  The  Grey  Nunnery  is  an 
imposing  stone  structure  at  the  corner  of  Bolton  and  Sussex 
Streets.  The  Black  Nunnery  has  several  buildings  just  east 
of  Cartier  Square.  There  are  in  the  city  two  convents,  two 
hospitals,  three  orphan  asylums,  and  a  Magdalen  asylum. 


in  ffte 


A  USTRALASIA,  sometimes 'Called  Southern  Asia,  com- 
-£jL  prises  a  large  number  of  islands,  mostly  in  the  South- 
ern Hemisphere  between  the  Pacific  and  Indian  Oceans. 
All  the  British  possessions  on  this  island -continent  are  esti- 
mated to  embrace  an  area  of  3,174,000  square  miles,  and  a 
population  of  nearly  3,000,000.  Australia  is  not  only  the 
largest  island  of  this  group,  but  it  is  the  largest  in  the 
world.  It  is  divided  into  five  colonies,  viz. :  New  South 
Wales,  Victoria,  Queensland,  South  Australia,  and  Western 
Australia.  These  colonies  contain  an  area  of  2,983,000  square 
miles,  and  a  population  of  over  2,000,000,  which  is  steadily 
increasing  year  by  year. 

In  the  early  days  of  the  Australian  colonies  clergymen 
were  merely  chaplains  to  the  convict  establishments.  Sub- 
sequently an  act  was  passed  by  Parliament  for  the  support 
of  Episcopal  churches  and  schools,  to  which  one-seventh  of 
the  Crown  lands  was  to  be  devoted.  Sir  Richard  Bourke 
prevailed  upon  the  English  government  to  assist  all  denom- 
inations of  Christians  in  building  places  of  worship  and 
supporting  their  ministers.  In  Queensland  an  act  was 
passed  in  1860  abolishing  State  aid  to  religions  altogether, 
and  other  colonies  gradually  came  to  insist  upon  the  volun- 

(663) 


664  THE  AUSTRALIAN  COLONIES. 

tary  system,  viz.  :  each  denomination  supporting  its  own 
churches,  missions,  schools,  and  ministry. 

In  1850  there  were  about  150  places  of  worship  in  the 
colony  of  South  Australia.  The  ministers  of  religion  were 
seventeen  of  the  Church  of  England,  under  the  superintend- 
ence of  the  Bishop  of  Adelaide ;  eleven  of  the  Roman  Catho- 
lic Church,  under  the  Roman  Catholic  Bishop  of  Adelaide  ; 
two  of  the  Church  of  Scotland  ;  two  of  the  Free  Church  of 
Scotland;  one  of  the  Scotch  Presbyterians;  six,  besides 
many  local  preachers,  of  the  Wesleyan  Methodists ;  two, 
and  several  local  preachers,  of  the  Primitive  Methodists ; 
fifteen  Independent,  eight  Baptist,  six  German  Lutheran, 
one  German  Independent,  three  Christian,  and  two  Bible 
Christian  ministers.  The  New  Church,  the  Quakers,  and 
the  Jews,  had  each  a  place  of  worship  in  the  capital  city. 

The  religious  bodies  in  the  colony  of  Victoria  were :  The 
Church  of  England,  the  Church  of  Scotland,  the  Free  Church 
of  Scotland,  United  Presbyterians,  Independents,  Baptists, 
Methodists,  and  Roman  Catholics.  The  Bishop  of  Mel- 
bourne was  the  head  of  the  Church  of  England.  An  act  of 
the  Legislative  Council  of  Victoria,  ratified  by  the  Imperial 
Legislature,  contained,  among  other  provisions,  one  for  the 
reservation  of  £50,000  per  annum  for  the  purposes  of  re- 
ligious worship,  to  be  distributed  in  proportion  to  the 
respective  numbers  of  the  several  denominations.  The  sum 
was  to  be  expended  in  erecting  places  of  worship  and  in 
payments  to  ministers,  and  the  sum  given  in  aid  of  minis- 
ters' stipends  was  not  to  exceed  £25,000  in  any  one  year. 

New  South  Wales  was  divided  into  two  bishoprics,  Sydney 
and  Newcastle,  the  Bishop  of  Sydney  being  the  metropoli- 
tan of  Australia.  The  other  bishops  were  those  of  Mel- 
bourne, Adelaide,  Tasmania,  New  Zealand,  and  Christchurch. 
In  1853  the  total  number  of  ministers  in  the  colony  was  163, 
of  whom  forty-seven  were  supported  wholly  by  voluntary 
contributions.  Of  the  whole  number,  seventy-eight  be- 
longed to  the  Church  of  England,  thirty-two  were  Roman 
Catholics,  thirty-two  were  Presbyterians,  sixteen  Wesleyan 
Methodists,  four  Independents,  and  one  was  a  Jewish  rabbi. 


WESTERN  AUSTRALIA.— TASMANIA.  665 

The  amounts  paid  that  year  by  the  government  to  religious 
teachers  were  :  Church  of  England,  £18,344  ;  Roman  Catho- 
lics, £12,837 ;  Presbyterians,  £5,998  ;  and  Wesleyan  Method- 
ists, £1,013. 

In  Western  Australia  schools  were  provided  at  the  gov- 
ernment expense  for  children  of  all  religious  denominations, 
and  there  were  a  number  of  other  schools  maintained  by  the 
Wesleyan  Methodists.  It  was  estimated  that  there  were 
twenty  churches  in  existence  in  the  colony  belonging  to  the 
Church  of  England,  four  to  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and 
three  to  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  independent  of  a  num- 
ber of  chapels  and  mission  stations,  which  brought  the  whole 
number  up  to  seventy. 

In  Tasmania  there  were  thirteen  places  of  worship  of  the 
Church  of  Scotland,  three  for  Roman  Catholics,  twenty-one 
for  Wesleyan  Methodists,  fifteen  for  Independents,  three  for 
Baptists,  and  two  for  Jews.  The  Church  of  England  had  a 
bishop  whose  diocese  included  the  archdeaconry  of  Hobart 
Town,  with  thirty-four  places  of  worship,  and  the  rural 
deaconry  of  Longford,  with  nineteen  places.  Of  these 
bodies  all  except  the  Independents  and  the  Jews  received 
government  aid. 

From  the  year  1850  forward  the  cause  of  religion  kept 
pace  with  the  marvellous  progression  of  the  colonies.  As 
the  sign  of  the  cross  is  an  effective  symbol  of  civilization, 
we  can  readily  measure  the  substantial  growth  of  a  new 
country  by  the  increase  of  respect  for  all  that  this  holy  em- 
blem typifies. 

By  1864  the  number  of  registered  ministers  in  New  South 
Wales  had  increased  to  411,  and  the  places  of  worship  to 
1,290.  One-third  of  the  attendance  on  religious  services  was 
at  the  Church  of  England  churches,  above  a  fifth  at  the 
Roman  Catholic  churches,  the  residue  being  shared  among 
the  Presbyterians,  Wesleyan  Methodists,  and  other  non-con- 
formist denominations.  There  were  also  in  that  year  539 
Sunday-schools  in  operation,  in  which  30,102  children  were 
receiving  Christian  instruction. 

In  Queensland  there  were  139  Sunday-schools  with  6,718 


666  THE  AUSTRALIAN  COLONIES. 

scholars.  Brisbane,  the  capital  of  the  province,  had  twenty- 
three  churches  and  chapels  within  its  limits,  while  Ipswich, 
the  next  largest  town,  contained  nearly  as  many. 

In  South  Australia,  in  1866,  there  were  492  churches  and 
chapels,  with  91,816  sittings,  exclusive  of  6,361  sittings  in 
153  other  rooms  used  for  public  worship. 

In  Western  Australia  the  census  of  1859  showed  twenty- 
seven  places  of  worship,  of  which  fourteen  were  of  the  Church 
of  England,  five  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  four  of  the 
Wesleyan  Methodists,  and  four  of  the  Independents.  In 
Victoria,  New  South  Wales,  and  Tasmania,  the  growth  was 
nearly  in  the  same  proportion ;  sections  preferred  by  immi- 
grants showing  a  higher  rate. 

By  1871  almost  every  phase  of  religious  belief  had  found 
expression  in  South  Australia.  The  Episcopalians  were,  of 
course,  the  most  numerous.  Although  the  divergence  of 
opinion  upon  questions  of  faith,  discipline,  and  church  gov- 
ernment was  there,  as  it  has  always  been  everywhere,  very 
wide,  religious  intolerance  and  sectarian  animosity  were  all 
but  unknown.  The  census  of  that  year  showed  that  there 
were  in  the  colony  50,849  persons  connected  with  the  Church 
of  England,  28,668  Roman  Catholics,  27,075  Wesleyan  Meth- 
odists, 15,412  German  Evangelical  Lutherans,  13,371  Presby- 
terians, 8,731  Baptists,  8,207  Primitive  Methodists,  7,969 
Congregationalists,  1,188  Christian  Brethren,  662  Unitarians, 
435  Jews,  363  New  Connexion  Methodists,  210  Moravians, 
137  members  of  the  New  Jerusalem  Church,  92  members  oi 
the  Society  of  Friends,  4,753  "  Protestants "  (not  otherwise 
denned),  and  508  of  "Other  Religions."  The  Church  of 
England  had  1  bishop,  2  archdeacons,  2  rural  deans,  50  clergy- 
men, 150  licentiates,  and  76  churches.  The  Roman  Catholics 
had  1  bishop,  about  30  priests  and  other  ecclesiastics,  a  cathe- 
dral and  40  other  churches  and  chapels,  a  convent,  and 
several  educational  and  charitable  establishments.  The 
Wesleyans  had  29  circuits,  about  40  ordained  ministers, 
nearly  300  local  preachers,  and  276  churches  and  preaching 
stations.  The  resources  of  the  other  denominations  were 
proportionate  to  their  numerical  strength  as  given  above  - 


GROWTH  OF  RELIGIOUS  DENOMINATIONS.       667 

In  the  same  year  there  were  in  the  city  of  Brisbane,  the 
capital  of  Queensland,  seven  edifices  of  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land, five  Presbyterian,  four  Roman  Catholic,  four  Baptist, 
three  Wesleyan  Methodist,  three  Congregational,  three  Prim- 
itive Methodist,  beside  Lutheran,  New  Jerusalem,  and  other 
sects.  St.  John's  Cathedral  was  a  modest  building  of  the 
olden  times,  and  had  a  fine  peal  of  bells.  The  bishop  was 
considered  "  rather  low";  but  Episcopalians  of  " high"  pro- 
clivities found  ample  recompense  in  the  fine  service  at  All 
Saints'.  One  of  the  Presbyterian  churches  had  a  divinity 
hall  belonging  to  it.  The  handsomest  church  edifice  was 
that  of  the  Roman  Catholics,  and,  though  somewhat  un- 
finished, was  considered  a  monument  of  good  style.  One 
of  the  priests,  the  Rev.  J.  E.  Tenison-Wood,  had  a  world- 
wide reputation  for  scientific  attainments,  and  an  Australian 
one  for  goodness. 

In  Victoria,  in  the  same  year  (1871),  the  Roman  Catholics 
were  estimated  at  250,000,  the  Jews  at  5,500,  and  the  Mo- 
hammedans and  Pagans  at  about  42,000.  A  few  thousands 
were  unattached  to  any  denomination.  The  remainder  were 
Protestants,  more  than  one-half  being  connected  with  the 
Church  of  England.  This  church  then  had  nine  bishops, 
namely,  of  Sydney,  Newcastle,  Bathurst,  Adelaide,  Mel- 
bourne, Perth,  Brisbane,  Goulburn  and  Grafton,  and  Armi- 
dale.  The  Roman  Catholic  church  had  one  archbishop  in 
Sydney,  and  ten  bishops. 

The  statistics  of  1881  for  the  colonies  of  Victoria  and 
Queensland  were  exceedingly  suggestive  of  rich  spiritual 
harvests.  In  the  former  the  Protestants  were  reported  at 
618,392  ;  the  Roman  Catholics  at  203,480 ;  the  Jews  at  4,330  ; 
the  Mohammedans  and  Pagans  at  11,159  ;  and,  belief  not 
stated,  24,985  ;  total,  862,346.  In  the  latter  the  Protestants 
numbered  139,380  ;  the  Roman  Catholics,  54,376  ;  the  Jews, 
457  ;  .the  Mohammedans  and  Pagans,  16,871 ;  and,  belief  not 
stated,  2,440  ;  total,  213,524.  At  the  same  time  New  Zealand 
was  credited  with  387,767  Protestants  ;  68,984  Roman  Catho- 
lies  ;  1,536  Jews  ;  4,936  Mohammedans  and  Pagans  ;  and  26,- 
710  people  of  unreported  belief ;  total,  489,933. 


668  THE  AUSTRALIAN  COLONIES. 

At  the  183d  anniversary  of  the  British  Society  for  the 
Propagation  of  the  Gospel  in  Foreign  Parts,  in  1884,  the  re^ 
ports  showed  that  the  society  had  expended  on  the  founda- 
tion and  development  of  the  church  in  Australia  the  sum  of 
£225,850. 

The  reports  for  the  year  1885  showed  the  following 
churches  in  Australia  in  affiliation  with  the  denominations 
in  the  United  States : 

UNITARIAN  :  South  Australia,  Adelaide  ;  Victoria,  Mount 
Barker,  Shady  Grove,  Melbourne  ;  New  South  Wales,  Syd- 
ney ;  Queensland,  Rockhampton ;  New  Zealand,  Auckland. 

CONGREGATIONAL  CHURCHES:  South  Australia,  40  churches, 
34  ministers  ;  West  Australia,  3  churches,  3  ministers ;  New 
South  Wales,  48  churches,  44  ministers ;  Queensland,  21 
churches,  16  ministers  ;  Tasmania,  18  churches,  13  ministers  ; 
Victoria,  51  churches,  48  ministers;  New  Zealand,  21  churches, 
18  ministers  ;  total,  182  churches,  176  ministers,  15,000  mem- 
bers. 

NEW  JERUSALEM  CHURCH  :  Victoria  ;  Melbourne,  Ade- 
laide, Sydney ;  New  South  Wales  ;  West  Maitland,  New- 
castle, Moama ;  Tasmania  ;  George  Bay  ;  Queensland,  Bris- 
bane ;  New  Zealand ;  Auckland,  Canterbury,  Dunedin. 

THE  DISCIPLES  OF  CHRIST  :  Queensland ;  Allora,  Beamer 
River,  Brisbane,  Ipswich,  Killarney,  Rosewood,  Toowomba, 
Warwick,  Zillman's  Waterholes.  Victoria:  Apollo  Bay, 
Ballarat  East,  Ballarat  West,  Bairnsdale,  Barker's  Creek, 
Beck  with,  Brunswick,  Berwick,  Brighton,  Broadmeadows, 
Bulleen,  Belfast,  Buninyong,  Burwood,  Bunyip,  Carlton, 
Castlemaine,  Cheltenham,  Camperdown,Collingwoode,  Drum- 
mond,  Dunolly,  Elphinstone,  Footscray,  Fernhurst,  Gem- 
brook,  Geelong,  Goulburn  Valley,  Harkaway,  Hawthorn, 
Hotham,  Kensington,  Lancefield,  Maryborough,  Melbourne, 
Mooroolbark,  Mount  Clear,  Murtoa,  Mysia,  North  Brighton, 
Newstead,  Nunnawading,  North  Fitzroy,  Pakenham,  Prah- 
ran,  Richmond,  Sandhurst,  Sale,  Separation,  St.  Germains, 
Shepparton,  S.  Melbourne,  St.  Kilda,  St.  Arnaud,  Taradale, 
Toolamba,  Walmer,  Warragul,  Wynchetella,  Warrnambool, 
Wedderburn.  New  South  Wales :  Bungawalbyn,  Chatham, 


AMERICAN  CHURCHES  REPRESENTED.  669 

Lismore,  Maning  River,  Nelligan,  Newton,  Newcastle,  Peter- 
sham, Rockwood,  Reoty  Hill,  Sydney.  South  Sydney,  Wagga 
Wagga,  Wingham,  Weatherburn.  South  Australia :  Ade- 
laide, Alma,  Balaclava,  Baroota,  Dalkey,  Fulham,  Gambierton, 
Hindmarsh,  Lochiel,  Long  Plain,  Mallala,  Millicent,  Milang, 
Mt.  Gambier,  North  Adelaide  (2),  Norwood,  Point  Sturt, 
Port  Adelaide,  Port  Pirie,  Queenstown,  Sterling  East,  Strath  - 
albyn,  Thebarton,  Unley,  Willunga,  Wild  Horse  Plains. 
Yatina,  York.  Tasmania :  Bream  Creek,  Hobart,  Impres- 
sion Bay,  Latrobe,  Lisdillon,  Launceston,  New  Ground,  Nook, 
Port  Esperance,  Port  Arthur.  New  Zealand  :  Auckland  (3), 
Christchurch,  Dunedin,  Greymouth,  Hoteo  North,  Hampden, 
Invercargill,  Mataura,  Margatavoto,  North  Albertland,  Nel- 
son, Oamaru,  Oxford,  Papakura,  Port  Albert,  Ross,  Spring 
Grove,  Nelson ;  Thames,  Wellsford,  Winton,  Wellington, 
Wanganui,  Warkworth. 

In  the  same  year  there  were  YOUNG  MEN'S  CHRISTIAN 
ASSOCIATIONS  at  Melbourne,  Adelaide,  Brisbane,  Sydney, 
and  Wellington,  Christchurch  and  Auckland,  in  New  Zea- 
land. 

According  to  the  census  of  1891  there  were  in  all  the 
Australian  colonies  1,516,190  members  of  the  Church  of 
England  ;  829,180  Roman  Catholics  ;  495,830  Presbyterians  ; 
440,680  Wesleyans  and  Primitive  Methodists  ;  84,340  Bap- 
tists ;  78,120  Congregationalists ;  75,240  Lutherans;  Salva- 
tion Army,  42,820  ;  Jews,  14,820  ;  Unitarians,  4,230  ;  other 
Protestants,  49,770  ;  pagans,  49,580  ;  others  and  not  specified; 
129,280 ;  total,  3,810,080. 


I. 

Science. 


NOTE. — The  following  sketch  officially  prepared  for  the  publishers 
by  S.  J.  Hanna,  editor  of  the  Christian  Science  Journal,  contains 
many  words  that  to  Scientists  are  synonymous  with  Deity.  These 
words  in  Scientist  literature  are  always  capitalized,  and  the  same  rule 
is  followed  in  the  present  article. 

THE    MOVEMENT   INAUGURATED    BY   MRS.    MARY    BAKER 
GLOVER   EDDY. 

T1HE  origin  of  Christian  Science  is  traceable  to  the  year 
1866,  when  Mrs.  Mary  Baker  Glover  Eddy,  its  dis- 
coverer and  founder,  began  a  systematic  investigation  of  the 
Scriptures,  with  a  view  to  their  higher  and  more  spiritual 
understanding.  We  here  quote  from  her  work  called 
"  Retrospection  and  Introspection  "  :  "  The  discovery  came 
to  pass  in  this  way.  During  twenty  years  prior  to  my 
discovery  I  had  been  trying  to  trace  all  physical  effects  to 
a  mental  cause  ;  and  in  the  latter  part  of  1866  I  gained  the 
Scientific  certainty  that  all  causation  was  Mind,  and  every 
effect  a  mental  phenomenon. 

"  The  Bible  was  my  text-book.  It  had  to  me  a  new  mean- 
ing, a  new  tongue.  The  spiritual  signification  thereof  ap- 
peared; and  I  apprehended  for  the  first  time,  in  their 
spiritual  meaning,  Jesus'  teaching  and  demonstration,  and 
the  Principle  and  rule  of  spiritual  Science  and  Metaphysical 
Healing,— in  a  word,  Christian  Science.  I  named  it  Chris- 
tian, because  it  is  compassionate,  helpful,  and  spiritual. 
God  I  called  Immortal  Mind.  That  which  sins,  suffers, 
and  dies  I  named  mortal  mind.  The  physical  senses,  or 

670 


CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE.  671 

sensuous  nature,  I  called  error  and  shadow.  Soul  I  denomi- 
nated Substance,  because  Soul  alone  is  truly  substantial. 
God  I  characterized  as  individual  entity,  but  his  corpo- 
reality I  denied.  The  Real  I  claimed  as  the  spiritual  and 
eternal ;  hence  its  antipodes,  or  temporal,  must  be  the  un- 
real." 

MRS.  EDDY'S  TEACHINGS,  HER  TEXT-BOOK,  AND  OTHER 
WORKS. 

This  quotation  suggests  in  fair  epitome  the  basic  prin- 
ciples of  Christian  Science.  From  this  standpoint  Mrs. 
Eddy  prepared  her  text  book  "  Science  and  Health  with 
Key  to  the  Scriptures,"  wherein  is  fully  set  forth  the  entire 
system  of  theological  therapeutics  which  she  teaches.  By 
way  of  supplement  to  and  aiding  in  carrying  out  in  practical 
detail  the  teachings  of  said  text-book,  she  has  written  other 
works,  namely:  Retrospection  and  Introspection  (1891); 
Unity  of  Good  and  Unreality  of  Evil  (1887) ;  People's 
Idea  of  God  (1886) ;  Christian  Healing  (1886) ;  Rudimental 
Divine  Science  (1891) ;  No  and  Yes  (1891) ;  Christ  and 
Christmas,  a  poem,  illustrated  (1893) ;  Pulpit  and  Press 
(1895) ;  and  a  Church  Manual  of  The  First  Church  of 
Christ,  Scientist,  in  Boston,  Mass.  (1895).  Mrs.  Eddy  is 
also  the  author  of  the  Tenets  of  the  churches  of  this  denomi- 
nation, which  are  as  follows : 

1.  As  adherents  of  Truth,  we  take  the  Scriptures  for  our 
guide  to  eternal  Life. 

2.  We  acknowledge  and  adore  one  Supreme  God.    We 
acknowledge  His  Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  man  as  the 
divine  image  and  likeness. 

3.  We  acknowledge  God's  forgiveness  of  sin  in  the  de- 
struction of  sin,  and  that  sin  and  suffering  are  not  eternal. 

4.  We  acknowledge  the  atonement  as  the  efficacy,  and 
evidence  of  divine  Love,  of  man's  unity  with  God,  and  the 
great  merits  of  the  Way-shower. 

5.  We  acknowledge  the  way  of  Salvation  demonstrated 
by  Jesus  to  be  the  power  of  Truth  over  all  error,  sin,  sick- 
ness, and  death  ;  and  the  resurrection  of  human  faith  and 


672  CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE. 

understanding  to  seize  the  great  possibilities  and  living 
energies  of  divine  Life. 

6.  We  solemnly  promise  to  strive,  watch,  and  pray  for 
that  Mind  to  be  in  us  which  was  also  in  Christ  Jesus,  to  love 
one  another,  and  to  be  meek,  merciful,  just,  and  pure* 

THE  GKEAT  HEALING  POWEE  OF  HER  TEACHINGS. 

In  1867  Mrs.  Eddy  began  healing  others  with  a  success 
startling  to  those  familiar  therewith,  and  in  some  instances 
she  raised  persons  from  conditions  which,  to  the  mortal 
senses,  presented  every  appearance  of  death.  In  1867  she 
also  taught  her  first  student  in  her  system  of  healing.  Her 
text-book,  "  Science  and  Health  with  Key  to  the  Scrip- 
tures," was  first  published  in  1875.  In  1896  it  had  reached 
a  sale  of  one  hundred  thousand  copies.  As  evidence  of  its 
practical  efficacy,  it  may  be  mentioned  that  thousands  of  in- 
valids in  all  parts  of  this  country,  and  many  places  in 
Europe,  have  testified  to  being  restored  to  permanent  health 
through  its  mere  perusal,  and  many  thousands  more  by  the 
application  of  the  teachings  of  this  work. 

GROWTH   AS    AN    ORGANIZATION. 

On  July  4,  1876,  the  first  Christian  Science  Association 
was  organized.  In  June,  1879,  the  First  Church  of  Christ, 
Scientist,  was  founded  in  Boston,  with  twenty-six  members, 
Mrs.  Eddy  becoming  its  pastor,  although  she  was  not  or- 
dained until  1881.  This  church,  which  is  called  among 
Christian  Scientists  the  "  Mother  Church,"  has  had  a  won- 
derful history  of  success  and  progress.  From  this  small 
beginning  its  membership  in  1896  exceeded  5,000.  About 
1,000  of  this  number  are  included  in  the  local  congregation, 
while  the  remainder  a,re  scattered  over  this  country  and 
Europe. 

In  1881  was  chartered  the  Massachusetts  Metaphysical 
College  in  Boston.  No  charter  has  been  granted  for  similar 

*  These  Tenets  are  copyrighted,  but  are  here  published  by  permission  of  the 
author. 


CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE.  673 

purposes  since  1883.  It  is  the  only  college  hitherto  for 
teaching  the  pathology  of  spiritual  power ;  that  is,  the  Sci- 
ence of  Mind-Healing.  Mrs.  Eddy  taught  in  said  college 
upward  of  four  thousand  students.  In  1889  the  college  was 
at  the  height  of  its  prosperity,  students  seeking  attend- 
ance from  all  over  our  continent  and  Europe,  but  for  cer- 
tain prudential  reasons  the  college  was  closed.  After  the 
close  of  the  college  Mrs.  Eddy  refrained  from  personal  teach- 
ing, but  her  students — many  hundreds  of  them — continued 
teaching  her  system  in  this  country  and  Europe,  until  in 
1896  her  adherents  were  estimated  to  number  at  the  very 
lowest  calculation  two  hundred  thousand.  In  the  same  year 
there  were  300  churches  and  societies,  130  of  which  were 
chartered,  also  30  regular  chartered  Christian  Science  in- 
stitutes for  the  teaching  of  Christian  Science  and  healing 
of  disease ;  these  being  located  in  the  larger  cities  and 
conducted  by  students  of  Mrs.  Eddy.  The  number  of  regu- 
lar Christian  Science  reading-rooms  in  1896  were  59.  In 
1883  Mrs.  Eddy  started  the  Christian  Science  Journal, 
a  monthly  magazine  for  the  dissemination  of  Christian 
Science,  and  which  in  1896  had  attained  a  large  circulation 
and  much  influence,  constituting  the  official  organ  of  the 
Christian  Scientists'  National  Association,  which  was  also 
inaugurated  by  Mrs.  Eddy  and  convened  for  the  first  time 
in  the  city  of  New  York,  February  11, 1886,  holding  meet- 
ings triennially,  though  discarding,  as  far  as  may  be,  organ- 
ized action.  In  1894  was  built  the  beautiful  and  costly 
edifice  of  the  Mother  Church  in  Boston,  situated  corner  of 
Norway  and  Palmouth  Streets,  in  the  Back  Bay  district  of 
that  city.  It  is  a  substantial  construction,  built  almost  en- 
tirely of  granite  and  iron,  being  valued  at  $250,000.  A  re- 
markable fact  in  connection  with  the  building  of  this  church 
edifice  is  that  the  funds  for  its  erection  were  all  paid  in  be- 
fore its  completion,  including  a  residue  of  $20,000.  The  land 
iipon  which  this  building  stands  was  donated  for  church 
purposes  by  Mrs.  Eddy  several  years  before,  and  in  1896 
was  estimated  to  be  worth  $40,000.  Many  church  edifices 
have  also  been  erected  in  other  cities.  The  first  chapel  was 


674  CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE. 

built  at  Oconto,  Wis.,  in  1886.  Following  this  a  handsome 
church  was  erected  in  Denver,  Col.  In  Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  the 
First  Church  of  Christ,  Scientist,  own  and  occupy  a  large 
and  substantial  church  building.  In  St.  Louis,  Mo.,  in  1895, 
a  fine  edifice  was  built  and  dedicated,  and  in  New  York  City 
the  former  church  of  Rev.  Dr.  R.  Heber  Newton  was  pur- 
chased and  remodeled  by  First  Church  of  Christ,  Scientist, 
at  a  cost  of  $85,000.  In  many  other  places  are  strong  and 
active  societies  having  in  prospect  the  completion  of  suit- 
able church  edifices  in  due  time,  among  which  may  be  men- 
tioned Chicago,  which  in  1896  had  the  largest  membership 
of  any  society  in  the  Scientist  Communion  except  that  of 
the  Mother  Church. 

THE   BIBLE  AND   TEXT-BOOK   TAKE  THE   PLACE   OF    SERMONS. 

A  unique  feature  of  the  churches  of  this  denomination  is 
that  there  is  no  personal  preaching  or  pastor.  Early  in  1895 
the  Rev.  Mary  Baker  Eddy  was  elected  pastor  emeritus  of 
the  Mother  Church,  shortly  previous  to  which  event  she  had 
ordained  that  the  Bible  and  "  Science  and  Health  with  Key 
to  the  Scriptures  "  should  constitute  the  only  pastor  of  this 
church  and  all  its  branches.  The  services  are  conducted  in 
other  respects  much  as  those  of  other  churches,  but  in  lieu 
of  a  sermon,  a  lesson-sermon  is  made  up  of  alternate  quota- 
tions from  the  Bible  and  the  Christian  Science  text-book 
— "  Science  and  Health  with  Key  to  the  Scriptures  "—such 
quotations  being  in  explanation  and  corroboration  of  the 
lesson  text  of  the  Bible  lessons  known  as  the  "  Interna- 
tional Series,"  the  official  readers  being  a  man  and  woman, 
known  as  First  and  Second  Reader,  who  read  alternately  ex- 
planatory references  from  these  books  without  comment. 
The  subject  and  readings  being  the  same  in  all  churches  for 
the  same  day.  To  correct  popular  misapprehension,  it  may 
be  proper  to  say  that  Christian  Science  bears  no  relation 
whatever  to  "Theosophy,"  "Spiritualism,"  '-'Faith  Cure," 
or  "Mind  Cure,"  and  that  its  fundamental  principles  are 
the  antithesis  of  these,  although  faith  is  by  no  means  an  un- 
important element  of  the  understanding  of  Christian  Science. 


• 

& 


1 


PARTHENIA,  OR  THE  POWER  OF  LOVE.— G.  H.  SWINSTEAD.— Ingomar,  a 
barbarian  chief,  makes  her  father  a  captive.  Parthenia,  unable  to  secure  the  ransom 
demanded,  gives  herself  as  ransom.  How  Parthenia  tames  and  subdues  him,  teaches  him. 
to  respect  and  finally  to  love  her,  and  how  at  last  he  tenders  her  freedom,  and  spurns 


an  offer  to  betray  his  countymen  even  to  win  his  bride,  but  ends  by  making  them  allies 
i  and  wins  the  beautiful  Parthenia,  forms  a  story  full  of  power  and  interest. 


of  the  Greeks 


HOLY  SPINNER.— C.  LANDELLE.— Of  the  three  Greek  Fates,  called  Parcse  or 
Moirse,  the  youngest,  Clotho,  was  represented  as  holding  a  distaff  from  which  the  threads 
of  mortal  lives  were  spun. 


VOICES   FROM 

-All  Races  apd  Natiops 

NOTABLE   UTTERANCES 


BY 


Representatives  or  trie  World's  Faitfis 


WITH 


an©L  Rotlce^   o{?  bigfif^   ariel 
ia  ^)ariouxi) 


Preliminary    FJcrfe. 


THE  CONCISE  ACCOUNT  of  the  Parliament  of  Religions  which  follows 
the  Gallery  of  Portraits  will  be  found  a  more  accurate,  fair,  and  com- 
prehensive sketch  of  the  notable  characters  and  utterances  of  the  Parli- 
ament than  any  of  the  books  which  have  been  devoted  to  the  subject. 
Even  in  completeness,  in  a  number  of  matters  of  the  greatest  interest 
and  importance,  it  is  far  more  satisfactory  than  even  the  largest  of  the 
books  referred,  to.  The  accredited  Official  Eeport,  which  the  present 
writer  assisted  in  editing  and  in  carrying  through  the  press,  was  con- 
trolled by  a  private  interest,  the  demands  of  which  resulted  in  a  bulky 
work  which  yet  left  out  some  of  the  best  things  of  the  Parliament,  and 
took  advantage  to  shape  the  whole  publication  in  the  interest  of  special 
views  prejudicial  to  the  last  degree  to  a  full  and  fair  report.  One  of 
the  most  interesting  and  effective  speakers  of  the  Parliament,  Mr.  Hirai, 
had  a  paper  on  "  Synthetic  Religion,"  the  report  of  which  fills  one  page 
of  the  two  heavy  volumes.  This  page  gives  a  few  remarks  only,  picked 
out  here  and  there,  and  leaves  out  almost  all  of  the  paper.  No  hint  is 
given  that  Mr.  Hirai's  paper  was  more  than  one  page  in  length.  In  a 
large  number  of  cases  the  same  plan  is  followed  of  appearing  to  give 
papers  which  have,  in  fact,  suffered  prejudiced  mutilation.  One  of  the 
worst  cases  of  a  worse  than  worthless  "  report"  occurs  at  p.  1353,  where 
one  page  is  given  to  an  account  of  Zoroastrianism,  under  the  heading: 

"Selections  from  '  A  Sketch  of  Zoroastrianism.'" 

"Prepared  by  the  Parsees  of  Bombay." 

The  appearance  is,  that  the  Parsees  of  Bombay  prepared  the  one  page 
of  "Selections."  The  fact  was,  that  they  put  into  a  fine  pamphlet  of 
100  printed  pages  "A  Sketch  of  Zoroastrianism,"  prepared  by  their 
most  eminent  scholar,  and  that  it  was  by  all  odds  the  most  valuable 
paper  sent  to  the  Parliament.  The  present  writer's  digest  of  the  most 
important  parts  of  this  great  paper  was  thrown  aside,  and  the  one  page 
of  "Selections"  was  given — mere  fragments  of  sentences  put  together, 
of  no  value  whatever. 

To  the  publishers  of  the  present  volume  belongs  the  high  credit  of 
wishing  to  have  given,  as  of  permanent  value  and  importance,  as  fair  a 
sketch  as  could  be  made  of  the  best  aspects  and  most  notable  utterances 
of  the  great  conference  of  all  the  faiths  of  the  world. 

EDWARD  C,  TOWNK. 


REV.  EDWARD  C.  TOWNE  is  well  known  as  an  accomplished  stu- 
dent of  the  Scriptures  and  Religions  of  Mankind.  His  scholarship  in  this 
direction  was  recognized  by  his  selection  as  editor  of  the  Official  Reports  of 
the  Parliament  of  All  Religions.  He  is  a  graduate  of  Yale  University,  the 
first  scholar  of  the  class  of  1856,  which  included  Chief  Justice  Magruder 
of  the  Illinois  Supreme  Court,  Justices  Brown  and  Brewer  of  the  United 
States  Supreme  Court,  and  Hou.  Chauucey  M.  Depew. 


REV.  A.  J.  CANFIELD,  D.D.  :  member  of  the  Executive  Committee  of 
the  first  World's  Parliament  of  Religions  ;  a  leading  representative  of  Liberal 
Christianity,  who  during  the  World's  Fair  enjoyed  the  close  relation  of  pastor 
to  the  president,  Harlow  N.  Higinbotham,  and  many  other  leaders  in  the  man 
agement  of  that  wonderful  achievement  of  enterprise,  and  genius,  out  of  which 
grew  the  project  fora  Parliament  of  All  Religions. 


>r.  < 


PROFESSOR  MAX  MULLER  :  the  most  eminent  of  English  Orientalists  ; 
of  German  birth  ;  a  professor  in  Oxford  University  since  1850  ;  a  groat  scholar 
a  prolific  author,  and  one  of  the  principal  modern  teachers  of  knowledge-  ot 
the  Oriental  Religions  and  Scriptures. 


REV.  PHILIP  SCHAFF,  D.D.,  LL.D.;  from  1869  to  his  death  in  1893, 
a  professor  in  the  Union  Theological  Seminary  of  New  York  ;  by  far  the  most 
eminent  writer  in  America  on  the  history  of  Christianity. 


LYMA1ST  ABBOTT,  D  D.  :  the  extraordinarily  successful  pastor,  since  the 
death  of  Henry  Ward  Beecher,  of  Plymouth  Church,  Brooklyn,  tf .  Y.  ;  editor 
of  Mr.  Beecher's  Christian  Union— now  The  Outlook,— the  best  religious  weekly 
on  lines  of  advance  and  knowledge  yet  published  in  America. 


FRANCIS  ARCHBISHOP  SATOLLI :  Apostolic  Delegate  :  the  special 
representative  of  the  Pope  in  America  ;  a  distinguished  administrator,  who 
bus  rendered  great  service  to  Catholicism  in  America. 


HIS  EMINENCE,  JAMES  GIBBONS,  D.D..  Cardinal.  Archbishop 
of  Baltimore ;  Chancellor  ex-otticio  of  the  Catholic  University  of 
America ;  in  Christian  devotion,  American  patriotism,  and  broad  hu- 
manity, one  of  the  best  men  and  greatest  churchmen  Catholicism  has 
ever  produced. 


MOST  REV.  DIONYSIOS  LATAS :  Archbishop  of  Zante,  Greece. 
One  of  the  most  striking  figures  in  the  Parliament  of  Religions,  his  venerable 
beard,  strong  and  kindly  face,  strange  looking  hat,  archiepiscopal  staff,  and 
large  silver  cross  hung  at  his  girdle,  suggesting  the  shepherd  of  a  far  away 
flock,  while  his  words,  spoken  in  good  English,  were  on  familiar  themes  of 
Christian  history  and  thought. 


RT.  REV.  T.  U.  DUDLEY,  D.D.,  LL.D.  (from  a  photograph  by 
Anderson)  ;  Bishop  of  Kentucky  since  1885 :  a  pulpit  orator  of  remarkable 
power  ;  one  of  the  best  living  representatives  of  thoroughly  evangelical  ortho- 
doxy ;  fervent  in  conviction,  powerful  in  argument,  broad  in  charity,  and  in  all 
human  sympathy  and  brotherly  love  a  bishop  worthy  of  the  best  days  of  the 
faith  in  Christ. 


PROFESSOR  CHARLES  A.  BRIGGS,  D.D.  :  one  of  the  most  noted 
advocates  of  reading  the  Bible  for  separation  of  lesser  errors  from  greater 
truths  ;  a  firm  adherent  of  orthodox  divinity  ;  condemned  by  official  Presbyteri- 
anism,  but  strongly  upheld  by  the  Union  Theological  Seminary  of  New  York, 
-and  by  very  much  public  sympathy. 


PROFESSOR  GEORGE  P.  FISHER,  D.D.,  for  thirty-three  years  an 
eminent  scholar  in  ecclesiastical  history  at  Yale  University  ;  and  one  of  the  most 
thoughtful  and  accomplished  defenders  of  Protestant  Christian  Orthodoxy. 


REV.  JOSEPH  COOK,  D.D.,  LL.D.  :  formerly  an  ardent  expositor  of 
science  and  new  views  in  connection  with  religion,  but  for  many  years  a  prin- 
cipal protester  against  advance  beyond  the  lines  of  orthodoxy. 


BISHOP  C.  H.  FOWLER,  D.D.,  LL.D.  One  of  the  most  eloquent 
preachers,  popular  administrators,  and  ready  teachers  of  the  broadly  planted 
communion  sprung  from  John  Wesley  :  a  conspicuous  and  brilliant  repre- 
sentative of  American  Methodism. 


REV.  DA.VID  SWING,  D.D.  :  a  Liberal  Presbyterian,  of  Chicago  ; 
preacher  and  writer  of  great  distinction  ;  vice  chairman  of  the  General 
Committee  on  Religious  Congresses  of  the  World's  Fair  ;  and  by  far  the  best 
representative  from  American  Protestantism  of  the  spirit  of  the  Parliament. 


REV.  "W.  F.  BLACK,  D.D.,  LL.D.  :  a  prominent  representative  in 
Chicago  of  the  communion  known  as  the  Disciples  of  Christ  ;  chairman  of 
the  Foreign  Committee  of  the  World's  Congress  of  Religions. 


REV.  KAUFMAN  KOHLER,  Ph.D.  ;  Rabbi  of  the  Beth-El  Congre- 
gation, New  York  City  ;  one  of  the  foremost  representatives  of  the  reform 
movement  in  Judaism. 


PROFESSOR  RICHARD  T.  ELY,  of  the  University  of  Wisconsin  :  one 
of  the  most  eminent  modern  expounders  of  social  reform  ;  a  foremost  repre- 
sentative of  humanitarian  advance  in  dealing  with  the  relations  of  capital  and 
labor  ;  a  gentleman,  a  scholar,  and  an  instructor  beyond  reproach. 


REV.  GEORGE  DANA  BOARDMAN,  D.D.  ;  for  thirty  years,  1864-94, 
pastor  of  the  First  Baptist  Church,  Philadelphia,  Pa.  ;  an  eloquent  and  broadly 
liberal  preacher  ;  one  of  the  principal  promoters  of  the  Parliament  of  Religions. 


WILLIAM  T.  STEAD  :  journalist  of  London,  England  ;  one  of  the  most 
energetic  and  thoughtful  of  modern  Englishmen  ;  a  zealous  reformer,  an  ardent 
humanitarian,  a  Christian  who  puts  justice  and  mercy  before  creed  and  church. 


REV.  E.  L.  REXFORD,  D.D.  ;  Universalist  preacher  at  Roxbury,  Massa- 
chusetts ;  one  of  the  principal  representatives  of  new  learning  and  liberty  in 
Universalism  ;  an  eloquent  and  popular  speaker. 


DR.  CARL  VON  BERGEN,  Ph.D.,  of  Stockholm,  Sweden  ;  a  scholar 
of  distinction  ;  President  of  the  Swedish  Society  for  Psychical  Research  ;  and 
eminent  in  social  reform. 


REV.  BENJAMIN  WILLIAM  ARNETT,  D.D.  ;  presiding  bishop  of  the 
African  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  for  Arkansas,  Mississippi,  Indian  Territory 
and  Oklahoma :  one  of  the  ablest  representatives  of  his  race  in  America ; 
eloquent  and  liberal ;  a  leader  iu  all  matters  of  African  progress. 


PROTAP  CHUNDER  MOZOOMDAR  :  the  principal  representative  of 
the  Brahmo-Somaj,  or  Theistic  church,  of  India,  based  on  reason  and  humanity, 
using  all  scriptures,  giving  reverence  to  all  founders  of  faiths  and  prophets  of 
progress,  but  according  supernatural  character  to  none — no  Divine  Object 
except  God. 


REV.  B.  B.  NAGARKAR:  of  Brahman  family;  educated  in  Bombay, 
India  ;  a  leading  member  of  the  Brahmo-Somaj  of  India ;  a  lecturer  in  America 
on  India. 


VIRCHAND  A.    GANDHI :  a  lawyer  of   Bombay,   India ;  one  of  the 
chief  exponents  of  thfe  Jain  religion  of  India. 


H.  DHARMAPALA,  of  Ceylon  :  one  of  the  chief  official  digni- 
taries of  Buddhism  ;  a  young  and  progressive  man  in  his  own  faith  ;  a 
type  of  the  refined  and  saintly  ascetic  ;  and  to  all  who  met  him  a  man 
and  a  brother  without  regard  to  race  or  faith. 


ZENSHIRO  NOGUCHI  :  Japanese  Buddhist  layman  ;  companion 
and  interpreter  to  four  eminent  Buddhist  ecclesiastics  from  Japan, 
who  attended  the  Parliament  of  Religions,  Horin  Toki,  Shaku  Soyen, 
Zitzuzen  Ashitsu,  and  Banriu  Yatsubuchi— all  bishops  of  eminence  ia 
their  own  land. 


KINZA  RIUGE  M.  HIRAI  :  a  Buddhist.  Japanese  layman  ;  for 
some  years  resident  in  America  ;  a  fine  scholar  and  thinker,  and  an 
eloquent  speaker. 


SWAMI  VIVEKANANDA  :  a  Brahman  of  India  ;  a  man  of  fine 
genius  and  great  learning  in  the  Sanskrit  Veda ;  one  of  an  order  of 
monks  on  whom  caste  distinctions  are  not  binding  ;  a  reformer  devoting 
his  life  to  the  education  and  elevation  of  his  countrymen. 


NARASIMA  CHARYA  :  a  highly  educated  Brahman,  of  India ; 
representative  of  a  class  of  whom  many  have  come  to  England  ;  and 
whom  the  Parliament  interested  to  visit  and  lecture  in  America. 


REV.  GEORGE  T.  CANDLIN  :  a  missionary  of  the  English 
Methodist  Church,  stationed  at  Tientsin,  China ;  one  of  the  greatest 
successes  of  the  Parliament  from  his  liberal  ideas,  his  eloquence,  and 
his  broad  human  sympathies. 


MRS.  JULIA  WARD  HOWE  :  the  chief  prophetess  of  the  cause  of 
woman  in  America  ;  of  a  noble  largeness  of  hope  and  faith,  a  beautiful  refine- 
ment and  dignity,  and  singular  sweetness  and  power  in  address ;  one  of  the 
natural  queens  of  the  modern  world. 


VOICES    FROM 


(III  Races  and  Nations. 


Utterances  by  Foremost  Representatives  of  the 
World's  Faitns. 


THE   PARLIAMENT  IDEA. 

THE  World's  Congress  Auxiliary  of  the  World's  Colum- 
bian Exposition  of  1893  was  created  for  the  purpose  of 
a  series  of  congresses  covering  the  chief  departments  of 
human  interest  and  progress.  In  the  department  of  religion 
of  this  "  congress  auxiliary  "  provision  was  made  for  a  par- 
liament of  religions,  carried  on  by  general  meetings  of  the 
representatives  of  all  the  faiths  of  the  world,  and  by  special 
gatherings  at  the  same  time  of  such  denominations,  sects, 
and  societies  as  chose  to  appear  in  this  way.  The  general 
meetings  concentrated  the  interest  of  the  public,  and  were 
alone  known  as  parliament  meetings.  The  special  con- 
gresses held  at  the  same  time  suffered  not  a  little  from  com- 
ing into  conflict  with  the  parliament  meetings. 

A  part  only  of  the  parliament  papers  dealt  with  matters 
of  religion,  and  of  the  religious  papers  many  were  essays, 
sermons,  exhortations,  of  no  parliament  value.  The  knowl- 

(691) 


692  THE  PARLIAMENT  IDEA. 

edge,  experience,  thought,  and  ability  in  treatment,  neces- 
sary to  such  value,  were  in  many  instances  conspicuous  by 
their  absence,  and  some  of  the  fairly  notable  papers  vio- 
lated the  rule  of  "comparison  not  controversy,"  which 
was  supposed  to  govern  the  parliament.  For  the  repre- 
sentative statement,  therefore,  of  human  beliefs  which,  in 
a  most  remarkable  degree,  the  parliament  was,  it  is  neces- 
sary to  take  note  only  of  papers  which  dealt  with  some 
aspect  of  religious  belief  or  life  in  the  parliament  manner  ; 
grouping  these  according  to  the  faiths  which  they  represent, 
and  giving  under  each  the  most  characteristic  and  interesting 
expressions  on  the  chief  points  of  faith  and  life. 

The  preliminary  address  of  the  general  committee  for 
promoting  the  assembling  of  a  parliament  avowed  the  pur- 
pose of  securing  an  exhibit  of  "  the  religious  harmonies  and 
unities  of  humanity,"  as  a  means  to  "  bring  about  the  unity 
of  the  race  in  the  worship  of  God  and  the  service  of  man." 

Rev.  Dr.  George  Washburn,  a  missionary  college  presi- 
dent at  Constantinople,  declared,  in  response,  his  conviction 
that  such  a  parliament  "  would  impress  the  world  with  the 
fact  that  there  is  unity  in  religion  broader  and  deeper  than 
has  ever  been  generally  recognized."  He  said  that  his  own 
close  contact  with  other  faiths  had  more  and  more  impressed 
him  with  the  thought  that  "  to  do  justly,  to  love  mercy,  and 
to  walk  humbly  with  God,  is  essentially  the  foundation  of 
all  religion,"  and  that  "  the  Holy  Spirit  leads  men  of  the 
most  diverse  faiths  to  the  knowledge  of  our  common 
Father." 

The  formal  statement  of  the  objects  proposed  for  the  par- 
liament named  ten,  of  which  seven  related  to  varieties  of 
information  to  be  secured,  and  three  to  results  upon  faith 
and  practice  to  be  promoted.  These  last  were,  "  The  spirit 
of  human  brotherhood  among  religious  men  of  diverse 
faiths";  "Theism  and  faith  in  man's  immortality'";  and 
"  Permanent  international  peace "  through  bringing  "  the 
nations  of  the  earth  into  a  more  friendly  fellowship."  One 
of  the  heads  of  information  sought  implied  hope  of  new 
light  on  "  the  great  problems  of  the  present  age,  especially 


THE  PARLIAMENT  IDEA.  693 

temperance,  labor,  education,  wealth,  and  poverty."  Another 
assumed  that  it  could  be  impressively  shown  "  how  many 
important  truths  the  various  religions  hold  and  teach  in 
common."  And  that "  important  distinctive  truths,  held  and 
taught  by  each  religion,"  would  be  brought  to  view,  was 
assumed  by  another. 

There  was  thus  no  indication  of  concern  for  the  doctrinal 
Christianity  which  insists  on  the  supernatural  character  and 
absolute  divine  authority  of  the  Bible,  on  the  supreme 
divinity  of  Christ,  and  on  a  salvation  strictly  special  through 
faith  directed  to  Christ  according  to  doctrines  drawn  from 
the  Bible.  And  this  shelving  of  Christian  doctrine  was  very 
widely  objected  to  and  condemned.  The  fact  that  the  par- 
liament idea  disregarded  the  claims  of  Christianity  as  the 
more  strict  asserted  them,  was  made  by  "  many  of  the  Chris- 
tian journals  in  America  "  ground  for  "  decided  opposition." 
The  Presbyterian  General  Assembly  "passed  a  resolution 
emphatically  disapproving."  The  archbishop  of  Canterbury 
refused  to  compromise  his  belief  that  "  the  Christian  religion 
is  the  one  religion,"  and  that  "  the  faith  and  devotion  which 
are  its  characteristics "  are  not  "  subject  to  public  discus- 
sion." The  Sultan  of  Turkey  took  similar  ground  on  behalf 
of  Mohammedanism.  And  in  view  of  Sunday  opening  of 
the  Exposition  at  Jackson  Park,  the  Baptists  and  the  Chris- 
tian Endeavor  Society  refused  connection  with  the  parlia- 
ment. The  Protestant  Episcopal  body  also  stood  aloof  in 
deference  to  the  Canterbury  judgment. 

The  final  note  of  preparation  by  the  promoters  of  the 
parliament  was  a  request  of  August  11, 1893,  that  the  u  Con- 
gress of  Universal  Religion"  about  to  meet  be  made  the 
subject  of  public  notice  and  public  prayer  as  "  the  first  great 
effort  of  mankind  to  realize  their  common  religious  frater- 
nity," and  in  hope  "  that  this  historic  meeting  of  the  chil- 
dren of  one  heavenly  Father  may  be  blessed  to  the  glory  of 
His  name,  to  the  advance  of  spiritual  enlightenment,  to  the 
promotion  of  peace  and  good- will  among  the  nations  and 
races,  and  to  the  deepening  and  widening  of  the  sense  of 
universal  human  brotherhood." 


694  THE  GATHERING  OF  ALL  FAITHS. 

Here  again  recognition  of  strict  doctrinal  Christianity,  of 
the  Bible  as  the  only  revelation,  of  Christ  as  infinitely  more 
than  the  best  of  several  founders  and  teachers,  and  of  special 
salvation  as  man's  only  hope,  was  conspicuous  by  its 
absence.  And  the  special  lines  of  the  parliament,  although 
very  much  interfered  with  by  not  a  few  of  the  Christian 
speakers,  and  considerably  obscured  in  the  published  report, 
were  those  of  pronounced  new  departure  from  familiar 
doctrinal  Christianity.  They  were  the  lines  of  humanitarian 
theism,  according  to  Christ  the  place  of  a  teacher,  exemplar, 
and  master,  not  antagonistic  to  other  teachers  and  masters, 
but  fraternal  with  them,  and  to  the  Bible  a  like  place  as  a 
literature  serving  as  one  of  the  scriptures  of  mankind. 

THE   GATHERING   OF  ALL   FAITHS. 

Not  the  least  interesting  and  effective  characters  of  the 
parliament  were  the  Hindus,  Japanese,  and  Chinese.  Al- 
though nominally  heathen,  and  not  native  to  English  speech 
any  more  than  to  Christian  communion,  they  overwhelmed 
the  parliament  with  the  felicity,  strength,  and  learning  of 
their  utterances,  and  with  the  dignity,  charm,  and  courtesy 
of  their  bearing.  If  they  were  not  Christians  in  name  and 
profession,  they  held  their  own  by  the  side  of  those  that  are, 
not  only  in  character  and  manners  and  intelligence,  but  in 
familiar  knowledge  of  the  practical  lessons  of  Christ  and 
profound  loyalty  to  the  ethical  and  spiritual  essentials  of 
pure  and  undefiled  religion.  In  the  scale  of  acceptance  of 
the  test,  "  By  their  fruits  ye  shall  know  them,"  they  stood 
well  to  the  front.  The  ideal  of  the  Hebrew  prophet  requir- 
ing for  true  religion  that  a  man  learn  "to  do  justly,  to  love 
mercy,  and  to  walk  humbly  with  God,"  came  out  in  their  ap- 
peals not  less  than  in  any  other.  They  united  in  the  demand 
for  peace  on  earth  and  good-will  to  men.  Not  less  than 
others  they  were  the  spokesmen  of  international  justice. 
Their  indictment  of  outrage  by  nominally  Christian  nations 
in  dealings  with  China,  Japan,  and  India,  blistered  the 
shameless  face  of  pretension  to  the  great  satisfaction  of 
reasonable  and  righteous  Christians. 


THE  GATHERING  OF  ALL  FAITHS.  695 

The  Catholics  were  most  pronounced  in  presenting  Chris- 
tianity as  a  religion  of  love  and  service  and  charity  without 
regard  to  creed  or  race.  Cardinal  Gibbons  and  Bishop 
Keane,  of  Washington,  were  conspicuously  broad  and  strong 
in  the  spirit  of  the  parliament,  and  Fathers  Hewitt  and 
Elliott,  of  the  Paulists  of  New  York,  took  a  large  view  of 
Christian  teaching. 

The  more  liberal  Protestants,  in  large  number  and  with 
brilliant  array  of  thou'ght  and  learning  and  character,  pre- 
sented various  broad  and  rational  views  of  doctrine  not 
antagonistic  to  the  same  spirit  of  applied  Christianity, 
while  the  more  strict  urged  dogmas,  based  upon  special 
revelation,  as  the  essentials  of  religion,  without  which 
human  hopes  are  delusive. 

The  eminent  Presbyterian  divine  who  executed  with  im- 
mense energy  the  tasks  of  chairmanship,  both  before  and 
during  the  parliament,  bore  himself  with  conspicuous  loy- 
alty to  the  parliament  ideal  through  all  the  meetings,  pre- 
senting speakers  of  every  religion  with  unvarying  warmth 
of  courtesy  and  sympathy,  and  in  this  leadership  of  the  par- 
liament achieving  a  singularly  brilliant  success. 

The  projector  of  the  series  of  world's  congresses  and  pres- 
ident of  the  world's  congress  auxiliary,  Hon.  C.  C.  Bonney, 
stated,  in  his  opening  address  on  the  first  day  of  the  parlia- 
ment, the  principles  which  had  led  to  calling  it.  The  essen- 
tial parts  of  his  address  were  these : 

"  When  the  religious  faiths  of  the  world  recognize  each 
other  as  brothers,  children  of  one  Father,  whom  all  profess 
to  love  and  serve,  then,  and  not  till  then,  will  the  nations  of 
the  earth  yield  to  the  spirit  of  concord  and  learn  war  no 
more. 

"  In  this  congress  the  word  '  religion '  means  the  love  and 
worship  of  God  and  the  love  and  service  of  man.  We 
believe  the  Scripture  that  '  of  a  truth  God  is  no  respecter 
of  persons,  but  in  every  nation  he  that  feareth  God  and 
worketh  righteousness  is  accepted  of  Him.'  We  come  to- 
gether in  mutual  confidence  and  respect,  without  the  least 
surrender  or  compromise  of  anything  which  we  respectively 


696  THE  GATHERING  OF  ALL  FAITHS. 

believe  to  be  truth  or  duty,  with  the  hope  that  mutual 
acquaintance  and  a  free  and  sincere  interchange  of  views  on 
the  great  questions  of  eternal  life  and  human  conduct  will 
be  mutually  beneficial.  Each  must  see  God  with  the  eyes 
of  his  own  soul.  Each  must  behold  Him  through  the  col- 
ored glass  of  his  own  nature.  Each  one  must  receive  Him 
according  to  his  own  capacity  of  reception.  The  fraternal 
union  of  the  religions  of  the  world  will  come  when  each 
seeks  truly  to  know  how  God  has  revealed  Himself  in  the 
other,  and  remembers  the  inexorable  law  that  with  what 
judgment  it  judges  it  shall  itself  be  judged. 

"  When  it  pleased  God  to  give  me  the  idea  of  the  world's 
congress  of  1893,  there  came  with  that  idea  a  profound  con- 
viction that  their  crowning  glory  should  be  a  fraternal  con- 
ference of  the  world's  religions.  Accordingly,  the  original 
announcement  of  the  world's  congress  scheme,  which  was 
sent  by  the  government  of  the  United  States  to  all  other 
nations,  contained  among  other  great  themes  to  be  consid- 
ered, '  The  grounds  for  fraternal  union  in  the  religions  of 
different  people.' 

"  We  meet  on  the  mountain  height  of  absolute  respect 
for  the  religious  convictions  of  each  other ;  and  an  earnest 
desire  for  a  better  knowledge  of  the  consolations  which 
other  forms  of  faith  than  our  own  offer  to  their  devotees. 
The  very  basis  of  our  convocation  is  the  idea  that  the  repre- 
sentatives of  each  religion  sincerely  believe  that  it  is  the 
truest  and  the  best  of  all;  and  that  they  will,  therefore,  hear 
with  perfect  candor  and  without  fear  the  convictions  of 
other  sincere  souls  on  the  great  questions  of  the  immortal 
life. 

"  In  this  congress,  each  system  of  religion  stands  by  itself 
in  its  own  perfect  integrity,  uncompromised,  in  any  degree, 
by  its  relation  to  any  other.  In  the  language  of  the  prelim- 
inary publication  in  the  department  of  religion,  we  seek  in 
this  congress  '  to  unite  all  religion  against  all  irreligion ;  to 
make  the  golden  rule  the  basis  of  this  union ;  and  to  pre- 
sent to  the  world  the  substantial  unity  of  many  religions  in 
the  good  deeds  of  the  religious  life.'  Without  controversy,  or 


THE  GATHERING  OF  ALL  FAITHS.  697 

any  attempt  to  pronounce  judgment  upon  any  matter  of  faith 
or  worship  or  religious  opinion,  we  seek  a  better  knowledge 
of  the  religious  condition  of  all  mankind,  with  an  earnest 
desire  to  be  useful  to  each  other  and  to  all  others  who  love 
truth  and  righteousness.  This  day  a  new  fraternity  is  born 
into  the  world  of  human  progress,  to  aid  in  the  upbuilding 
of  the  kingdom  of  God  in  the  hearts  of  men.  It  is  the 
brotherhood  of  religions.  In  this  name  I  welcome  the  first 
parliament  of  the  religions  of  the  world." 

Rev.  Dr.  John  Henry  Barrows,  chairman  of  the  general 
committee  and  chairman  of  the  parliament,  made  an  address, 
the  notable  points  of  which  were  these  : 

"  You  have  come  here  at  our  invitation  in  the  expectation 
that  the  world's  first  parliament  of  religions  must  prove  an 
event  of  race- wide  and  perpetual  significance.  Here,  in  this 
young  capital  of  our  western  civilization,  you  find  men 
eager  for  truth,  sympathetic  with  the  spirit  of  universal 
human  brotherhood,  and  loyal,  I  believe,  to  the  highest  they 
know,  glad  and  grateful  to  Almighty  God  that  they  see 
your  faces  and  are  to  hear  your  words.  Were  it  decreed 
that  our  sessions  should  end  this  day,  the  truthful  historian 
would  say  that  the  idea  which  has  inspired  and  led  this 
movement,  the  idea  whose  beauty  and  force  have  drawn  you 
through  these  many  thousand  miles  of  travel,  that  this  idea 
has  been  so  flashed  before  the  eyes  of  men  that  they  will 
not  forget  it,  and  that  our  meeting  this  morning  has  become 
a  new,  great  fact  in  the  historic  evolution  of  the  race  which 
will  not  be  obliterated. 

"  The  representatives  of  Christian  faith  have  planned  and 
provided  this  first  school  of  comparative  religions,  wherein 
devout  men  of  all  faiths  may  speak  for  themselves  without 
hindrance,  without  criticism,  and  without  compromise,  and 
tell  what  they  believe  and  why  they  believe  it.  The  great 
mass  of  Christian  scholars  in  America  agree  in  believing  that 
Christendom  may  proudly  hold  up  this  congress  of  the  faiths 
as  a  torch  of  truth  and  of  love  which  may  prove  the  morning 
star  of  the  twentieth  century.  In  America  the  Church  and 


698  THE  GATHERING  OF  ALL  FAITHS. 

State  are  separated,  and  in  this  land  the  widest  spiritual 
and  intellectual  freedom  is  realized.  Justice  Ameer  Ali,  of 
Calcutta,  whose  absence  we  lament  to-day,  has  expressed 
the  opinion  that  only  in  this  western  republic  would  such  a 
congress  as  this  have  been  undertaken  and  achieved.  Chris- 
tian America  welcomes  to-day  the  earnest  disciples  of  other 
faiths  and  the  men  of  all  faiths  who,  from  many  lands,  have 
flocked  to  this  jubilee  of  civilization. 

"  Cherishing  the  light  which  God  has  given  us  and  eager 
to  send  this  light  everywhither,  we  do  not  believe  that  God, 
the  eternal  Spirit,  has  left  Himself  without  witness  in  non- 
Christian  nations.  There  is  a  divine  light  enlightening 
every  man. 

'  One  accent  of  the  Holy  Ghost 
The  heedless  world  has  never  lost.' 

"  Professor  Max  Muller,  of  Oxford,  who  has  been  a  friend 
of  our  movement  and  has  sent  a  contribution  to  this  parlia- 
ment, has  gathered  together  in  his  last  volume  a  collection 
of  prayers  Egyptian,  Accadian,  Babylonian,  Vedic,  Avestic, 
Chinese,  Mohammedan,  and  modern  Hindu,  which  make  it 
perfectly  clear  that  the  sun  which  shone  over  Bethlehem  and 
Calvary  has  cast  some  celestial  illumination  and  called  forth 
some  devout  and  holy  aspirations  by  the  Nile  and  the  Gan- 
ges, in  the  deserts  of  Arabia,  and  by  the  waves  of  the  Yel- 
low Sea. 

"  It  is  perfectly  evident  to  all  illuminated  minds  that  we 
should  cherish  loving  thoughts  of  all  people  and  humane 
views  of  all  the  great  and  lasting  religions,  and  that  who- 
ever would  advance  the  cause  of  his  own  faith  must  first 
discover  and  gratefully  acknowledge  the  truths  contained 
in  other  faiths. 

"  This  parliament  is  likely  to  prove  a  blessing  to  many 
Christians  by  marking  the  time  when  they  shall  cease  think- 
ing that  the  verities  and  virtues  of  other  religions  discredit 
the  claims  of  Christianity  or  bar  its  progress.  It  is  our 
desire  and  hope  to  broaden  and  purify  the  mental  and 
spiritual  vision  of  men.  Believing  that  nations  and  faiths 


THE  GATHERING  OF  ALL  FAITHS.  699 

are  separated  in  part  by  ignorance  and  prejudice,  why  shall 
not  this  parliament  help  to  remove  the  one  and  soften  the 
other  ?  Why  should  not  Christians  be  glad  to  learn  what 
God  has  wrought  through  Buddha  and  Zoroaster— through 
the  sage  of  China  and  the  prophets  of  India  and  the  prophet 
of  Islam  \ 

"  We  are  met  in  a  school  of  comparative  theology,  which 
I  hope  will  prove  more  spiritual  and  ethical  than  theolog- 
ical ;  we  are  met,  I  believe,  in  the  temper  of  love,  determined 
to  bury,  at  least  for  the  time,  our  sharp  hostilities,  anxious 
to  find  out  wherein  we  agree,  eager  to  learn  what  constitutes 
the  strength  of  other  faiths  and  the  weakness  of  our  own ; 
and  we  are  met  as  conscientious  and  truth-seeking  men  in  a 
council  where  no  one  is  asked  to  surrender  or  abate  his  indi- 
vidual convictions,  and  where,  I  will  add,  no  one  would  be 
worthy  of  a  place  if  he  did. 

"  We  are  met  in  a  great  conference,  men  and  women  of 
different  minds,  where  the  speaker  will  not  be  ambitious  for 
short-lived,  verbal  victories  over  others,  where  gentleness, 
courtesy,  wisdom,  and  moderation  will  prevail  far  more 
than  heated  argumentation.  I  am  confident  that  you  ap- 
preciate the  peculiar  limitations  which  constitute  the  pecul- 
iar glory  of  this  assembly.  We  are  not  here  as  Baptists 
and  Buddhists,  Catholics  and  Confucians,  Parsees  and  Pres- 
byterians, Methodists  and  Moslems ;  we  are  here  as  mem- 
bers of  a  parliament  of  religions,  over  which  flies  no  secta- 
rian flag,  which  is  to  be  stampeded  by  no  sectarian  war-cries, 
but  where  for  the  first  time  in  a  large  council  is  lifted  up 
the  banner  of  love,  fellowship,  brotherhood. 

"  We  are  not  here  to  criticise  one  another,  but  each  to 
speak  out  positively  and  frankly  his  own  convictions  regard- 
ing his  own  faith.  The  great  world  outside  will  review  our 
work :  the  next  century  will  review  it.  It  is  our  high  and 
noble  business  to  make  that  work  the  best  possible." 

The  president  of  the  World's  Columbian  Exposition,  Har- 
low  N.  Higinbotham,  a  thoughtful,  practical  man,  one  of 
Chicago's  most  successful  merchants  and  most  respected 


700  THE  GATHERING  OF  ALL  FAITHS. 

citizens,  expressed  in  a  very  brief  address  the  following 
view  of  the  parliament : 

"  To  me  this  is  the  proudest  work  of  our  exposition. 
There  is  no  man,  high  or  low,  learned  or  unlearned,  who 
will  not  watch  with  increasing  interest  the  proceedings  of 
this  parliament.  Whatever  may  be  the  differences  in  the 
religions  you  represent,  there  is  a  sense  in  which  we  are  all 
alike.  There  is  a  common  plane  on  which  we  are  all  broth- 
ers. We  owe  our  beings  to  conditions  that  are  exactly  the 
same.  Our  journey  through  this  world  is  by  the  same 
route.  We  have  in  common  the  same  senses,  hopes,  ambi- 
tions, joys,  and  sorrows,  and  these  to  my  mind  argue  strong- 
ly and  almost  conclusively  a  common  destiny. 

"To  me  there  is  much  satisfaction  and  pleasure  in  the 
fact,  that  we  are  brought  face  to  face  with  men  that  come 
to  us  bearing  the  ripest  wisdom  of  the  ages.  They  come  in 
the  friendliest  spirit,  that,  I  trust,  will  be  augmented  by 
their  intercourse  with  us  and  with  each  other.  I  hope  that 
your  parliament  will  prove  to  be  a  golden  milestone  on  the 
highway  of  civilization — a  golden  stairway  leading  up  to 
the  tableland  of  a  higher,  grander,  and  more  perfect  condi- 
tion, where  peace  will  reign  and  the  enginery  of  war  be 
known  no  more  forever." 

For  a  clear  presentation  of  the  faiths  of  mankind  to-day 
all  over  the  world,  it  will  best  serve  to  take  in  order  the 
great  religions  from  Brahmanism  and  Buddhism  to  Juda- 
ism and  Christianity  and  hear  the  notable  testimonies  under 
each,  as  they  were  given  in  the  parliament. 


NOTABLE   UTTERANCES 


BY 


Representatives  of 

the  Various  Faiths. 


BRAHMANISM. 

1VTO  character  in  the  parliament  attracted  more  attention 
_LN  and  interest  than  Swami  Vivekananda,  of  Bombay, 
India,  whom  Bishop  Keane  called  "  the  great  Hindu  monk." 
By  birth  a  Brahman  of  high  rank,  educated  at  the  univer- 
sity of  Calcutta,  a  scholar  in  Sanskrit  lore  of  the  highest 
rank,  but  vowed  to  monastic  poverty,  as  Buddha  was,  his 
yellow  robe  was  not  more  striking  than  the  glow  of  intellect 
and  the  light  of  rare  character  in  his  fine  face.  The  mod- 
esty, courtesy,  and  gentleness  with  which  he  offered  his  tes- 
timony on  behalf  of  Vedic  Brahmanism,  and  his  strictures 
upon  wrong  dor  3  to  Hindus  by  unworthy  Christians,  were 
of  the  most  telling  effect.  In  response  to  welcome  on  the 
opening  day,  Mr.  Vivekananda  said : 

"  Sisters  and  Brothers  of  America :  It  fills  my  heart  with 
joy  unspeakable  to  rise  in  response  to  the  warm  and  cordial 
welcome  which  you  have  given  us.  I  thank  you  in  the 
name  of  the  most  ancient  order  of  monks  in  the  world ;  I 
thank  you  in  the  name  of  the  mother  of  religions,  and  I 
thank  you  in  the  name  of  the  millions  and  millions  of 
Hindu  people  of  all  classes  and  sects. 

"  My  thanks,  also,  to  some  of  the  speakers  on  this  plat- 

(701) 


702  REPRESENTATIVE  VOICES 

form  who  have  told  you  that  these  men  from  far-off  nations 
may  well  claim  the  honor  of  bearing  to  the  different  lands 
the  idea  of  toleration.  1  am  proud  to  belong  to  a  religion 
which  has  taught  the  world  both  tolerance  and  universal 
acceptance.  We  believe  not  only  in  universal  toleration, 
but  we  accept  all  religions  to  be  true.  I  am  proud  to  tell 
you  that  I  belong  to  a  religion  into  whose  sacred  language, 
the  Sanskrit,  the  word  exclusion  is  untranslatable.  I  am 
proud  to  belong  to  a  nation  which  has  sheltered  the  perse- 
cuted and  the  refugees  of  all  religions  and  all  nations  of  the 
earth.  I  am  proud  to  tell  you  that  we  have  gathered  in  our 
bosom  the  purest  remnant  of  the  Israelites,  a  remnant  which 
came  to  southern  India  and  took  refuge  with  us  in  the  very 
year  in  which  their  holy  temple  was  shattered  to  pieces  by 
Roman  tyranny.  I  am  proud  to  belong  to  the  religion 
which  has  sheltered  and  is  still  fostering  the  remnant  of 
the  grand  Zoroastrian  nation.  I  will  quote  to  you,  breth- 
ren, a  few  lines  from  a  hymn  which  I  remember  to  have 
repeated  from  my  earliest  boyhood,  which  is  every  day  re- 
peated by  millions  of  human  beings:  'As  the  different 
streams  having  their  sources  in  different  places  all  mingle 
their  water  in  the  sea,  Oh,  Lord,  so  the  different  paths  which 
men  take  through  different  tendencies,  various  though  they 
appear,  crooked  or  straight,  all  lead  to  Thee.' 

"  The  present  convention,  which  is  one  of  the  most  august 
assemblies  ever  held,  is  in  itself  a  vindication,  a  declaration 
to  the  world  of  the  wonderful  doctrine  preached  in  Gita : 
'  Whosoever  comes  to  me,  through  whatsoever  form  I  reach 
him,  they  are  all  struggling  through  paths  that  in  the  end 
always  lead  to  me.'  Sectarianism,  bigotry,  and  its  horrible 
descendant,  fanaticism,  have  possessed  long  this  beautiful 
earth.  They  have  filled  the  earth  with  violence,  drenched 
it  often  and  often  with  human  blood,  destroyed  civilization, 
and  sent  whole  nations  to  despair.  Had  it  not  been  for  this 
horrible  demon  human  society  would  be  far  more  advanced 
than  it  is  now.  But  its  time  has  come,  and  I  fervently  hope 
that  the  bell  that  tolled  this  morning  in  honor  of  this  con- 
vention may  be  the  death-knell  to  all  fanaticism,  to  all 


FROM  ALL  RACES  AND  NATIONS.  703 

persecutions  with  the  sword  or  the  pen,  and  to  all  unchari- 
table feelings  between  persons  wending  their  way  to  the 
same  goal." 

At  the  close  of  the  evening  session  on  the  tenth  day  Mr. 
Vivekananda,  in  view  especially  of  the  relations  of  England 
and  India,  made  the  following  criticism  upon  Christians  as 
the  Hindus  have  had  experience  of  them : 

"  You  Christians  are  fond  of  sending  out  missionaries  to 
save  the  souls  of  the  heathens,  but  why  do  you  not  try  to 
save  the  bodies  of  these  poor  heathens  from  starvation? 
In  India,  during  a  famine,  hundreds  and  thousands  of  Hin- 
dus die  from  starvation.  Thousands  of  churches  have  been 
erected  in  India  by  the  Christians,  but  they  do  not  alleviate 
the  pangs  of  hunger:  The  crying  evil  in  the  East  is  not 
religion;  they  have  religion  enough  and  more  than  they 
need ;  it  is  bread  that  these  suffering  millions  in  the  East 
want.  They  ask  us  for  bread,  and  we  give  them  stones.  It 
is  an  insult  to  a  starving  man  to  preach  to  him  the  doctrines 
of  metaphysics." 

The  speaker  referred  to  statements  characterizing  the 
monks  of  his  order  as  beggars,  replying  that  for  the  last 
twelve  years  he  had  not  known  where  the  next  meal  was 
coming  from.  In  India  a  priest  that  preached  for  money 
or  pay  would  lose  caste  and  be  spat  upon  by  the  people. 
"  I  came  here,"  he  said,  "  to  seek  aid  for  my  impoverished 
people,  but  I  fully  realized  how  difficult  it  was  to  do  it." 

To  this  Mr.  Vivekananda  added  a  Hindu  criticism  on  some 
Christian  conceptions  of  atonement ;  and  on  the  next  day 
Bishop  Keane,  of  the  Catholic  university  at  Washington, 
said  by  way  of  response : 

"From  my  heart  I  indorse  the  denunciation  that  was 
hurled  forth  last  night  against  the  system  of  pretended 
charity  that  offered  food  to  the  hungry  Hindus  at  the  cost 
of  their  conscience  and  their  faith.  The  question  might 
well  be  asked  whether  among  Christian  people  such  a  sys- 
tem was  possible ;  and  yet  we  have  only  to  look  back  to  the 
history  of  the  famine  in  Ireland  in  order  to  know  that  such 
things  have  been.  A  shame,  a  disgrace  to  those  who  call 


704  REPRESENTATIVE  VOICES 

themselves  Christians.  But  I  am  happy  to  state,  in  answer 
to  a  half  question  also  asked  last  night,  and  in  connection 
with  this  subject,  that  in  China  and  in  India,  the  Sisters  of 
Charity  and  the  Little  Sisters  of  the  Poor  have  many  insti- 
tutions in  which  they  are  pledged  by  holy  vows  to  care  for 
the  indigent,  no  matter  what  might  be  their  faith,  without 
asking  any  man  to  be  guilty  of  the  sham  hypocrisy  of  pre- 
tending conversion  in  order  to  get  bread. 

"I  will  go  further  and  say:  We  were  startled  at  the 
denunciation  that  came  also  from  the  heart  of  the  Hindu 
monk  last  night,  of  the  Christian  system  of  atonement, 
as  he  understood  it.  I  sympathize  with  him  from  his  stand- 
point. There  have  been  men  who  through  a  mistaken  piety 
have  so  exhausted  the  supremacy  of  G'od  as  to  utterly  anni- 
hilate all  responsibility  and  the  co-operation  of  the  human 
free  will.  For  any  such  system  or  idea  of  the  atonement  of 
Christ  I  have  no  more  sympathy  than  has  our  Brahman 
friend.  I  say  to  him,  let  him  go  on  criticising  us  Christians ; 
we  do  not  hear  half  enough  of  this.  I  firmly  believe  in  the 
principle.laid  down  by  dear  Bobby  Burns : 

'  0  would  some  power  the  Gif tie  gie  us 
To  see  oui-sels  as  ithers  see  us.' 

"  And  if  by  these  criticisms  Vivekananda  can  only  stir 
us  and  sting  us  into  better  teachings  and  better  doings  in 
the  great  work  of  Christ  in  the  world,  I  for  one  will  be 
profoundly  grateful  to  our  friend,  the  great  Hindu  monk." 

In  exposition  of  Hindu  Brahmanical  beliefs,  Mr.  Viveka- 
nanda said  in  an  elaborate  paper : 

"  The  Hindus  have  received  their  religion  through  the 
revelation  of  the  Yedas.  They  hold  that  the  Vedas  are 
without  beginning  and  without  end.  It  may  sound  ludi- 
crous to  this  audience — how  a  book  can  be  without  begin- 
ning or  end.  But  by  the  Yedas  no  books  are  meant.  They 
mean  the  accumulated  treasury  of  spiritual  laws  discovered 
by  different  persons  in  different  times.  Just  as  the  law  of 
gravitation  existed  before  its  discovery  and  would  exist  if 


FROM  ALL  RACES  AND  NATIONS.  705 

all  humanity  forgot  it,  so  with  the  laws  that  govern  the 
spiritual  world ;  the  moral,  ethical,  and  spiritual  relations 
between  soul  and  soul,  and  between  individual  spirits  and 
the  father  of  all  spirits  were  there  before  their  discovery,  and 
would  remain  even  if  we  forgot  them. 

"  The  discoverers  of  these  laws  are  called  Rishis  and  we 
honor  them  as  perfected  beings,  and  I  am  glad  to  tell  this 
audience  that  some  of  the  very  best  of  them  were  women. 

"  The  Hindu  believes  that  he  is  a  spirit.  Him  the  sword 
cannot  pierce,  him  the  fire  cannot  burn,  him  the  water  can- 
not melt,  him  the  air  cannot  dry.  He  believes  every  soul  is 
a  circle  whose  circumference  is  nowhere,  but  whose  centre 
is  located  in  a  body,  and  death  means  the  change  of  this 
centre  from  body  to  body.  Nor  is  the  soul  bound  by  the 
condition  of  matter.  In  its  very  essence  it  is  free,  unbound, 
holy,  and  pure  and  perfect.  The  human  soul  is  eternal  and 
immortal,  perfect  and  infinite,  and  death  means  only  a 
change  of  centre  from  one  body  to  another.  The  present  is 
determined  by  our  past  actions,  and  the  future  will  be  by 
the  present.  The  soul  will  go  on  evolving  up  or  reverting 
back  from  birth  to  birth  and  death  to  death — like  a  tiny 
boat  in  a  tempest,  raised  one  moment  on  the  foaming  crest 
of  a  billow  and  dashed  down  into  a  yawning  chasm  the 
next,  rolling  to  and  fro  at  the  mercy  of  good  and  bad  ac- 
tions— a  powerless,  helpless  wreck  in  an  ever  raging,  ever 
rushing,  uncompromising  current  of  cause  and  effect ;  a  lit- 
tle moth  placed  under  the  wheel  of  causation,  which  rolls 
on,  crushing  everything  in  its  way,  and  waits  not  for  the 
widow's  tears  or  the  orphan's  cry. 

"  The  heart  sinks  at  the  idea,  yet  this  is  the  law  of  nature. 
Is  there  no  hope  ?  Is  there  no  escape  3  The  cry  that  went 
up  from  the  bottom  of  the  heart  of  despair  reached  the 
throne  of  mercy  and  words  of  hope  and  consolation  came 
down  and  inspired  a  Vedic  sage,  and  he  stood  up  before  the 
world  and  in  trumpet  voice  proclaimed  the  glad  tidings  to 
the  world.  *  Hear,  ye  children  of  immortal  bliss,  even  ye 
that  resided  in  higher  spheres.  I  have  found  the  ancient 
one,  who  is  beyond  all  darkness,  all  delusion,  and  knowing 


r06  REPRESENTATIVE  VOICES 

him  alone,  you  shall  be  saved  from  death  again.'  '  Children 
of  immortal  bliss.'  What  a  sweet,  what  a  hopeful  name. 
Allow  me  to  call  you,  brethren,  by  that  sweet  name — heirs 
of  immortal  bliss  —  yea,  the  Hindu  refuses  to  call  you 
sinners. 

"  Ye  are  the  children  of  God.  The  sharers  of  immortal 
bliss,  holy  and  perfect  beings.  Ye  divinities  on  earth,  sin- 
ners ?  It  is  a  sin  to  call  a  man  so.  It  is  a  standing  libel  on 
human  nature.  Come  up,  live,  and  shake  off  the  delusion 
that  you  are  sheep.  You  are  souls  immortal,  spirits  free 
and  blest  and  eternal ;  ye  are  not  matter,  ye  are  not  bodies. 
Matter  is  your  servant,  not  you  the  servant  of  matter. 

"  Thus  it  is  the  Vedas  proclaim, — not  a  dreadful  combina- 
tion of  unforgiving  laws,  not  an  endless  prison  of  cause  and 
effect,  but  that,  at  the  head  of  all  these  laws,  in  and  through 
every  particle  of  matter  and  force,  stands  one  '  through 
whose  command  the  wind  blows,  the  fire  burns,  the  clouds 
rain,  and  death  stalks  upon  the  earth.'  And  what  is  his 
nature  ? 

"  He  is  everywhere,  the  pure  and  formless  one,  the  Al- 
mighty and  the  all-merciful.  '  Thou  art  our  father,  thou 
art  our  mother,  thou  art  our  beloved  friend,  thou  art  the 
source  of  all  strength.  Thou  art  he  that  bearest  the 
burdens  of  the  universe  ;  help  me  bear  the  little  burden  of 
this  life.'  Thus  sang  the  Rishis  of  the  Yeda.  And  how 
to  worship  him  ?  Through  love.  *  He  is  to  be  worshipped 
as  the  one  beloved,  dearer  than  everything  in  this  and  the 
next  life.' 

"This  is  the  doctrine  of  love  preached  in  the  Vedas,  and 
let  us  see  how  it  is  fully  developed  and  preached  by 
Krishna,  whom  the  Hindus  believe  to  have  been  God  in- 
carnate on  earth. 

"  He  taught  that  a  man  ought  to  live  in  this  world  like  a 
lotus  leaf,  which  grows  in  water,  but  is  never  moistened  by 
water ;  so  a  man  ought  to  live  in 'this  world,— his  heart  for 
God  and  his  hands  for  work. 

"  It  is  good  to  love  God  for  hope  of  reward  in  this  or  the 
next  world,  but  it  is  better  to  love  God  for  love's  sake,  and 


FROM  ALL  RACES  AND  NATIONS.  707 

the  prayer  goes,  '  Lord,  I  do  not  want  wealth,  nor  children, 
nor  learning.  If  it  be  Thy  will  I  will  go  to  a  hundred  hells, 
but  grant  me  this,  that  I  may  love  Thee  without  the  hope  of 
reward, — unselfishly  love  for  love's  sake.' 

"  The  Vedas  teach  that  the  soul  is  divine,  only  held  under 
bondage  of  matter,  and  perfection  will  be  reached  when  the 
bond  shall  burst,  and  the  word  they  use  is,  therefore,  Mukto 
(freedom) — freedom  from  the  bonds  of  imperfection ;  free- 
dom from  death  and  misery. 

"And  they  teach  that  this  bondage  can  only  fall  off 
through  the  mercy  of  God,  and  this  mercy  comes  to  the 
pure.  So  purity  is  the  condition  of  His  mercy.  How  that 
mercy  acts  ?  He  reveals  Himself  to  the  pure  heart,  and  the 
pure  and  stainless  man  sees  God,  yea,  even  in  this  life,  and 
then,  and  then  only,  all  the  crookedness  of  the  heart  is 
made  straight.  Then  all  doubt  ceases.  Man  is  no  more  the 
freak  of  a  terrible  law  of  causation.  So  this  is  the  very  cen- 
tre, the  very  vital  conception  of  Hinduism.  The  Hindu 
does  not  want  to  live  upon  words  and  theories  ;  if  there  are 
existences  beyond  the  ordinary  sensual  existence,  he  wants 
to  come  face  to  face  with  them.  If  there  is  a  soul  in  him 
which  is  not  matter,  if  there  is  an  all-merciful  universal 
soul,  he  will  go  to  him  direct.  He  must  see  him,  and  that 
alone  can  destroy  all  doubts.  So  the  best  proof  a  Hindu 
sage  gives,  about  the  soul,  about  God,  is,  '  I  have  seen  the 
soul,  I  have  seen  God.' 

"And  that  is  the  only  condition  of  perfection.  The 
Hindu  religion  does  not  consist  in  struggles  and  attempts 
to  believe  a  certain  doctrine  or  dogma,  but  in  realizing — 
not  in  believing,  but  in  being  and  becoming. 

"So  the  whole  struggle  in  their  system  is  a  constant 
struggle  to  become  perfect,  to  become  divine,  to  reach  God 
and  see  God,  and  in  this  reaching  God,  seeing  God,  becom- 
ing perfect,  even  as  the  Father  in  heaven  is  perfect,  consists 
the  religion  of  the  Hindus. 

"  And  what  becomes  of  man  when  he  becomes  perfect  ? 
He  lives  a  life  of  bliss  infinite.  He  enjoys  infinite  and  per- 
fect bliss,  having  obtained  the  only  thing  in  which  man 


708  REPRESENTATIVE  VOICES 

ought  to  have  pleasure — God — and  enjoys  the  bliss  with 
God. 

"  So  far  all  the  Hindus  are  agreed.  This  is  the  common 
religion  of  all  the  sects  of  India. 

"  The  science  of  religion  will  become  perfect  when  it  dis- 
covers Him  who  is  the  one  life  in  a  universe  of  death,  who  is 
the  constant  basis  of  an  ever-changing  world,  who  is  the  only 
soul  of  which  all  souls  are  but  manifestations.  Thus  through 
multiplicity  and  duality  the  ultimate  unity  is  reached,  and 
religion  can  go  no  further.  Manifestation  and  not  creation 
is  the  word  of  science  to-day,  and  the  Hindu  is  only  glad 
that  what  he  has  cherished  in  his  bosom  for  ages  is  going  to 
be  taught  in  more  forcible  language  and  with  further  light 
by  the  latest  conclusions  of  science. 

"  If  now  we  descend  from  the  aspirations  of  philosophy  to 
the  religion  of  the  ignorant,  at  the  very  outset  I  may  tell 
you  that  there  is  no  polytheism  in  India.  In  every  temple, 
if  one  stands  by  and  listens,  he  will  find  the  worshippers 
apply  all  the  attributes  of  God — including  omnipresence — to 
these  images.  It  is  not  polytheism.  The  tree  is  known  by 
its  fruits,  and  when  I  have  been  amongst  them  that  are  called 
idolatrous  men,  the  like  of  whose  morality  and  spirituality 
and  love  I  have  never  seen  anywhere,  I  stop  and  ask  myself, 
'  Can  sin  beget  holiness  ? ' 

"  Superstition  is  the  enemy  of  man,  but  bigotry  is  worse. 
Why  does  a  Christian  go  to  church  ?  Why  is  the  cross  holy  ? 
Why  is  the  face  turned  toward  the  sky  in  prayer  ?  Why 
are  there  so  many  images  in  the  Catholic  Church  ?  Why 
are  there  so  many  images  in  the  minds  of  Protestants  when 
they  pray  ?  My  brethren,  we  can  no  more  think  about  any- 
thing without  a  material  image  than  we  can  live  without 
breathing.  And  by  the  law  of  association  the  material  im- 
age calls  the  mental  idea  up,  and  vice  versa.  Omnipresence, 
to  almost  the  whole  world,  means  nothing.  Has  God  super- 
ficial area  \  If  not,  when  we  repeat  the  word  we  think  of 
the  extended  earth,  that  is  all. 

"  As  we  find  that  somehow  or  other,  by  the  laws  of  our  con- 
stitution, we  have  got  to  associate  our  ideas  of  infinity  with 


FROM  ALL  RACES  AND  NATIONS.  709 

the  image  of  a  blue  sky,  or  a  sea ;  and  the  idea  of  holiness 
with  an  image  of  a  church  or  a  mosque,  or  a  cross ;  so  the 
Hindus  have  associated  the  ideas  of  holiness,  purity,  truth, 
omnipresence,  and  all  other  ideas  with  different  images  and 
forms.  But  with  this  difference.  Some  devote  their  whole 
lives  to  their  idol  of  a  church  and  never  rise  higher,  because 
with  them  religion  means  an  intellectual  assent  to  certain 
doctrines  and  doing  good  to  their  fellows.  The  whole  re- 
ligion of  the  Hindu  is  centred  in  realization.  Man  is  to  be- 
come divine,  realizing  the  divine,  and,  therefore,  idol  or  tem- 
ple or  church  or  books  are  only  the  supports,  the  helps,  of 
his  spiritual  childhood  ;  but  on  and  on  man  must  progress. 
He  must  not  stop  anywhere.  *  External  worship,  material 
worship,'  say  the  Vedas,  '  is  the  lowest  stage,  struggling  to 
rise  high  ;  mental  prayer  is  the  next  stage,  but  the  highest 
stage  is  when  the  Lord  has  been  realized.'  Mark  the  same 
earnest  man  who  was  kneeling  before  the  idol  tell  you,  '  Him 
the  sun  cannot  express,  nor  the  moon  nor  the  stars,  the 
lightning  cannot  express  him,  nor  the  fire  ;  through  him 
they  all  shine.'  To  the  Hindu,  man  is  not  travelling  from 
error  to  truth,  but  from  truth  to  truth,  from  lower  to  higher 
truth.  To  him  all  the  religions,  from  the  lowest  fetichism  to 
the  highest  absolutism,  mean  so  many  attempts  of  the  human 
soul  to  grasp  and  realize  the  infinite,  each  determined  by  the 
conditions  of  its  birth  and  association ;  and  each  of  these 
mark  a  stage  of  progress.  Unity  and  variety  is  the  plan  of 
nature,  and  the  Hindu  has  recognized  it.  Every  other  relig- 
ion lays  down  certain  fixed  dogmas,  and  tries  to  force  society 
to  adopt  them.  The  Hindus  have  discovered  that  the  abso- 
lute can  only  be  realized  or  thought  of  or  stated  through 
the  relative,  and  the  images,  cross  or  crescent,  are  simply  so 
many  centres,  so  many  pegs  to  hang  the  spiritual  ideas  on. 
Idolatry  in  India  does  not  mean  anything  horrible.  It  is  not 
the  mother  of  harlots.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  the  attempt 
of  undeveloped  minds  to  grasp  high  spiritual  truths.  The 
Hindus  have  their  faults,  but  mark  this,  they  are  always 
toward  punishing  their  own  bodies  and  never  toward  cutting 
the  throats  of  their  neighbors.  If  the  Hindu  fanatic  burns 


710  REPRESENTATIVE  VOICES 

himself  on  the  pyre,  lie  never  lights  the  fire  of  inquisition. 
And  even  this  cannot  be  laid  at  the  door  of  religion  any 
more  than  the  burning  of  witches  can  be  laid  at  the  door  of 
Christianity. 

"To  the  Hindu,  then,  the  whole  world  of  religions  is  only 
a  travelling,  a  coming  up,  of  different  men  and  women, 
through  various  conditions  and  circumstances,  to  the  same 
goal.  Every  religion  is  only  an  evolution  out  of  the  material 
man  of  God — and  the  same  God  is  the  inspirer  of  all  of  them. 
In  the  heart  of  everything  the  same  truth  reigns.  The  Lord 
has  declared  to  the  Hindu  in  his  incarnation  as  Krishna,  *  I 
am  in  every  religion  as  the  thread  through  a  string  of  pearls. 
And  wherever  thou  seest  extraordinary  holiness  and  extra- 
ordinary power  raising  and  purifying  humanity,  know  ye 
that  I  am  there.'  And  what  was  the  result  ?  Through  the 
whole  order  of  Sanskrit  philosophy,  I  challenge  anybody  to 
find  any  such  expression  as  that  the  Hindu  only  would  be 
saved  and  not  others.  Says  Vyas,  'We  find  perfect  men 
even  beyond  the  pale  of  our  caste  and  creed. '  How,  then,  can 
the  Hindu,  whose  whole  idea  centres  in  God,  believe  in  the 
Buddhism  which  is  agnostic,  or  the  Jainism  which  is  athe- 
ist ?  The  Buddhists  do  not  depend  upon  God,  but  the  whole 
force  of  their  religion  is  directed  to  the  great  central  truth 
in  every  religion,  to  evolve  a  God  out  of  man.  They  have 
not  seen  the  Father,  but  they  have  seen  the  Son.  And  he 
that  hath  seen  the  Son  hath  seen  the  Father. 

"  This,  brethren,  is  a  short  sketch  of  the  ideas  of  the  Hin- 
dus. The  Hindu  might  have  failed  to  carry  out  all  his  plans. 
But  if  there  is  ever  to  be  a  universal  religion,  it  must  be  one 
which  will  hold  no  location  in  place  or  time  ;  which  will  be 
infinite,  like  the  God  it  will  preach  ;  whose  sun  shines  upon 
the  followers  of  Krishna  or  Christ,  saints  or  sinners,  alike ; 
which  will  not  be  the  Brahman  or  Buddhist,  Christian  or 
Mohammedan,  but  the  sum  total  of  all  these,  and  still  have 
infinite  space  for  development ;  which  in  its  catholicity  will 
embrace  in  its  infinite  arms  and  find  a  place  for  every  hu- 
man being,  from  the  lowest  groveling  man,  from  the  brute, 
to  the  highest  mind  towering  almost  above  humanity  and 


FROM  ALL  RACES  AND  NATIONS.  711 

making  society  stand  in  awe  and  doubt  his  human  nature. 
It  will  be  a  religion  which  will  have  no  place  for  persecution 
or  intolerance  in  its  polity,  which  will  recognize  a  divinity 
in  every  man  or  woman,  and  whose  whole  scope,  whose  whole 
force,  will  be  centred  in  aiding  humanity  to  realize  its 
divine  nature." 

Another  accomplished  and  scholarly  Brahman  of  Bom- 
bay, Manilal  N.  D'vivedi,  in  an  elaborate  and  masterly  pa- 
per, covering  the  whole  ground  of  Hindu  religious  thought 
and  practices,  presented  these  testimonies  and  suggestions : 

"  The  oldest  of  the  four  Vedas  is  admittedly  the  Rig-Veda. 
It  is  the  most  ancient  record  of  the  Aryan  nation,  nay,  of 
the  first  humanity  our  earth  knows  of.  Traces  of  a  very 
superior  degree  of  civilization  and  art,  found  at  every  page, 
prevent  us  from  regarding  these  records  as  containing  only 
the  outpourings  of  the  minds  of  pastoral  tribes  ignorantly 
wondering  at  the  grand  phenomena  of  nature.  We  find  in 
the  Vedas  a  highly  superior  order  of  rationalistic  thought 
pervading  all  the  hymns,  and  we  have  ample  reasons  to 
conclude  that  the  childish  poetry  of  primitive  hearts,  Agni 
and  Vishnu  and  Indra  and  Rudra,  are,  indeed,  so  many  names 
of  different  gods,  but  each  of  them  had  really  a  threefold 
aspect. 

"  Vishnu,  for  example,  in  his  terrestrial  or  temporal  as- 
pect is  the  physical  sun ;  in  his  corporeal  aspect  he  is  the 
soul  of  every  being,  and  in  his  spiritual  aspect  he  is  the  all- 
pervading  essence  of  the  cosmos.  In  their  spiritual  aspect 
all  gods  are  one,  for  well  says  the  well-known  text, « only 
one  essence  the  wise  declare  in  many  ways.'  And  this  con- 
ception of  the  spiritual  unity  of  the  cosmos  as  found  in  the 
Vedas  is  the  crux  of  western  oriental  research.  The  learned 
doctors  are  unwilling  to  see  more  than  the  slightest  trace  of 
this  conception  in  the  Veda,  for,  say  they,  it  is  all  nature 
worship,,  the  invocation  of  different  independent  powers 
which  held  the  wandering  mind  of  this  section  of  primitive 
humanity  in  submissive  admiration  and  praise.  However 
well  this  may  accord  with  the  psychological  development 


712  REPRESENTATIVE  VOICES 

of  the  human  mind,  there  is  not  the  slightest  semblance  of 
evidence  in  the  Vedas  to  show  that  these  records  belong  to 
that  hypothetical  period  of  human  progress. 

"  In  the  Vedas  there  are  marks  everywhere  of  the  recog- 
nition of  the  idea  of  one  God,  the  God  of  nature  manifesting 
Himself  in  many  forms.  This  word  *  God '  is  one  of  those 
which  have  been  the  stumbling-blocks  of  philosophy.  God, 
in  the  sense  of  a  personal  creator  of  the  universe,  is  not 
known  in  the  Veda,  and  the  highest  effort  of  rationalistic 
thought  in  India  has  been  to  see  God  in  the  totality  of  all 
that  is.  And,  indeed,  it  is  doubtful  whether  philosophy,  be 
it  that  of  a  Kant  or  a  Hegel,  has  ever  accomplished  anything 
more.  It  hardly  stands  to  reason  that  men  who  are  so  far 
admitted  to  be  Kants  and  Hegels,  should,  in  other  respects, 
be  only  in  a  state  of  childish  wonderment  at  the  phenomena 
of  nature. 

"  I  humbly  beg  to  differ  from  those  who  see  in  monothe- 
ism, in  the  recognition  of  a  personal  God  apart  from  nature, 
the  acme  of  intellectual  development.  I  believe  that  is  only 
a  kind  of  anthropomorphism  which  the  human  mind  stum- 
bles upon  in  its  first  efforts  to  understand  the  unknown. 
The  ultimate  satisfaction  of  human  reason  and  emotion  lies 
in  the  realization  of  that  universal  essence  which  is  the  all. 
And  I  hold  an  irrefragable  evidence  that  this  idea  is  present 
in  the  Veda,  the  numerous  gods  and  their  invocations  not- 
withstanding. This  idea  of  the  formless  all,  the  Sat — i.  e., 
esse,  being — called  Atman  and  Brahman  in  the  Upanishads, 
and  further  explained  in  the  Darsanas,  is  the  central  idea 
of  the  Veda,  nay,  the  root  idea  of  the  Hindu  religion  in 
general. 

"  No  Indian  idolater  as  such  believes  that  the  piece  of 
stone,  metal,  or  wood  before  his  eyes,  is  his  god,  in  any 
sense  of  the  word.  He  takes  it  only  as  a  symbol  of  the  All- 
pervading,  and  uses  it  as  a  convenient  object  for  purposes 
of  concentration,  which,  being  accomplished,  he  does  not 
grudge  to  throw  it  away.  Idols  have  a  double  aspect,  that  of 
perpetuating  a  teaching  as  old  as  the  world,  and  that  of 
serving  as  convenient  aids  to  concentration.  These  explana- 


FROM  ALL  RACES  AND  NATIONS.  713 

tions  of  idol-worship  find  an  exact  parallel  in  the  worship 
of  the  Tau  in  Egypt,  of  the  cross  in  Christendom,  of  fire  in 
Zoroastrianism,  and  of  the  Kaba  in  Mohammedanism.  Every 
creed  and  worship  is  but  one  of  the  many  ways  to  the  reali- 
zation of  the  All.  A  Hindu  would  not  condemn  any  man 
for  his  religion,  for  he  has  well  laid  to  heart  the  celebrated 
couplet, 

'  Worship  in  whatever  form,  rendered  to  whatever  god,  reaches  the 

Supreme, 
As  rivers,  rising  from  whatever  sources,  all  flow  into  the  ocean.'  " 

In  the  closing  meeting  of  the  parliament  Swami  Viveka- 
nanda  spoke  the  following  words  of  farewell : 

"  The  world's  parliament  of  religions  has  become  an  accom- 
plished fact,  and  the  merciful  Father  has  helped  those  who 
labored  to  bring  it  into  existence  and  crowned  with  success 
their  most  unselfish  labor. 

"  My  thanks  to  those  noble  souls  whose  large  hearts  and 
love  of  truth  first  dreamed  this  wonderful  dream  and  then 
realized  it.  My  thanks  to  the  shower  of  liberal  sentiments 
that  has  overflowed  this  platform.  My  thanks  to  this  en- 
lightened audience  for  their  uniform  kindness  to  me,  and 
for  their  appreciation  of  every  thought  that  tends  to  smooth 
the  friction  of  religions.  A  few  jarring  notes  were  heard 
from  time  to  time  in  this  harmony.  My  special  thanks  to 
them,  for  they  have  by  their  striking  contrast  made  the 
general  harmony  the  sweeter. 

"  Much  has  been  said  of  the  common  ground  of  religious 
unity.  I  am  not  going  just  now  to  venture  my  own  theory. 
But  if  any  one  here  hopes  that  this  unity  would  come  by 
the  triumph  of  any  one  of  these  religions  and  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  others,  to  him  I  say,  *  Brother,  yours  is  an  impos- 
sible hope.'  Do  I  wish  that  the  Christian  would  become 
Hindu  ?  God  forbid.  Do  I  wish  that  the  Hindu  or  Buddh- 
ist would  become  Christian  ?  God  forbid. 

"  The  seed  is  put  in  the  ground,  and  earth  and  air  and 
water  are  placed  around  it.  Does  the  seed  become  the  earth, 


714  REPRESENTATIVE  VOICES 

or  the  air,  or  the  water  ?  No.  It  becomes  a  plant,  it  devel- 
ops after  the  law  of  its  own  growth,  assimilates  the  air,  the 
earth,  and  the  water,  converts  them  into  plant  substance 
and  grows  a  plant. 

"  Similar  is  the  case  with  religion.  The  Christian  is  not 
to  become  a  Hindu  or  a  Buddhist,  nor  a  Hindu  or  a  Buddh- 
ist to  become  a  Christian.  But  each  must  assimilate  the 
others,  and  yet  preserve  its  individuality  and  grow  accord- 
ing to  its  own  law  of  growth. 

"  If  the  parliament  of  religions  has  shown  anything  to 
the  world  it  is  this :  It  has  proved  to  the  world  that  holi- 
ness, purity,  and  charity  are  not  the  exclusive  possessions 
of  any  church  in  the  world,  and  that  every  system  has  pro- 
duced men  and  women  of  the  most  exalted  character. 

"  In  the  face*  of  this  evidence,  if  anybody  dreams  of  the 
exclusive  survival  of  his  own  and  the  destruction  of  the 
others,  I  pity  him  from  the  bottom  of  my  heart,  and  point 
out  to  him  that  upon  the  banner  of  every  religion  would 
soon  be  written,  in  spite  of  their  resistance :  '  Help  and  Not 
Fight,'  '  Assimilation  and  Not  Destruction,' '  Harmony  and 
Peace,  and  Not  Dissension.'  " 

JAINISM. 

The  offshoot  from  Brahmanism,  which  antedates  Buddh- 
ism, Jainism,  was  represented  in  the  parliament  by  an 
accomplished  Hindu  lawyer  of  Bombay,  Mr.  V.  A.  Gandhi. 
In  response  to  welcome,  he  said  at  the  opening  meeting : 

"  Mr.  President,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen  :  I  will  not  trouble 
you  with  a  long  speech.  I,  like  my  respected  friends,  Mr. 
Mozoomdar  and  others,  come  from  India,  the  mother  of  re- 
ligions. I  represent  Jainism,  a  faith  older  than  Buddhism, 
similar  to  it  in  its  ethics,  but  different  from  it  in  its  psychol- 
ogy, and  professed  by  a  million  and  a  half  of  India's  most 
peaceful  and  law-abiding  citizens.  You  have  heard  so  many 
speeches  from  eloquent  members,  and  as  I  shall  speak  later 
on  at  some  length,  I  will  at  present  only  offer  on  behalf  of 
my  community  and  their  high  priest,  Moni  Atma  Ranji, 
whom  I  especially  represent  here,  our  sincere  thanks  for  the 


FROM  ALL  RACES  AND  NATIONS.  715 

kind  welcome  you  have  given  us.  This  spectacle  of  the 
learned  leaders  of  thought  and  religion  meeting  together 
on  a  common  platform,  and  throwing  light  on  religious 
problems,  has  been  the  dream  of  Atma  Ranji's  life.  He  has 
commissioned  me  to  say  to  you  that  he  offers  his  most  cor- 
dial congratulations  on  his  own  behalf,  and  on  behalf  of  the 
Jain  community,  for  your  having  achieved  the  consumma- 
tion of  that  grand  idea  of  convening  a  parliament  of 
religions." 

Among  the  most  dogmatic  and  denunciatory  utterances 
made  in  the  parliament  on  behalf  of  exclusive  Christianity, 
uncompromising  in  antagonism  to  all  other  faiths,  was 
that  of  Eev.  G.  F.  Pentecost.  Mr.  Pentecost  introduced 
some  impromptu  remarks,  of  which  the  editorial  nar- 
rative of  the  parliament  says :  "  Proceeding  to  attack  the 
religious  systems  of  India  on  the  point  of  morality,  he 
alleged  that  among  the  followers  of  Brahmanism  there  were 
thousands  of  temples  in  which  there  were  hundreds  of 
priestesses  who  were  known  as  immoral  and  profligate. 
They  were  prostitutes  because  they  were  priestesses  and 
priestesses  because  they  were  prostitutes."  The  editorial 
account  from  which  we  quote  calls  this  allegation  "a  re- 
proach universally  circulated  and  believed,"  apparently  im- 
plying that  Mr.  Pentecost  said  no  more  than  almost  any  one 
might  have  said.  Mr.  Gandhi  referred  to  the  matter  in  re- 
marks prefatory  to  his  paper  on  the  Jain  system  of  faith 
and  philosophy.  He  said : 

"  Before  proceeding  with  my  address  I  wish  to  make  a 
few  observations.  This  platform  is  not  a  place  for  mutual 
recrimination,  and  I  am  heartily  sorry  that  from  time  to 
time  a  most  unchristian  spirit  is  allowed  free  scope  here, 
but  I  know  how  to  take  these  recriminations  at  their  proper 
value.  I  am  glad  that  no  one  has  dared  to  attack  the  relig- 
ion I  represent.  It  is  well  they  should  not.  But  every 
attack  has  been  directed  to  the  abuses  existing  in  our  soci- 
ety. And  I  repeat  now  what  I  repeat  every  day,  that  these 
abuses  are  not  from  religion,  but  in  spite  of  religion,  as  in 
every  other  country. 


716  REPRESENTATIVE  VOICES 

"  Some  men  in  their  ambition  think  that  they  are  Pauls, 
and  what  they  think  they  believe.  These  new  Pauls  go  to 
vent  their  platitudes  upon  India.  They  go  to  India  to  con- 
vert the  heathens  in  a  mass,  but  when  they  find  their  dreams 
melting  away,  as  dreams  always  do,  they  return  to  pass  a 
whole  life  in  abusing  the  Hindu.  Abuses  are  not  arguments 
against  any  religion,  nor  self -adulation  the  proof  of  the  truth 
of  one's  own.  For  such  I  have  the  greatest  pity.  There 
are  a  few  Hindu  temples  in  southern  India  where  women 
singers  are  employed  to  sing  on  certain  occasions.  Some 
of  them  are  of  dubious  character,  and  the  Hindu  society 
feels  it  and  is  trying  its  best  to  remove  the  evil,  but  to  calj 
these  ' priestesses  because  they  are  prostitutes '  and  ' prosti- 
tutes because  they  are  priestesses '  is  a  statement  which  dif- 
fers as  much  from  truth  as  darkness  from  light.  These 
women  are  never  allowed  to  enter  the  main  body  of  the 
temple,  and  as  for  their  being  priestesses,  there  is  not  one 
woman  priestess  from  the  Himalayas  to  Cape  Comorin. 

"  If  the  present  abuses  in  India  have  been  produced  by 
the  Hindu  religion,  the  same  religion  had  the  strength  of 
producing  a  society  which  made  the  Greek  historian  say, 
'  No  Hindu  was  ever  known  to  tell  an  untruth  ;  no  Hindu 
woman  ever  known  to  be  unchaste.'  And  even  in  the  pres- 
ent day,  where  is  there  chaster  woman  or  milder  man  than 
in  India  ?  '  The  Oriental  bubbles  may  need  to  be  pricked,' 
but  the  very  hysterical  shrieks  sent  forth  from  this  platform 
from  time  to  time  show  to  the  world  that  sometimes  bubbles 
may  be  heavier  than  the  bloated  balloons  of  vanity  and  self- 
conceit. 

"  I  am  very,  very  sorry  for  those  who  criticise  the  great  ones 
of  India,  and  my  only  consolation  is  that  all  their  informa- 
tion about  them  has  come  from  third-hand  or  fourth-hand 
sources,  percolating  through  layers  of  superstition  and 
bigotry.  To  those  who  find,  in  the  refusal  of  the  Hindu 
to  criticise  the  character  of  Jesus,  a  tacit  acceptation  of  the 
superiority  of  the  fanatical  nil-admirari  cult  they  repre- 
sent, I  am  tempted  to  quote  the  old  fable  of  JSsop  and  tell 
them,  *  Not  to  you  I  bend  the  knee,  but  to  the  image  you 


FROM  ALL  RACES  AND  NATIONS.  717 

are  carrying  on  your  back,'  and  point  out  to  them  one  page 
from  the  life  of  the  great  emperor  Akbar. 

"  A  certain  shipful  of  Mohammedan  pilgrims  was  going  to 
Mecca.  On  its  way  a  Portuguese  vessel  captured  it. 
Amongst  the  booty  were  some  copies  of  the  Koran.  The 
Portuguese  hanged  these  copies  of  the  Koran  round  the 
necks  of  dogs  and  paraded  these  dogs  through  the  streets 
of  Ormuz.  It  happened  that  this  very  Portuguese  ship  was 
captured  by  the  emperor's  men  and  in  it  were  found  copies 
of  the  Bible.  The  love  of  Akbar  for  his  mother  is  well 
known,  and  his  mother  was  a  zealous  Mohammedan,  and  it 
pained  her  very  much  to  hear  of  the  treatment  of  the  sacred 
book  of  the  Mohammedans  in  the  hands  of  the  Christians, 
and  she  wanted  Akbar  to  do  the  sanrewith  the  Bible.  But 
this  great  man  replied :  '  Mother,  these  ignorant  men  do  not 
know  the  value  of  the  Koran,  and  they  treated  it  in  a  man- 
ner which  is  the  outcome  of  ignorance.  But  I  know  the 
glory  of  the  Koran  and  the  Bible  both,  and  I  cannot  de- 
grade myself  in  the  way  they  did.' " 

In  a  paper  on  the  philosophy  and  ethics  of  the  Jains,  Mr. 
Gandhi  explained  the  system  of  which  he  is  a  disciple. 
Some  of  his  points  were  these  : 

"  The  Jain  canonical  book  treats  very  elaborately  of  the 
minute  divisions  of  the  living  beings,  and  their  prophets 
have  long  before  the  discovery  of  the  microscope  been  able 
to  tell  how  many  organs  of  sense  the  minutest  animalcule 
has.  I  would  refer  those  who  are  desirous  of  studying  Jain 
biology,  zoology,  botany,  anatomy,  and  physiology  to  the 
many  books  published  by  our  society. 

"  According  to  the  Jain  view  soul  is  that  element  which 
knows,  thinks,  and  feels.  It  is,  in  fact,  the  divine  element 
in  the  living  being.  The  Jain  thinks  that  the  phenomena  of 
knowledge,  feeling,  thinking,  and  willing  are  conditioned  on 
something,  and  that  that  something  must  be  as  real  as  any- 
thing can  be.  This  '  soul '  is  in  a  certain  sense  different  from 
knowledge  and  in  another  sense  identical  with  it.  So  far  as 
one's  knowledge  is  concerned  the  soul  is  identical  with  it, 


718  REPRESENTATIVE  VOICES 

but  so  far  as  some  one  else's  knowledge  is  concerned  it  is  dif- 
ferent from  it.  The  true  nature  of  soul  is  right  knowledge, 
right  faith,  and  right  conduct.  The  soul,  so  long  as  it  is  sub- 
ject to  transmigration,  is  undergoing  evolution  and  involu- 
tion." 

"  What  is  the  origin  of  the  universe  ?  This  involves  the 
question  of  God.  The  Jains  distinctly  reaffirm  the  view  pre- 
viously promulgated,  that  matter  and  soul  are  eternal  and 
cannot  be  created.  What  is  God,  then  ?  God,  in  the  sense 
of  an  extra-cosmic  personal  creator,  has  no  place  in  the  Jain 
philosophy.  It  distinctly  denies  such  creator  as  illogical 
and  irrelevant  in  the  general  scheme  of  the  universe.  But 
it  lays  down  that  there  is  a  subtle  essence  underlying  all  sub- 
stances, conscious  as  well  as  unconscious,  which  becomes  an 
eternal  cause  of  all  modifications,  and  is  termed  God." 

"The  doctrine  of  the  transmigration  of  soul,  or  the  rein- 
carnation, is  another  grand  idea  of  the  Jain  philosophy. 
You  cannot  say  that  the  soul  is  eternal  on  one  side  of  its 
earthly  period  without  being  so  on  the  other.  That  the  soul 
is  immortal  is  doubted  by  very  few.  But  if  the  soul  sprang 
into  existence  specially  for  this  life,  why  should  it  continue 
afterward  ?  The  ordinary  idea  of  creation  at  birth  involves 
the  correlative  of  annihilation  at  death.  Moreover,  it  does 
not  stand  to  reason  that  from  an  infinite  history  the  soul 
enters  this  world  for  its  first  and  only  physical  existence,  and 
then  merges  into  an  endless  spiritual  eternity.  The  more 
reasonable  deduction  is,  that  it  has  passed  through  many 
lives  and  will  have  to  pass  through  many  more  before  it 
reaches  its  ultimate  goal." 

"  The  companion  doctrine  of  transmigration  is  the  doctrine 
of  Karma.  The  Sanskrit  of  the  word  Karma  means  action. 
'  With  what  measure  ye  mete  it  shall  be  measured  to  you 
again,'  and  *  Whatsoever  a  man  soweth  that  shall  he  also 
reap,'  are  but  the  corollaries  of  that  most  intricate  law  of 
Karma.  It  solves  the  problem  of  the  inequality  and  appar- 
ent injustice  of  the  world.  No  other  Indian  philosophy 
reads  so  beautifully  and  so  clearly  the  doctrine  of  Karma. 
Persons  who  by  right  faith,  right  knowledge,  and  right  con- 


FROM  ALL  RACES  AND  NATIONS.  719 

duct  destroy  all  Karma  and  thus  fully  develop  the  nature  of 
the  soul,  reach  the  highest  perfection,  become  divine,  and 
are  called  Jinas." 

"  The  Jain  ethics  direct  conduct  to  be  so  adapted  as  to  in- 
sure the  fullest  development  of  the  soul— the  highest  happi- 
ness. The  highest  happiness  is  to  be  obtained  by  knowl- 
edge and  religious  observances.  The  five  great  command- 
ments for  Jain  ascetics  are :  Not  to  kill,  i.  e.,  to  protect  all 
life  ;  not  to  lie  ;  not  to  take  that  which  is  not  given  ;  to  ab- 
stain from  sexual  intercourse  ;  and  to  renounce  all  interest 
in  worldly  things,  especially  to  call  nothing  one's  own." 

In  the  closing  meeting  Mr.  Gandhi  said :  "  Do  we  not  see 
that  the  sublime  dream  of  the  organizers  of  this  unique  par- 
liament has  been  more  than  realized?  If  you  will  per- 
mit a  heathen  to  deliver  his  message  of  peace  and  love,  I 
shall  only  ask  you  to  look  at  the  multifarious  ideas  pre- 
sented to  you  in  a  liberal  spirit,  and  not  with  superstition 
and  bigotry.  Brothers  and  sisters,  I  entreat  you  to  examine 
the  various  religious  systems  from  all  standpoints." 

THE  BEAHMO-SOMAJ   OP  INDIA. 

The  progressive  and  reformed  Brahmanism  known  as  the 
Brahmo-Somaj  of  India,  takes  a  broadly  rationalistic,  hu- 
manitarian, theistic  ground,  of  which  Protap  Chunder 
Mozoomdar  spoke  most  instructively  and  effectively  in  the 
parliament.  In  response  to  welcome  he  said : 

"  India  claims  her  place  in  the  brotherhood  of  mankind 
not  only  because  of  her  great  antiquity,  but  equally  for  what 
has  taken  place  there  in  recent  times.  Modern  India  has 
sprung  from  ancient  India  by  a  law  of  evolution,  a  process 
of  continuity  which  explains  some  of  the  most  difficult 
problems  of  our  national  life.  In  prehistoric  times  our  fore- 
fathers worshipped  the  great  living  spirit,  God,  and,  after 
many  strange  vicissitudes,  we  Indian  theists,  led  by  the  light 
of  ages,  worship  the  same  living  spirit,  God,  and  none  other. 
Perhaps  in  other  ancient  lands,  Egypt,  Greece,  Rome,  Judea, 
this  law  of  continuity  has  not  been  so  well  kept.  But  India, 


720  REPRESENTATIVE  VOICES 

the  ancient  among  ancients,  the  elder  of  the  elders,  lives  to- 
day with  her  old  civilization,  her  old  laws  and  her  profound 
religion.  The  old  mother  of  the  nations  and  religions  is  still 
a  power  in  the  world ;  she  has  often  risen  from  apparent 
death,  and  in  the  future  will  arise  again.  When  the  Vedic 
faith  declined  in  India  the  esoteric  religion  of  the  Vedantas 
arose ;  then  the  everlasting  philosophy  of  the  Darasanas. 
When  these  declined  again  the  Light  of  Asia  arose  and 
established  a  standard  of  moral  perfection  which  will  yet 
teach  the  world  a  long  time.  When  Buddhism  had  its 
downfall  the  Shaiva  and  Vaish  Rava  revived  and  continued 
in  the  land  down  to  the  invasion  of  the  Mohammedans. 
The  Greeks  and  Scythians,  the  Turks  and  Tartars,  the  Mon- 
gols and  Moslems  rolled  over  our  country  like  torrents  of  de- 
struction. Our  independence,  our  greatness,  our  prestige — 
all  had  gone,  but  nothing  could  take  away  our  religious 
vitality. 

"We  are  Hindus  still  and  shall  always  be.  Now  sits 
Christianity  on  the  throne  of  India,  with  the  gospel  of  peace 
in  one  hand  and  the  sceptre  of  civilization  in  the  other. 
Now  is  not  the  time  to  despair  and  die.  Behold  the 
aspirations  of  modern  India — intellectual,  social,  political, — 
all  awakened;  our  religious  instincts  stirred  to  the  roots. 
If  that  had  not  been  the  case,  do  you  think  Hindus,  Jains, 
Buddhists,  and  others  would  have  traversed  these  14,000 
miles  to  pay  the  tribute  of  their  sympathy  before  this  august 
parliament  of  religions  ? 

"  No  individual,  no  denomination  can  more  fully  sympa- 
thize or  more  heartily  join  your  conferences  than  we  men  of 
the  Brahmo-Somaj,  whose  religion  is  the  harmony  of  all  re- 
ligions and  whose  congregation  is  the  brotherhood  of  all 
nations." 

And  with  reference  especially  to  the  Brahmo  religious 
position,  Mr.  Mozoomdar  said,  in  a  paper  before  the  parlia- 
ment: 

"  Theology  is  good ;  moral  resolutions  are  good ;  devo- 
tional fervor  is  good.  The  problem  is,  how  shall  we  go  on 
ever  and  ever  in  an  onward  way,  in  the  upper  path  of  prog- 


FROM  ALL  RACES  AND  NATIONS.  Y21 

ress  and  approach  toward  divine  perfection  ?  God  is  infi- 
nite ;  what  limit  is  there  in  His  goodness  or  His  wisdom 
or  His  righteousness  ?  All  the  scriptures  sing  His  glory ; 
all  the  prophets  in  the  heaven  declare  His  majesty  ;  all  the 
martyrs  have  reddened  the  world  with  their  blood  in  order 
that  His  holiness  might  be  known.  God  is  the  one  infinite 
good  ;  and,  after  we  had  made  our  three  attempts  of  theo- 
logical, moral,  and  spiritual  principle,  the  question  came 
that  God  is  the  one  eternal  and  infinite,  the  inspirer  of  all 
human  kind.  The  part  of  our  progress  then  lay  toward 
allying  ourselves,  toward  affiliating  ourselves  with  the  faith 
and  the  righteousness  and  wisdom  of  all  religions  and  all 
mankind. 

"  Christianity  declares  the  glory  of  God  ;  Hinduism  speaks 
about  His  infinite  and  eternal  excellence  ;  Mohammedanism, 
with  fire  and  sword,  proves  the  almightiness  of  His  will ; 
Buddhism  says  how  joyful  and  peaceful  He  is.  He  is  the 
God  of  all  religions,  of  all  denominations,  of  all  lands,  of  all 
scriptures,  and  our  progress  lay  in  harmonizing  these  vari- 
ous systems,  these  various  prophecies  and  developments  into 
one  great  system.  Hence  the  new  system  of  religion  in  the 
Brahmo-Somaj  is  called  the  New  Dispensation.  The  Chris- 
tian speaks  in  terms  of  admiration  of  Christianity ;  so  does 
the  Hebrew  of  Judaism ;  so  does  the  Mohammedan  of  the 
Koran ;  so  does  the  Zoroastrian  of  the  Zend-Avesta.  The 
Christian  admires  his  principles  of  spiritual  culture ;  the 
Hindu  does  the  same  ;  the  Mohammedan  does  the  same. 

"  But  the  Brahmo-Somaj  accepts  and  harmonizes  all  these 
precepts,  systems,  principles,  teachings,  and  disciplines,  and 
makes  them  into  one  system,  and  that  is  his  religion.  For 
a  whole  decade  my  friend,  Keshub  Chunder  Sen,  myself,  and 
other  apostles  of  the  Brahmo-Somaj  have  travelled  from  vil- 
lage to  village,  from  province  to  province,  from  continent  to 
continent,  declaring  this  new  dispensation  and  the  harmony 
of  all  religious  prophecies  and  systems  unto  the  glory  of  the 
one  true,  living  God.  But  we  are  a  subject  race ;  we  are  un- 
educated ;  we  are  incapable ;  we  have  not  the  resources  of 
money  to  get  men  to  listen  to  our  message.  In  the  fullness 


722  REPRESENTATIVE  VOICES 

of  time  you  have  called  this  august  parliament  of  religions, 
and  the  message  that  we  could  not  propagate  you  have  taken 
into  your  hands  to  propagate.  We  have  made  that  the  gos- 
pel of  our  very  lives,  the  ideal  of  our  very  being. 

"  I  do  not  come  to  the  sessions  of  this  parliament  as  a 
mere  student,  not  as  one  who  has  to  justify  his  own  system. 
I  come  as  a  disciple,  as  a  follower,  as  a  brother.  May  your 
labors  be  blessed  with  prosperity,  and  not  only  shall  your 
Christianity  and  your  America  be  exalted,  but  the  Brahmo- 
Somaj  will  feel  most  exalted,  and  this  poor  man  who  has 
come  such  a  long  distance  to  crave  your  sympathy  and  your 
kindness  shall  feel  himself  amply  rewarded. 

"  May  the  spread  of  the  New  Dispensation  rest  with  you 
and  make  you  our  brothers  and  sisters.  Representatives  of 
all  religions,  may  all  your  religions  merge  into  the  Father- 
hood of  God  and  into  the  brotherhood  of  man,  that  Christ's 
prophecy  may  be  fulfilled,  the  world's  hope  may  be  ful- 
filled, and  mankind  may  become  one  kingdom  with  God, 
our  Father." 

In  another  paper,  on  the  world's  religious  debt  to  Asia, 
Mr.  Mozoomdar  expounded  more  fully  the  essentials  of  re- 
ligion as  they  are  understood  in  India.  The  points  on  which 
he  chiefly  dwelt  were  these : 

"  The  first  gift  conferred  by  Asia  on  the  religious  world  is  in- 
sight into  nature.  The  Oriental  discovers,  contemplates,  and 
communes  with  the  Spirit  of  God,  who,  in  his  view,  fills  all 
creation.  Nature  is  not  a  mere  stimulus  to  mild  poetry ; 
nature  is  God's  abode.  He  did  not  create  it  and  then  leave 
it  to  itself,  but  He  lives  in  every  particle  of  its  great  struc- 
ture. Nature  is  not  for  man's  bodily  benefit,  but  for  his 
spiritual  emancipation  also.  It  is  not  enough  to  say  the 
heavens  are  God's  handiwork,  but  the  heaven  is  His  throne, 
the  earth  is  His  footstool.  Our  Nanak  said,  '  Behold,  the 
sun  and  moon  are  His  altar  lights  and  the  sky  is  the  sacred 
vessel  of  sacrifice  to  Him.'  In  the  vast  temple  of  nature 
Asia  beholds  the  Supreme  Spirit  reigning,  and  worships  Him 
through  the  great  objects  His  hand  has  made.  Nay,  more, 
the  Oriental  beholds  in  Nature  the  image  of  God.  « I  offer 


THE  SENTINEL  GOD— SIVA ;  AT  VELLORE,  INDIA.— The  conceptions 
associated  with  Siva,  and  the  representations  symbolizing  his  attributes,  are  of  the  most 
varied  character,  some  profoundly  philosophical  and  some  that  are  most  popular 
extremely  grotesque. 


FROM  ALL  RACES  AND  NATIONS.  723 

my  salutations  unto  the  bountiful  Lord,'  says  Yogavasista, 
*  who  is  the  inner  soul  of  all  things,  reveals  Himself  in 
heaven,  in  earth,  in  the  firmament,  in  my  own  heart,  and  in 
all  around  me.' 

"  The  second  lesson  which  Asia  teaches  is  Introspection. 
This  means  beholding  the  Spirit  of  God  within  your  own 
heart ;  it  is  spirituality. 

"  Neither  in  scripture,  nor  in  nature,  nor  in  church,  nor  in 
prophet  is  the  Spirit  of  God  realized  in  His  fullness,  but  in 
man's  soul,  and  there  alone  is  the  purpose  of  God  fully  re- 
vealed. He  who  has  found  Him  there  has  found  the  secret 
of  the  Sonship  of  man. 

" '  Believe  me  the  hour  cometh  when  ye  shall  neither  in 
this  mountain  nor  yet  in  Jerusalem  worship  the  Father. 
But  the  hour  cometh  and  now  is  when  the  true  worshipper 
shall  worship  the  Father  in  spirit  and  in  truth ;  for  the  Fa- 
ther seeketh  such  worship.  God  is  a  Spirit,  and  they  that 
worship  Him  must  worship  Him  in  spirit  and  in  truth.' 

"  Until,  therefore,  we  behold  God  as  the  Spirit  in  the  only 
spirit  realm  we  have  access  to,  namely,  our  own  souls,  how 
is  true  worship  possible  ? 

"  And  thus  Asiatic  philosophy,  whether  Hindu,  or  Gnos- 
tic, or  Sufi,  is  the  philosophy  of  the  Spirit,  the  philosophy 
of  the  Supreme  Substance,  not  of  phenomena  only.  All 
Asiatic  poetry  breathes  the  aroma  of  the  sacred  mansions, 
glows  with  the  light  of  the  dawning  heavens.  The  deepest 
music  is  spiritual  music,  the  noblest  architecture  is  raised 
by  the  hand  of  faith.  When  the  Spirit  of  God  indwells  the 
spirit  of  man,  literature,  science,  the  arts — nay,  all  ideals  and 
all  achievements  find  their  natural  source  ;  the  whole  world 
is  spiritualized  into  a  vision  of  the  Eternal. 

"The  Supreme  Spirit  manifests  Himself  in  the  soul  as 
reason,  as  love,  as  righteousness,  as  joy.  The  product  of 
reason  is  wisdom,  and  true  wisdom  is  universal.  '  In  the 
beginning  was  the  word,  and  the  word  was  with  God,  and 
the  word  was  God.'  What  is  true  in  Asia  is  true  in  Eu- 
rope ;  what  is  true  before  Christ  is  true  after  Christ,  be- 
cause Christ  is  the  spirit  of  truth.  Whoever  conceives  the 


724  REPRESENTATIVE  VOICE 'ft 

unmixed  truth  in  science  or  in  faith,  in  art  or  in  literature, 
conceives  the  imperishable  and  the  eternal. 

"  In  the  high  realms  of  that  undying  Wisdom  the  Hebrew, 
the  Hindu,  the  Mongolian,  the  Christian  are  ever  at  one,  for 
that  Wisdom  is  no  part  of  themselves,  but  the  self -revelation 
of  God.  The  Hindu  books  have  not  plagiarized  the  Bible, 
Christianity  has  not  plundered  Buddhism,  but  Universal 
Wisdom  is  like  unto  itself  everywhere.  Similarly,  Love, 
when  it  is  unselfish  and  incarnal,  has  its  counterpart  in  all 
lands  and  all  times.  The  deepest  poetry,  whether  in  Dante, 
Shakespeare,  or  Kalidaas,  is  universal.  The  Love  of  God  re- 
peats itself  century  after  century  in  the  pious  of  every  race ; 
the  Love  of  Man  makes  all  mankind  its  kindred. 

"  Asia  has  taught  the  world  to  worship.  Asia  is  the  land 
of  impulse.  Religion  there  has  meant  always  sentiment, 
joyousness,  exaltation,  excitement  in  the  love  of  God  and 
man.  All  this  impulse  the  Asiatic  throws  into  his  worship. 
With  us  Orientals  worship  is  not  a  mere  duty  ;  it  is  an  in- 
stinct, a  longing,  a  passion.  There  is  a  force  that  draws 
every  drop  of  dew  into  the  sea,  a  spark  into  the  conflagra- 
tion, a  planet  to  the  sun.  They  feel  in  the  East  a  similar 
force  of  impulse  drawing  them  into  the  depths  of  God.  That 
is  worship.  '  As  the  hart  panteth  for  the  brook  of  living 
water,  so  my  soul  panteth  for  God.'  Renunciation  has 
always  been  recognized  as  a  law  of  spiritual  progress  in 
Asia.  It  is  not  mere  temperance,  but  positive  asceticism ; 
not  mere  self-restraint,  but  self-mortification  ;  not  mere  self- 
sacrifice,  but  self -extinction ;  not  mere  morality,  but  abso- 
lute holiness.  The  passion  for  holiness  conquers  the  pas- 
sion for  self-indulgence  and  leads  to  much  voluntary  suffer- 
ing. Poverty,  homelessness,  simplicity  have  characterized 
the  East.  The  Brahmans  do  not  charge  a  fee  for  teaching 
sacred  knowledge ;  the  missionaries  of  the  Brahmo-Somaj 
never  take  a  salary. 

"  Self  conquest  or  renunciation  is  but  one  part  of  the  cul- 
ture of  the  will  into  spirituality.  The  other  is  obedience, 
self -consecration,  merging  one's  self  into  the  supreme  self  of 
God  and  the  sublime  service  of  humanity.  Self-discipline  is 


FROM  ALL  RACES  AND  NATIONS.  725 

only  a  means  to  the  higher  end  of  reconciliation  and  oneness 
with  the  will  of  God.  This  great  law  of  self-effacement, 
poverty,  suffering,  death,  is  symbolized  in  the  mystic  cross 
so  dear  to  you  and  dear  to  me.  Christians,  will  you  ever 
repudiate  Calvary?  Oneness  of  will  and  character  is  the 
sublimest  and  most  difficult  unity  with  God.  And  that 
lesson  of  unity  Asia  has  repeatedly  taught  the  world. 

"  Thus  by  insight  into  the  immanence  of  God's  Spirit  in 
nature,  thus  by  introspection  into  the  fullness  of  the  di- 
vine presence  in  the  heart,  thus  by  rapturous  and  loving 
worship,  and  thus  by  renunciation  and  self -surrender,  Asia 
has  learned  and  taught  wisdom,  practiced  and  preached 
contemplation,  laid  down  the  rules  of  worship,  and  glori- 
fied the  righteousness  of  God. 

"But  how  can  I,  within  a  brief  half-hour,  describe  the 
mystic  spirituality  of  a  great  continent,  from  which  all  re- 
ligions, all  prophets,  all  founders,  all  devotions,  and  all  laws 
of  righteous  life  have  come  ?  I  have  uttered  only  one  word 
and  leave  the  rest  to  your  spiritual  discernment.  I  know 
Asia  has  to  learn  a  great  deal  from  the  West.  I  know  that 
even  such  qualities  of  the  Asiatic  as  I  have  described  require 
to  be  assimilated  in  a  new  dispensation  of  God,  the  future 
religion  of  mankind.  Perhaps  one  day,  after  this  parliament 
has  achieved  its  success,  the  Western  and  Eastern  man  shall 
combine  to  support  each  other's  strength  and  supply  each 
other's  deficiencies.  And  then  that  blessed  synthesis  of 
human  nature  sliull  be  established  which  all  prophets  have 
foretold,  and  all  the  devout  souls  have  sighed  for. 

"  Some  years  ago,  when  I  saw  Professor  Tyndall  after  his 
great  Belfast  address,  he  spoke  to  me  thus:  'The  sympa- 
thies of  such  men  as  you  are  the  crumbs  of  comfort  left  me 
in  my  unpopularity.  Because  I  will  not  accept  religion  in 
the  hands  of  those  who  have  it  not,  they  revile  me.  I  com- 
plain not.  True  religion  once  came  from  the  East,  and  from 
the  East  it  shall  come  again.' " 

Mr.  Mozoomdar's  final  word  in  the  closing  meeting  con- 
tained the  following : 

"  The  last  public  utterance  of  my  leader,  Keshub  Chunder 


726  REPRESENTATIVE  VOICES 

Sen,  made  in  1883,  in  his  lecture  called  '  Asia's  Message  to 
Europe,'  was  this : 

"  *  Here  will  meet  the  world's  representatives,  the  foremost 
spirits,  the  most  living  hearts,  the  leading  thinkers  and  dev- 
otees of  each  church,  and  offer  united  homage  to  the  King 
of  kings  and  the  Lord  of  lords.  This  central  union  church  is 
no  Utopian  fancy,  but  a  veritable  reality,  whose  beginning 
we  see  already  among  the  nations  of  the  earth.  Already  the 
right  wing  of  each  church  is  pressing  forward,  and  the  ad- 
vanced liberals  are  drawing  near  each  other  under  the  cen- 
tral banner  of  the  new  dispensation. 

" '  Believe  me,  the  time  is  coming  when  the  more  liberal  of 
the  Catholic  and  Protestant  branches  of  Christ's  church  will 
advance  and  meet  upon  a  common  platform  and  form  a  broad 
Christian  community,  in  which  all  shall  be  identified,  in  spite 
of  all  diversities  and  differences  in  non-essential  matters  of 
faith.  So  shall  the  Baptists  and  Methodists,  Trinitarian  and 
Unitarian,  the  Ritualists  and  the  Evangelical,  all  unite  in  a 
broad  and  universal  church  organization,  loving,  honoring, 
serving  the  common  body  while  retaining  the  peculiarities 
of  each  sect.  Only  the  broad  of  each  sect  shall  for  the  pres- 
ent come  forward,  and  others  shall  follow  in  time. 

"  '  The  base  remains  where  it  is ;  the  vast  masses  at  the  foot 
of  each  church  will  yet  remain  perhaps  for  centuries  where 
they  now  are.  But  as  you  look  to  the  lofty  heights  above, 
you  will  see  all  the  bolder  spirits  and  broad  souls  of  each 
church  pressing  forward,  onward,  heavenward.  Come,  then, 
my  friends,  ye  broad-hearted  of  all  the  churches,  advance 
and  shake  hands  with  each  other  and  promote  that  spiritual 
fellowship,  that  kingdom  of  heaven  which  Christ  predicted.' 

"  These  words  were  said  in  1883,  and  in  1893  every  letter  of 
the  prophecy  has  been  fulfilled.  The  kingdom  of  heaven  is, 
to  my  mind,  a  vast  concentric  circle  with  various  circumfer- 
ences of  doctrines,  authorities,  and  organizations  from  outer 
to  inner,  from  inner  to  inner  still  until  heaven  and  earth  be- 
come one.  The  outermost  circle  is  belief  in  God  and  the  love 
of  man.  In  the  tolerance,  kindliness,  good-will,  patience, 
and  wisdom  which  have  distinguished  the  work  of  this  par- 


FROM  ALL  RACES  AND  NATIONS.   .  727 

liament  that  outermost  circle  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven  has 
been  described.  We  have  influenced  vast  numbers  of  men 
and  women  of  all  opinions,  and  the  influence  will  spread  and 
spread.  So  many  human  unities  drawn  within  the  magnetic 
circle  of  spiritual  sympathy  cannot  but  influence  and  widen 
the  various  denominations  to  which  they  belong.  In  the 
course  of  time  those  inner  circles  must  widen  also  till  the  love 
of  man  and  the  love  of  God  are  perfected  in  one  church,  one 
God,  one  salvation." 

Another  representative  of  the  Brahmo-Somaj,  Mr.  B.  B. 
Nagarkar,  of  the  highest  Brahman  caste  by  birth,  set  forth 
the  Hindu  situation,  in  respect  of  religious  and  social  reform, 
in  the  following  statement : 

"The  masses  or  the  common  people  in  India  are  very 
ignorant  and  quite  uneducated.  The  farmer,  the  laborer, 
the  workman,  and  the  artisan  does  not  know  how  to  read  or 
write ;  he  is  not  able  to  sign  his  own  name.  They  do  not 
understand  their  own  rights.  They  are  custom -bound  and 
priest-ridden.  From  times  past  the  priestly  class  has  been 
the  keeper  and  the  custodian  of  the  temple  of  knowledge  and 
they  have  sedulously  kept  the  lower  class  in  ignorance  and 
intellectual  slavery.  Social  reform  does  not  mean  the  educa- 
tion and  elevation  of  the  upper  few  only.  It  means  inspir- 
ing the  whole  country,  men  and  women,  high  and  low,  from 
every  creed  and  class,  with  right  motives  to  live  and  act. 
The  working  classes  need  to  be  taught  in  many  cases  the  very 
rudiments  of  knowledge.  Night  schools  for  them  and  day 
schools  for  their  children  are  badly  wanted. 

"Government  is  doing  much,  but  how  much  can  you 
expect  from  government,  especially  when  that  government 
is  a  foreign  one  and  therefore  has  every  time  to  think  of 
maintaining  itself  and  keeping  its  prestige  among  foreign 
people  ?  It  is  here  that  the  active  benevolence  of  such  free 
people  as  yourselves  is  needed.  In  educating  our  masses  and 
in  extending  enlightenment  to  our  women  you  can  do  much. 
Every  year  you  are  lavishing — I  shall  not  say  wasting — mints 
of  money  on  your  so-called  foreign  missions  and  missionaries 


728  •         REPRESENTATIVE  VOICES 

sent  out,  as  you  think,  to  carry  the  Bible  and  its  salvation 
to  the  '  heathen  Hindu,'  and  thus  save  him  !  Aye,  to  save 
him.  Your  poor  peasants,  your  earnest  women  and  your 
generous  millionaires  raise  millions  of  dollars  every  year  to 
be  spent  on  foreign  missions.  Little,  how  little,  do  you  ever 
dream  that  your  money  is  expended  in  spreading  abroad 
nothing  but  Christian  dogmatism  and  Christian  bigotry, 
Christian  pride  and  Christian  exclusiveness.  I  entreat  you 
to  expend  at  least  one-tenth  of  all  this  vast  fortune  on  send- 
ing out  to  our  country  unsectarian,  broad,  learned  mission- 
aries that  will  spend  all  their  efforts  and  energies  in  educat- 
ing our  women,  our  men,  and  our  masses.  Educate.  Edu- 
cate them  first,  and  they  will  understand  Christ  much  better 
than  they  would  do  by  being  "'  converted '  to  the  narrow  creed 
of  canting  Christendom. 

"  The  Brahmo-Somaj,  or  the  church  of  Indian  Theism,  has 
always  advocated  the  cause  of  reform  and  has  always  been 
the  pioneer  in  every  reform  movement.  In  laying  the  founda- 
tions of  a  new  and  reformed  society  the  Brahmo-Somaj  has 
established  every  reform  as  a  fundamental  principle  which 
must  be  accepted  before  any  one  can  consistently  belong  to 
its  organization. 

"  In  the  heart  of  the  Brahmo-Somaj  you  find  no  caste,  no 
image-worship.  We  have  abolished  early  marriage,  and 
helped  the  cause  of  widow's  marriage.  We  have  promoted 
intermarriage  ;  we  fought  for  and  obtained  a  law  from  the 
British  Government  to  legalize  marriages  between  the  repre- 
sentatives of  any  castes  and  any  creeds.  The  Brahmos  have 
been  great  educationists.  They  have  started  schools  and  col- 
leges, societies  and  seminaries,  not  only  for  boys  and  young 
men,  but  for  girls  and  young  women.  In  the  Brahmo  com- 
munity you  will  find  hundreds  of  young  ladies  who  combine 
in  their  education  the  acquirements  of  the  East  and  the  West; 
Oriental  reserve  and  modesty  with  Occidental  culture  and 
refinement.  Many  of  our  young  ladies  have  taken  degrees 
in  arts  and  sciences  in  Indian  universities.  The  religion  of 
the  Brahmo-Somaj  is  essentially  a  religion  of  life — the  liv- 
ing and  life-giving  religion  of  love  to  God  and  love  to  man. 


FROM  ALL  RACES  AND  NATIONS.  729 

Its  corner-stones  are  the  Fatherhood  of  God,  the  brotherhood 
of  man,  and  the  sisterhood  of  woman.  We  uphold  reform  in 
religion,  and  religion  in  reform.  While  we  advocate  that 
every  religion  needs  to  be  reformed,  we  also  most  firmly  hold 
that  every  reform,  in  order  that  it  may  be  a  living  and  last- 
ing power  for  good,  needs  to  be  based  on  religion." 

And  in  exposition  of  the  ideals  of  the  Brahmo-Somaj,  Mr. 
Nagarkar  said : 

"Various  faiths  have  been  pressing  their  claims  upon 
your  attention.  I  would  earnestly  ask  you  all  to  keep  in 
mind  one  prominent  fact,  that  the  essence  of  all  these  faiths 
is  one  and  the  same.  The  truth  that  lies  at  the  root  of  them 
all  is  unchanged  and  unchanging.  One  of  our  poets  has 
said,  'Where  scriptures  differ  and  faiths  disagree  a  man 
should  see  truth  reflected  in  his  own  spirit.' 

"  The  fundamental  spiritual  ideal  of  the  Brahmo-Somaj  is 
belief  in  the  existence  of  one  true  God.  It  must  be  our 
aim  to  feel  God,  to  realize  God  in  our  daily  spiritual 
communion  with  Him.  This  deep,  vivid,  real,  and  lasting 
perception  of  the  Supreme  Being  is  the  first  and  foremost 
ideal  of  the  theistic  faith. 

"  The  second  spiritual  ideal  is  the  unity  of  truth.  No  na- 
tion, no  people,  no  community  has  an  exclusive  monopoly 
of  God's  truth.  It  is  a  misnomer  to  speak  of  truth  as  Chris- 
tian truth,  Hindu  truth,  or  Mohammedan  truth.  Truth  is 
the  body  of  God.  In  His  own  providence  He  sends  it 
through  the  instrumentality  of  a  nation  or  a  people.  We 
must  always  be  ready  to  receive  the  Gospel  truth  from  what- 
ever country  and  from  whatever  people  it  may  come  to  us. 

"The  third  spiritual  ideal  is  the  harmony  of  prophets. 
We  believe  that  the  prophets  of  the  world,  —  spiritual 
teachers,  such  as  Yyas  and  Buddha,  Moses  and  Mohammed, 
Jesus  and  Zoroaster, — all  form  a  homogeneous  whole.  Each 
has  to  teach  mankind  his  own  message.  Every  prophet  was 
sent  from  above  with  a  distinct  message,  and  it  is  the  duty 
of  us  who  live  in  these  advanced  times  to  put  these  messages 
together  and  thereby  harmonize  and  unify  the  distinctive 
teachings  of  the  prophets  of  the  world.  It  would  not  do  to 


730  REPRESENTATIVE  VOICES 

accept  the  one  and  reject  all  the  others,  or  to  accept  some 
and  reject  even  a  single  one.  The  general  truths  taught  by 
these  different  prophets  are  nearly  the  same  in  their  essence ; 
but  in  the  midst  of  all  these  universal  truths  that  they 
taught,  each  has  a  distinctive  truth  to  teach,  and  it  should 
be  our  earnest  purpose  to  find  out  and  understand  this  par- 
ticular truth.  To  me  Vyas  teaches  how  to  understand  and 
apprehend  the  attributes  of  divinity.  The  Jewish  prophets 
of  the  Old  Testament  teach  the  idea  of  the  sovereignty  of 
God ;  they  speak  of  God  as  a  king,  a  monarch,  a  sovereign 
who  rules  over  the  affairs  of  mankind  as  nearly  and  as 
closely  as  an  ordinary  human  king.  Mohammed,  on  the 
other  hand,  most  emphatically  teaches  the  idea  of  the  unity 
of  God.  He  rebelled  against  the  trinitarian  doctrine  im- 
ported into  the  religion  of  Christ  through  Greek  and 
Roman  influences.  The  monotheism  of  Mohammed  is 
hard  and  unyielding,  aggressive,  and  almost  savage.  I 
have  no  sympathy  with  the  errors  or  erroneous  teach- 
ings of  Mohammedanism,  or  of  any  religion,  for  that  mat- 
ter. In  spite  of  all  such  errors,  Mohammed's  ideal  of 
the  unity  of  God  stands  supreme  and  unchallenged  in  his 
teachings. 

"  Buddha,  the  great  teacher  of  morals  and  ethics,  teaches 
in  most  sublime  strains  the  doctrine  of  Nirvana,  or  self-de- 
nial and  self-effacement.  The  principle  of  extreme  self-ab- 
negation means  nothing  more  than  the  subjugation  and  con- 
quest of  our  carnal  self. 

"  So,  also,  Christ  Jesus  of  Nazareth  taught  a  sublime  truth 
when  He  inculcated  the  noble  idea  of  the  Fatherhood  of  God. 
He  taught  many  other  truths,  but  the  Fatherhood  of  God 
stands  supreme  above  them  all.  The  brotherhood  of  man 
is  a  mere  corollary,  or  a  conclusion,  deduced  from  the  idea 
of  the  Fatherhood  of  God.  Jesus  taught  this  truth  in  the 
most  emphatic  language,  and  therefore  that  is  the  special 
message  that  He  has  brought  to  fallen  humanity.  In  this 
way,  by  means  of  an  honest  and  earnest  study  of  the  lives 
and  teachings  of  different  prophets  of  the  world,  we  can  find 
out  the  central  truth  of  each  faith.  Having  done  this,  it 


FROM  ALL  RACES  AND  NATIONS.  731 

should  be  our  highest  aim  to  harmonize  all  these  and  to 
build  up  our  spiritual  nature  on  them." 

"  The  religious  history  of  the  present  century  has  most 
clearly  shown  the  need  and  necessity  of  the  recognition  of 
some  universal  truths  in  religion.  For  the  last  several  years 
there  has  been  a  ceaseless  yearning,  a  deep  longing  after 
such  a  universal  religion.  The  present  parliament  of  relig- 
ions is  the  clearest  indication  of  this  universal  longing,  and 
whatever  the  prophets  of  despondency  or  the  champions  of 
orthodoxy  may  say  or  feel,  every  individual  who  has  the  least 
spark  of  spirituality  alive  in  him  must  feel  that  this  spirit- 
ual fellowship  that  we  have  enjoyed  cannot  but  be  produc- 
tive of  much  that  leads  toward  the  establishment  of  univer- 
sal peace  and  good- will  among  men.  Nations  will  recognize 
and  realize  the  truths  taught  by  the  universal  family  of  the 
sainted  prophets  of  the  world." 

"  We  are  ready  and  most  willing  to  receive  the  truths  of 
the  religion  of  Christ  as  truly  as  the  truths  of  the  religions 
of  other  prophets,  but  we  shall  receive  these  from  the  life 
and  teachings  of  Christ  himself,  and  not  through  the  me- 
dium of  any  church  or  the  so-called  missionary  of  Christ.  If 
Christian  missionaries  have  in  them  the  meekness  and  humil- 
ity, and  the  earnestness  of  purpose  that  Christ  lived  in  His 
own  life,  and  so  pathetically  exemplified  in  His  glorious  death 
on  the  cross,  let  our  missionary  friends  show  it  in  their  lives." 

"  We  are  wearied  of  hearing  the  dogmas  of  jChristendom 
reiterated  from  Sunday  to  Sunday  from  hundreds  of  pulpits 
in  India;  and  evangelists  and  revivalists  of  the  type  of  Dr. 
Pentecost,  who  go  to  our  country  to  sing  to  the  same  tune, 
only  add  to  the  chaos  and  confusion  presented  to  the  natives 
of  India  by  the  dry  and  cold  lives  of  hundreds  and  thou- 
sands of  his  Christian  brethren.  They  come  to  India  on  a 
brief  sojourn,  pass  through  the  country  like  birds  of  pass- 
age, moving  at  a  whirlwind  speed,  surrounded  by  Christian 
fanatics  and  dogmatists,  and  to  us  it  is  no  matter  of  wonder 
that  they  do  not  see  any  good,  or  having  seen  it  do  not  rec- 
ognize it,  in  any  of  the  ancient  or  modern  religious  systems 
of  India." 


732  REPRESENTATIVE  VOICES 

"  Mere  rhetoric  is  not  reason,  nor  is  abuse  an  argument, 
unless  it  be  the  argument  of  a  want  of  common  sense.  And 
we  are  not  disposed  to  quarrel  with  any  people  if  they  are 
inclined  to  indulge  in  these  two  instruments  generally  used 
by  those  who  have  no  truth  on  their  side.  For  these  our 
only  feeling  is  a  feeling  of  pity — unqualified,  unmodified, 
earnest  pity,  and  we  are  ready  to  ask  God  to  forgive  them, 
for  they  know  not  what  they  say. 

"  The  first  ideal  of  the  Brahmo-Somaj  is  the  ideal  of  the 
Motherhood  of  God.  I  do  not  possess  the  powers  nor  have 
I  the  time  to  dwell  at  length  on  this  most  sublime  ideal  of 
the  Church  of  Indian  Theism.  The  world  has  heard  of  God 
as  the  almighty  Creator  of  the  universe,  as  the  omnipotent 
Sovereign  that  rules  the  entire  creation,  as  the  Protector, 
the  Saviour  and  the  Judge  of  the  human  race ;  as  the 
Supreme  Being,  vivifying  and  enlivening  the  whole  of  the 
sentient  and  insentient  nature. 

"  We  humbly  believe  that  the  world  has  yet  to  understand 
and  realize,  as  it  never  has  in  the  past,  the  tender  and  loving 
relationship  that  exists  between  mankind  and  their  supreme, 
universal,  divine  Mother.  Oh,  what  a  world  of  thought 
and  feeling  is  centered  in  that  one  monosyllabic  word  ma, 
which  in  my  language  is  indicative  of  the  English  word 
mother  !  Words  cannot  describe,  hearts  cannot  conceive  of 
the  tender  and  self-sacrificing  love  of  a  human  mother.  Of 
all  human  relations  the  relation  of  mother  to  her  children 
is  the  most  sacred  and  elevating  relation.  And  yet  our  frail 
and  fickle  human  mother  is  nothing  in  comparison  with  the 
Divine  Mother  of  the  entire  humanity,  who  is  the  primal 
source  of  all  love,  of  all  mercy  and  all  purity." 

"Let  us,  therefore,  realize  that  God  is  our  mother,  the 
mother  of  mankind,  irrespective  of  the  country  or  the  clime 
in  which  men  and  women  may  be  born." 

"The  deeper  the  realization  of  the  Motherhood  of  God, 
the  greater  will  be  the  strength  and  intensity  of  our  ideas 
of  the  brotherhood  of  man  and  the  sisterhood  of  woman. 
Once  we  see  and  feel  that  God  is  our  Mother,  all  the  intri- 
cate problems  of  theology,  all  the  puzzling  quibbles  of 


FROM  ALL  RACES  AND  NATIONS.  733 

church  government,  all  the  quarrels  and  wranglings  of  the 
so-called  religious  world  will  be  solved  and  settled.  We  of 
the  Brahmo-Somaj  family  hold  that  a  vivid  realization  of 
the  Motherhood  of  God  is  the  only  solution  of  the  intricate 
problems  and  differences  in  the  religious  world." 

BUDDHISM. 

The  leading  Buddhist  representative,  H.  Dharmapala,  of 
Ceylon,  a  General  Secretary  and  editor  engaged  in  a  great 
movement  of  reunion  and  reform  among  Buddhists,  was  one 
of  the  most  interesting  personages  of  the  parliament.  Not 
yet  thirty  years  of  age,  a  slender  and  refined  figure,  of 
gentle  bearing,  a  broad  brow,  serene  face,  clear  dark  eyes, 
black  curly  locks,  and  enrobed  in  spotless  white,  he  was  all 
the  more  an  effective  from  being  an  unassuming  apostle. 
Entertained  by  a  family  of  wealth,  and  socially  acquitting 
himself  as  a  singularly  cultivated  gentleman,  he  quietly 
eschewed  every  luxury,  taking  only  the  simplest  fare  and 
wrapping  himself  in  a  robe  on  the  chamber  floor  at  night. 
His  response  to  welcome  in  the  opening  meeting  was  as 
follows : 

"  Friends, — I  bring  to  you  the  good  wishes  of  four  hundred 
and  seventy-five  millions  of  Buddhists,  the  blessings  and 
peace  of  the  religious  founder  of  that  system  which  has 
prevailed  so  many  centuries  in  Asia,  which  has  made  Asia 
mild,  and  which  is  to-day,  in  its  twenty-fourth  century  of 
existence,  the  prevailing  religion  of  those  countries.  I  have 
sacrificed  the  greatest  of  all  work  to  attend  this  Parliament; 
I  have  left  the  work  of  consolidating  the  different  Buddh- 
ist countries,  which  is  the  most  important  work  in  the  his- 
tory of  modern  Buddhism.  When  I  read  the  programme 
of  this  Parliament  of  Religions  I  saw  it  was  simply  the  re- 
echo of  a  great  consummation  which  the  Indian  Buddhists 
accomplished  twenty-four  centuries  ago. 

"  At  that  time  Asoka,  the  great  emperor,  held  a  council,  in 
the  city  of  Patna,  of  a  thousand  scholars,  which  was  in  ses- 
sion for  seven  months.  The  proceedings  were  epitomized 
and  carved  on  rock  and  scattered  all  over  the  Indian  penin- 


-    734  REPRESENTATIVE  VOICES 

sula  and  the  then  known  globe.  After  the  consummation 
of  that  programme  the  great  Emperor  sent  the  gentle  teach- 
ers, the  mild  disciples  of  Buddha,  in  the  garb  that  you  see 
on  this  platform,  to  instruct  the  world.  In  that  plain  garb 
they  went  across  the  deep  rivers,  across  the  Himalayas,  to 
the  plains  of  Mongolia  and  of  China  and  to  the  far-off 
beautiful  isles,  the  empire  of  the  rising  sun  ;  and  the  influ- 
ence of  that  congress,  held  twenty-one  centuries  ago,  is 
to-day  a  living  power,  for  you  everywhere  see  mildness  in 
Asia. 

"  Go  to  any  Buddhist  country,  and  where  do  you  find  such 
healthy  compassion  and  tolerance  as  you  find  there  ?  Go  to 
Japan,  and  what  do  you  see  ?  The  noblest  lessons  of  toler- 
ance and  gentleness.  Go  to  any  of  the  Buddhist  countries 
and  you  will  see  the  carrying  out  of  the  programme  adopted 
at  the  congress  called  by  the  Emperor  Asoka. 

"  Why  do  I  come  here  to-day  ?  Because  I  find  in  this  new 
city,  in  this  land  of  freedom,  the  very  place  where  that  pro- 
gramme can  also  be  carried  out.  Yes,  friends,  if  you  are 
serious,  if  you  are  unselfish,  if  you  are  altruistic,  this  pro- 
gramme can  be  carried  out  and  the  twentieth  century  will 
see  the  teachings  of  the  meek  and  lowly  Jesus  accomplished. 

"  I  hope  in  this  great  city,  the  youngest  of  all  cities,  this 
programme  will  be  carried  out.  And  I  hope  the  noble  les- 
sons of  tolerance  learned  in  this  majestic  assembly  will  result 
in  the  dawning  of  universal  peace  which  will  last  for  twenty 
centuries  more." 

In  speaking  on  the  world's  debt  to  Buddha,  Mr.  Dharma- 
pala  took  for  a  text  these  words  of  Prof.  Max  Miiller : 

"If  I  were  asked  under  what  sky  the  human  mind  has 
most  fully  developed  some  of  its  choicest  gifts,  has  most 
deeply  pondered  on  the  greatest  problems  of  life,  and  has 
found  solutions  of  them  which  well  deserve  the  attention  of 
those  who  have  studied  Plato  and  Kant,  I  should  point  to 
India.  If  I  were  to  ask  myself  from  what  literature  we  here 
in  Europe  may  draw  that  corrective  which  is  most  wanted  in 
order  to  make  our  inner  life  more  perfect,  more  comprehen- 
sive, more  universal,  and  in  fact  more  truly  human  a  life,  not 


FROM  ALL  RACES  AND  NATIONS.  735 

for  this  life  only,  but  for  a  transfigured  and  eternal  life,  again 
I  should  point  to  India." 

The  most  telling  points  of  a  lucid  and  powerful  exposition 
which  he  made,  were  as  follows  : 

"  Ancient  India,  twenty-five  centuries  ago,  was  the  scene 
of  a  religious  revolution,  the  greatest  the  world  has  ever  seen. 
Indian  society  at  that  time  had  two  large  and  distinguished 
religious  foundations— the  Sramanas  and  the  Brahmanas. 
Famous  teachers  arose  and,  with  their  disciples,  went  among 
the  people  preaching  and  converting  them  to  their  respective 
views.  The  air  was  full  of  a  coming  spiritual  struggle. 
Hundreds  of  the  most  scholarly  young  men  of  noble  families 
were  leaving  their  homes  in  quest  of  truth ;  ascetics  were 
undergoing  the  severest  mortifications  to  discover  the  pan- 
acea for  the  evils  of  suffering.  Young  dialecticians  were 
wandering  from  place  to  place  engaged  in  disputations,  some 
advocating  skepticism  as  the  best  weapon  to  fight  against 
the  realistic  doctrines  of  the  day,  some  a  sort  of  life  which 
was  the  nearest  way  to  getting  rid  of  existence,  some  denying 
a  future  life.  It  was  a  time  deep  and  many-sided  in  intel- 
lectual movements,  which  extended  from  the  Circles  of 
Brahmanical  thinkers  far  into  the  people  at  large.  And  in 
the  words  of  Dr.  Oldenberg :  '  When  the  dialectic  of  skepti- 
cism began  to  attack  moral  ideas,  when  a  painful  longing 
for  deliverance  from  the  burden  of  being  was  met  by  the 
first  signs  of  moral  decay,  Buddha  appeared.' 

"The  irresistible  charm  which  influences  the  thinking 
world  to  study  Buddhism  is  the  unparalleled  life  of  its  glori- 
fied founder.  His  teaching  has  found  favor  with  every  one 
who  has  studied  his  history.  His  doctrines  are  the  embodi- 
ment of  universal  love. 

" '  Infinite  is  the  wisdom  of  the  Buddha.  Boundless  is  the 
love  of  Buddha  to  all  that  live.'  So  say  the  Buddhist  scrip- 
tures. Buddha  is  called  the  Mahamah  Karumika,  which 
means  the  all-merciful  Lord  who  has  compassion  on  all  that 
live.  To  the  human  mind  Buddha's  wisdom  and  mercy 
is  incomprehensible.  The  foremost  and  greatest  of  his 
disciples,  the  blessed  Sariputta,  even  he  has  acknowl 


736  REPRESENTATIVE  VOICES 

edged  that  he  could  not  gauge  the  Buddha's  wisdom  and 
mercy. 

"Already  the  thinking  minds  of  Europe  and  America 
have  offered  their  tribute  of  admiration  to  his  divine  memory. 

'  We  must,'  says  Professor  Barth,  *  set  clearly  before  us 
the  admirable  figure  which  detaches  itself  from  the  story, 
that  finished  model  of  calm  and  sweet  majesty,  of  infinite 
tenderness  for  all  that  breathes,  and  compassion  for  all  that 
suffers,  of  perfect  moral  freedom  and  exemption  from  every 
prejudice.  It  was  to  save  others  that  he  who  was  one  day  to 
be  Gautama,  disdained  to  tread  sooner  in  the  way  of  Nirvana, 
and  that  he  chose  to  become  Buddha  at  the  cost  of  countless 
numbers  of  supplementary  existences.' 

"  'The  singular  force,'  says  Professor  Bloomfield,  'of  the 
great  teacher's  personality  is  unquestioned.  The  sweetness 
of  his  character  and  the  majesty  of  his  personality  stand 
forth  upon  the  background  of  India's  religious  history  with 
a  degree  of  vividness  which  is  strongly  enhanced  by  the  ab- 
sence of  other  religions  of  any  great  importance.'  And  even 
Bartholemy  St.  Hilaire,  misjudging  Buddhism  as  he  does, 
says  :  '  I  do  not  hesitate  to  say  that  there  is  not  among  the 
founders  of  religions  a  figure  either  more  pure  or  more  touch- 
ing than  that  of  Buddha.  He  is  the  perfect  model  of  all  the 
virtues  he  preaches ;  his  self-abnegation,  his  charity,  his 
unalterable  sweetness  of  disposition  do  not  fail  him  for  one 
instant.'  That  poet  of  Buddhism — the  sweet  singer  of  the 
'  Light  of  Asia,'  Sir  Edwin  Arnold,  thus  estimates  the  place 
of  Buddhism  and  Buddha  in  history :  '  In  point  of  age  most 
other  creeds  are  youthful  compared  with  this  venerable  re- 
ligion, which  has  in  it  the  eternity  of  a  universal  hope,  the 
immortality  of  a  boundless  love,  an  indestructible  element 
of  faith  in  the  final  good  and  the  proudest  assertion  ever 
made  of  human  freedom,' 

"The  tendency  of  enlightened  thought  to-day,  all  the 
world  over,  is  not  toward  theology,  but  philosophy  and  psy- 
chology. The  bark  of  theological  dualism  is  drifting  into 
danger.  The  fundamental  principles  of  evolution  and  mon- 
ism are  being  accepted  by  the  thoughtful.  The  crude  con- 


FROM  ALL  RACES  AND  NATIONS.  737 

ceptions  of  anthropomorphic  deism  are  being  relegated  into 
the  limbo  of  oblivion.  Lip  service  of  prayer  is  giving  place 
to  a  life  of  altruism.  Personal  self-sacrifice  is  gaining  the 
place  of  a  vicarious  sacrifice.  History  is  repeating  itself. 
Twenty-five  centuries  ago  India  witnessed  an  intellectual  and 
religious  revolution  which  culminated  in  the  overthrow  of 
monotheism  and  priestly  selfishness,  and  the  establishment 
of  a  synthetic  religion,  a  system  of  life  and  thought  which 
was  appropriately  called  DJiamma — Philosophical  Religion. 
All  that  was  good  was  collected  from  every  source  and  em- 
bodied therein,  and  all  that  was  bad  discarded.  The  grand 
personality  who  promulgated  the  Synthetic  Religion  is  known 
as  Buddha.  For  forty  years  he  lived  a  life  of  absolute  purity, 
and  taught  a  system  of  life  and  thought,  practical,  simple, 
yet  philosophical,  which  makes  man — the  active,  intelligent, 
compassionate,  and  unselfish  man — to  realize  the  fruits  of 
holiness  in  this  life  on  this  earth.  The  dream  of  the  vision- 
ary, the  hope  of  the  theologian,  was  brought  into  objective 
reality.  Speculation  in  the  domain  of  false  philosophy  and 
theology  ceased,  and  active  altruism  reigned  supreme.  This 
was  accomplished  through  Sakya  Muni.  To-day  the  Chris- 
tian world  is  going  through  the  same  process." 

"Five  hundred  and  forty- three  years  before  the  birth  of 
Christ,  the  great  being  was  born  in  the  Royal  Lumbini 
Gardens  in  the  city  of  Kapilavastu.  His  mother  was  Maya, 
the  Queen  of  Raja  Sudohodana  of  the  Solar  Race  of  India. 
The  story  of  his  conception  and  birth,  and  the  details  of  his 
life  up  to  the  twenty-ninth  year  of  his  age,  his  great  renunci- 
ation, his  ascetic  life,  and  his  enlightenment  under  the  great 
Bo  tree  at  Buddha  Gaya,  in  Middle  India,  are  embodied  in 
that  incomparable. epic,  'The  Light  of  Asia,'  by  Sir  Edwin 
Arnold.  I  recommend  that  beautiful  poem  to  all  who  appre- 
ciate a  life  of  holiness  and  purity. 

"  Six  centuries  before  Jesus  of  Nazareth  walked  over  the 
plains  of  Galilee  preaching  a  life  of  holiness  and  purity,  the 
Tathagata  Buddha,  the  enlightened  Messiah  of  the  World, 
with  his  retinue  of  Arhats,  or  holy  men,  traversed  the  whole 
peninsula  of  India  with  the  message  of  peace  and  holiness  to 


738  REPRESENTATIVE  VOICES 

the  sin-burdened  world.  Heart-stirring  were  the  words  he 
spoke  to  the  first  five  disciples  at  the  Deer  Park,  the  hermit- 
age of  Saints  at  Benares. 

'  Open  ye  your  ears,  O  Bhikshus,  deliverance  from  death 
is  found.  I  teach  you,  I  preach  the  Law.  If  ye  walk  accord- 
ing to  my  teaching,  ye  shall  be  partakers  in  a  short  time  of 
that  for  which  sons  of  noble  families  leave  their  homes,  and 
go  to  homelessness — the  highest  end  of  religious  effort :  ye 
shall  even  in  this  present  life  apprehend  the  truth  itself  and 
see  it  face  to  face.'  And  then  the  exalted  Buddha  spoke 
thus :  '  There  are  two  extremes,  O  Bhikshus,  which  the  truth- 
seeker  ought  not  to  follow :  the  one  a  life  of  sensualism, 
which  is  low,  ignoble,  vulgar,  unworthy,  and  unprofitable;  the 
other  the  pessimistic  life  of  extreme  asceticism,  which  is  pain- 
ful, unworthy,  and  unprofitable.  There  is  a  Middle  Path, 
discovered  by  the  Tathagata — the  Messiah — a  path  which 
opens  the  eyes  and  bestows  understanding,  which  leads  to 
peace  of  mind,  to  the  higher  wisdom,  to  full  enlightenment, 
to  eternal  peace.  This  Middle  Path,  which  the  Tathagata 
has  discovered,  is  the  noble  Eight-fold  Path,  viz. :  Right 
Knowledge — the  perception  of  the  Law  of  Cause  and  Effect, 
Right  Thinking,  Right  Speech,  Right  Action,  -Right  Profes- 
sion, Right  Exertion,  Right  Mindfulness,  Right  Contempla- 
tion. This  is  the  Middle  Path  which  the  Tathagata 
has  discovered,  and  it  is  the  path  which  opens  the  eyes, 
bestows  understanding,  which  leads  to  peace  of  mind,  to 
the  higher  wisdom,  to  perfect  enlightenment,  to  eternal 
peace.' 

"  This  is  the  foundation  of  the  Kingdom  of  Righteousness, 
and  from  that  centre  at  Benares,  this  message  of  peace  and 
love  was  sent  abroad  to  all  humanity :  '  Go  ye,  O  Bhikshus, 
and  wander  forth  for  the  gain  of  the  many,  in  compassion 
for  the  world,  for  the  good,  for  the  gain,  for  the  welfare  of 
gods  and  men.  Proclaim,  O  Bhikshus,  the  doctrine  glorious. 
Preach  ye  a  life  of  holiness,  perfect  and  pure.  Go,  then, 
through  every  country,  convert  those  not  converted.  Go, 
therefore,  each  one  travelling  alone  filled  with  compassion. 
Go,  rescue  and  receive.  Proclaim  that  a  blessed  Buddha 


FROM  ALL  RACES  AND  NATIONS.  739 

has  appeared  in  the  world,  and  that  he  is  preaching  the  Law 
of  Holiness.' 

"  The  essence  of  the  vast  teachings  of  the  Buddha  is  : 

The  entire  obliteration  of  all  that  is  evil; 

The  perfect  consummation  of  all  that  is  good  and  pure; 

The  complete  purification  of  the  mind; 

The  wisdom  of  the  ages  embodied  in  the  Three  Pitakas 
— the  Sutta,  Vinaya,  Abhidhamma,  comprising  84,000  dis- 
courses, all  delivered  by  Buddha  during  his  ministry  of 
forty-five  years. 

"  In  the  religion  of  Buddha  is  found  a  comprehensive 
system  of  ethics,  and  a  transcendental  metaphysic  embrac- 
ing a  sublime  psychology.  To  the  simple-minded  it  offers 
a  code  of  morality,  to  the  earnest  student  a  system  of  pure 
thought.  But  the  basic  doctrine  is  the  self -purification  of 
man. 

"  Spiritual  progress  is  impossible  for  him  who  does  not 
lead  a  life  of  purity  and  compassion.  The  superstructure 
has  to  be  built  on  the  basis  of  a  pure  life.  So  long  as  one 
is  fettered  by  selfishness,  passion,  prejudice,  fear,  so  long 
the  doors  of  his  higher  nature  are  closed  against  the  truth. 
The  rays  of  the  sunlight  of  truth  enter  the  mind  of  him 
who  is  fearless  to  examine  truth,  who  is  free  from  prejudice, 
who  is  not  tied  by  the  sensual  passion,  and  who  has  reason- 
ing faculties  to  think.  The  strongest  emphasis  has  been 
put  by  Buddha  on  the  supreme  importance  of  having  an 
unprejudiced  mind  before  we  start  on  the  road  of  investiga- 
tion of  truth.  The  least  attachment  of  the  mind  to  precon- 
ceived ideas  is  a  positive  hindrance  to  the  acceptance  of 
truth.  Prejudice,  passion,  fear  of  expression  of  one's  con- 
victions, and  ignorance  are  the  four  biases  that  have  to  be 
sacrificed  at  the  threshold.  To  be  born  as  a  human  being 
is  a  glorious  privilege.  Man's  dignity  consists  in  his  capa- 
bility to  reason  and  think,  and  to  live  up  to  the  highest 
ideal  of  pure  life,  of  calm  thought,  of  wisdom,  without  ex- 
traneous interventions.  Buddha  says  that  a  man  can  enjoy 
in  this  life  a  glorious  existence,  a  life  of  individual  freedom, 
of  fearlessness  and  compassionateness.  This  dignified  ideal 


740  REPRESENTATIVE  VOICES 

of  manhood  may  be  attained  by  the  humblest,  and  this  con- 
summation raises  him  above  wealth  and  royalty.  '  He  that 
is  compassionate  and  observes  the  law  is  my  disciple.' 

"  Human  brotherhood  forms  the  fundamental  teaching  of 
Buddha — universal  love  and  sympathy  with  all  mankind 
and  with  animal  life.  Every  one  is  enjoined  to  love  all 
beings  as  a  mother  loves  her  only  child  and  takes  care 
of  it  even  at  the  risk  of  her  life.  The  realization  of  the 
ideal  of  brotherhood  is  obtained  when  the  first  stage  of 
holiness  is  realized.  The  idea  of  separation  is  destroyed 
and  the  oneness  of  life  is  recognized.  There  is  no  pessim- 
ism in  the  teachings  of  Buddha,  for  he  strictly  enjoins  on 
his  disciples  not  even  to  suggest  to  others  that  life  is  not 
worth  living.  On  the  contrary,  the  usefulness  of  life  is  em- 
phasized for  the  sake  of  doing  good  to  self  and  humanity. 

"  From  the  fetich -worshipping  savage  to  the  highest  type 
of  humanity  man  naturally  yearns  for  something  higher. 
And  it  is  for  this  reason  that  Buddha  inculcated  the  neces- 
sity for  self-reliance  and  independent  thought.  To  guide 
humanity  in  the  right  path,  a  Tathagata  (Messiah)  appears 
from  time  to  time. 

"  In  the  sense  of  a  supreme  Creator,  Buddha  says  that 
there  is  no  such  being,  accepting  the  doctrine  of  evolution 
as  the  only  true  one,  with  its  corollary,  the  law  of  cause  and 
effect.  He  condemns  the  idea  of  a  Creator,  but  the  supreme 
God  of  the  Brahmans  and  minor  gods  are  accepted.  But 
they  are  subject  to  the  law  of  cause  and  effect.  This 
supreme  God  is  all-love,  all-merciful,  all-gentle,  and  looks 
upon  all  beings  with  equanimity.  Buddha  teaches  men  to 
practice  these  four  supreme  virtues.  But  there  is  no  differ- 
ence between  the  perfect  man  and  this  supreme  God  of  the 
present  world. 

"  The  teachings  of  the  Buddha  on  evolution  are  clear  and 
expansive.  We  are  asked  to  look  upon  the  cosmos  '  as  a 
continuous  process  unfolding  itself  in  regular  order  in  obe- 
dience to  natural  laws.  We  see  in  it  all  not  a  yawning 
chaos  restrained  by  the  constant  interference  from  without 
of  a  wise  and  beneficent  external  power,  but  a  vast  aggre- 


FROM  ALL  RACES  AND  NATIONS.  741 

gate  of  original  elements  perpetually  working  out  their 
own  fresh  redistribution  in  accordance  with  their  own 
inherent  energies.  He  regards  the  cosmos  as  an  almost 
infinite  collection  of  material,  animated  by  an  almost  infi- 
nite sum  total  of  energy,'  which  is  called  Akasa.  I  have 
used  the  above  definition  of  evolution  as  given  by  Grant 
Allen  in  his  « Life  of  Darwin,'  as  it  beautifully  expresses 
the  generalized  idea  of  Buddhism.  We  do  not  postulate 
that  man's  evolution  began  from  the  protoplasmic  stage; 
but  we  are  asked  not  to  speculate  on  the  origin  of  life,  on 
the  origin  of  the  law  of  cause  and  effect,  etc.  So  far  as  this 
great  law  is  concerned  we  say  that  it  controls  the  phenom- 
ena of  human  life  as  well  as  those  of  external  nature,  the 
whole  knowable  universe  forms  one  undivided  whole. 

"Buddha  promulgated  his  system  of  philosophy  after 
having  studied  all  religions.  And  in  the  Brahma- jala  sutta 
sixty-two  creeds  are  discussed.  In  the  Kalama-sutta,  Bud- 
dha says : 

'  Do  not  believe  in  what  ye  have  heard.  Do  not  believe 
in  traditions  because  they  have  been  handed  down  for 
many  generations.  Do  not  believe  in  anything  because  it 
is  renowned  and  spoken  of  by  many.  Do  not  believe  merely 
because  the  written  statement  of  some  old  sage  is  produced. 
Do  not  believe  in  conjectures.  Do  not  believe  in  that  as 
truth  to  which  you  have  become  attached  by  habit.  Do 
not  believe  merely  on  the  authority  of  your  teachers  and 
elders.  Often  observation  and  analysis,  when  the  result 
agrees  with  reason,  is  conducive  to  the  good  and  gain  of 
one  and  all.  Accept  and  live  up  to  it.' 

"  To  the  ordinary  householder,  whose  highest  happiness 
consists  in  being  wealthy  here  and  in  heaven  hereafter, 
Buddha  inculcated  a  simple  code  of  morality.  The  student 
of  Buddha's  religion  abstains  from  destroying  life;  lays 
aside  the  club  and  weapon.  He  is  modest  and  full  of  pity. 
He  is  compassionate  to  all  creatures  that  have  life.  He  ab- 
stains from  theft,  and  he  passes  his  life  in  honesty  and  pur- 
ity of  heart.  He  lives  a  life  of  chastity  and  purity.  He  ab- 
stains from  falsehood  and  injures  not  his  fellow  man  by  de- 


742  REPRESENTATIVE  VOICES 

ceit.  Putting  away  slander  he  abstains  from  calumny.  Ho 
is  a  peacemaker,  a  speaker  of  words  that  make  for  peace. 
Whatever  word  is  humane,  pleasant  to  the  ear,  lovely,  reach- 
ing to  the  heart,  such  are  the  words  he  speaks.  He  abstains 
from  harsh  language.  He  abstains  from  foolish  talk,  he  ab- 
stains from  intoxicants  and  stupefying  drugs. 

"  The  advanced  student  of  the  religion  of  Buddha,  when 
he  has  faith  in  him,  thinks, — '  Full  of  hindrances  is  household 
life,  a  path  defiled  by  passion.  Pure  as  the  air  is  the  life  of 
him  who  has  renounced  all  worldly  things.  How  difficult  it 
is  for  the  man  who  dwells  at  home  to  live  the  higher  life  in 
all  its  fullness,  in  all  its  purity,  in  all  its  freedom.  Let  me 
then  cut  off  my  hair  and  beard ;  let  me  clothe  myself  in 
orange-colored  robes  ;  let  me  go  forth  from  a  household  life 
into  the  homeless  state.'  Then  before  long,  forsaking  his 
portion  of  wealth,  forsaking  his  circle  of  relatives,  he  cuts 
off  his  hair  and  beard,  he  clothes  himself  in  the  orange-col- 
ored robes,  and  he  goes  into  the  homeless  state,  and  then  he 
passes  a  life  of  self-restraint,  according  to  the  rules  of  the 
order  of  the  blessed  one.  Uprightness  is  his  object,  and  he 
sees  danger  in  the  least  of  those  things  he  should  avoid. 
He  encompasses  himself  with  holiness  in  word  and  deed. 
He  sustains  his  life  by  means  that  are  quite  pure.  Good  is 
his  conduct,  guarded  the  door  of  his  senses,  mindful  and 
self-possessed,  he  is  altogether  happy. 

"  The  student  of  pure  religion  abstains  from  earning  a 
livelihood  by  the  practice  of  low  and  lying  arts,  viz.,  all  div- 
ination, interpretation  of  dreams,  palmistry,  astrology,  crys- 
tal prophesying,  and  charms  of  all  sorts.  Buddha  also  says : 

'  Just  as  a  mighty  trumpeter  makes  himself  heard  in  all 
the  four  directions  without  difficulty,  even  so  of  all  things 
that  have  life,  there  is  not  one  that  the  student  passes  by  or 
leaves  aside,  but  regards  them  all  with  mind  set  free  and 
deep-felt  pity,  sympathy,  and  equanimity.  He  lets  his  mind 
pervade  the  whole  world  with  thoughts  of  love.' 

"To  realize  the  unseen  is  the  goal  of  the  student  of 
Buddha's  teachings,  and  such  a  one  has  to  lead  an  abso- 
lutely pure  life.  Buddha  says  : 


FROM  ALL  RACES  AND  NATIONS.  743 

'  Let  him  fulfill  all  righteousness,  let  him  be  devoted  to 
that  quietude  of  heart  which  springs  from  within,  let  him  not 
drive  back  the  ecstasy  of  contemplation,  let  him  look  through 
things,  let  him  be  much  alone.  Fulfill  all  righteousness  for 
the  sake  of  the  living,  and  for  the  sake  of  the  blessed  ones 
that  are  dead  and  gone.' 

"  Thought  -  transference,  thought-reading,  clairaudience, 
clairvoyance,  projection  of  the  sub-conscious  self,  and  all  the 
higher  branches  of  psychical  science  that  first  now  engage 
the  thoughtful  attention  of  psychical  researchers,  are  within 
the  reach  of  him  who  fulfills  all  righteousness,  who  is  de- 
voted to  solitude  and  to  contemplation. 

"Charity,  observance  of  moral  rules,  purifying  the  mind, 
making  others  participate  in  the  good  work  that  one  is  do- 
ing, co-operating  with  others  in  doing  good,  nursing  the 
sick,  giving  gifts  to  the  deserving  ones,  hearing  all  that  is 
good  and  beautiful,  making  others  learn  the  rules  of  moral- 
ity, accepting  the  laws  of  cause  and  effect,  are  the  common 
appanage  of  all  good  men. 

"Prohibited  employments  include  slave-dealing,  sale  of 
weapons  of  warfare,  sale  of  poisons,  sale  of  intoxicants,  sale 
of  flesh, — all  deemed  the  lowest  of  professions. 

"  The  five  kinds  of  wealth  are :  Faith,  pure  life,  receptiv- 
ity of  the  mind  to  all  that  is  good  and  beautiful,  liberality, 
and  wisdom.  Those  who  possess  these  five  kinds  of  wealth 
in  their  past  incarnations  are  influenced  by  the  teachings  of 
Buddha. 

"  Besides  these,  Buddha  says  in  his  universal  precepts : 
He  who  is  faithful  and  leads  the  life  of  a  householder,  and 
possesses  the  following  four  (Dhammas)  virtues :  Truth,  jus- 
tice, firmness,  and  liberality,  such  a  one  does  not  grieve  when 
passing  away.  Pray  ask  other  teachers  and  philosophers 
far  and  wide  whether  there  is  found  anything  greater  than 
truth,  self-restraint,  liberality,  and  forbearance. 

"The  wise,  virtuous,  prudent,  intelligent,  teachable,  do- 
cile man  will  become  eminent.  The  persevering,  diligent 
man,  unshaken  in  adversity  and  of  inflexible  determination, 
will  become  eminent.  The  well-informed,  friendly-disposed, 


744  REPRESENTATIVE  VOICES 

prudent-speaking,  generous-minded,  self -controlled,  self-pos- 
sessed man  will  become  eminent. 

"  In  this  world  generosity,  mildness  of  speech,  public 
spirit,  and  courteous  behavior  are  worthy  of  respect  un- 
der all  circumstances,  and  will  be  valuable  in  all  places.  If 
these  be  not  possessed,  the  mother  will  receive  neither  honor 
nor  support  from  the  son,  neither  will  the  father  receive  re- 
spect nor  honor.  Buddha  also  says  : 

'  Know  that  from  time  to  time  a  Tathagata  is  born  into 
the  world,  fully  enlightened,  blessed  and  worthy,  abounding 
in  wisdom  and  goodness,  happy  with  knowledge  of  the 
world,  unsurpassed  as  a  guide  to  erring  mortals,  a  teacher 
of  Gods  and  men,  a  blessed  Buddha.  He  by  himself  thor- 
oughly understands  and  sees,  as  it  were  face  to  face,  this 
universe,  the  world  below  with  all  its  spirits  and  the  worlds 
above,  and  all  creatures,  all  religious  teachers,  Gods  and 
men,  and  he  then  makes  his  knowledge  known  to  others. 
The  truth  doth  he  proclaim,  both  in  its  letter  and  its  spirit, 
lovely  in  its  origin,  lovely  in  its  progress,  lovely  in  its  con- 
summation ;  the  higher  life  doth  he  proclaim  in  all  its  pur- 
ity and  in  all  its  perfectness.' 

"Among  attributes  peculiar  to  Buddha  are  these  : 

'He  is  absolutely  free  from  all  passions,  commits  no  evil 
even  in  secrecy,  and  is  the  embodiment  of  perfection.  He  is 
above  doing  anything  wrong.  By  self -introspection  he  has 
reached  the  state  of  supreme  enlightenment.  By  means  of 
his  divine  eye  he  looks  back  to  the  remotest  past  and  future. 
Knows  the  way  of  emancipation,  and  is  accomplished  in  the 
three  great  branches  of  divine  knowledge,  and  has  gained 
perfect  wisdom.  He  is  in  possession  of  all  psychic  powers, 
always  willing  to  listen,  full  of  energy,  wisdom,  and  dhyana. 
He  has  realized  eternal  peace  and  walks  in  the  perfect  path 
of  virtue.  He  is  incomparable  in  purity  and  holiness.  He 
knows  three  states  of  existence.  He  is  the  supremely  en- 
lightened teacher  and  the  perfect  embodiment  of  all  the 
virtues  he  teaches.  The  two  characteristics  of  Buddha  are 
wisdom  and  compassion.' 

"  Buddha  also  gave  a  warning  to  his  followers  when  he  said: 


FROM  ALL  RACES  AND  NATIONS.  745 

6  He  who  is  not  generous,  who  is  fond  of  sensuality,  who 
is  disturbed  at  heart,  who  is  of  uneven  mind,  who  is  not 
reflective,  who  is  not  of  calm  mind,  who  is  discontented  at 
heart,  who  has  no  control  over  his  senses — such  a  disciple  is 
far  from  me,  though  he  is  in  body  near  me.' 

u  The  attainment  of  salvation  is  by  the  perfection  of  self 
through  charity,  purity,  self-sacrifice,  self-knowledge,  daunt- 
less energy,  patience,  truth,  resolution,  love,  and  equanimity. 
The  last  words  of  Buddha  were  these : 

*  Be  ye  lamps  unto  yourselves ;  be  ye  a  refuge  to  your- 
selves ;  betake  yourself  to  an  eternal  voyage ;  hold  fast  to 
the  truth  as  a  lamp ;  hold  fast  as  a  refuge  to  the  truth ; 
look  not  for  refuge  to  any  one  besides  yourselves.    Learn 
ye,  then,  that  knowledge  which  I  have  attained  and  have 
declared  unto  you  and  walk  ye  in  it,  practice  and  increase 
in  order  that  the  path  of  holiness  may  last  and  long  endure 
for  the  blessing  of  many  people,  to  the  relief  of  the  world, 
to  the  welfare,  the  blessing,  the  joy  of  Gods  and  men.' 

"Actuated  by  the  spirit  of  compassion,  the  disciples  of 
Buddha  have  ever  been  in  the  forefront  of  missionary  prop- 
aganda. The  whole  of  Asia  was  brought  under  the  influ- 
ence of  the  Buddha's  law.  Never  was  the  religion  propa- 
gated by  force,  not  a  drop  of  blood  has  ever  been  spilt  in 
the  name  of  Buddha.  The  shrines  of  Sakya  Muni  are  stain- 
less. The  following  story  is  interesting,  as  it  shows  the 
nature  of  the  Buddhist  missionaries.  Punna,  the  Bhikshu, 
before  he  was  sent  on  his  mission  to  preach  to  the  people  of 
Sunaparanta  was  warned  by  Buddha  in  the  following  man- 
ner :  '  The  people  of  Sunaparanta  are  exceedingly  violent. 
If  they  revile,  what  will  you  do  2 ' 

'  I  will  make  no  reply.' 

*  And  if  they  strike  you  ? ' 

'  I  will  not  strike  in  return.' 

'  And  if  they  try  to  kill  you  ? ' 

'  Death  is  no  evil  in  itself,  many  even  desire  it,  to  escape 
from  the  vanities  of  life ;  but  I  shall  take  no  steps  either  to 
hasten  or  delay  the  time  of  my  departure.' 

"  Two  thousand  one  hundred  years  ago  the  whole  of  Asia 


746  REPRESENTATIVE  VOICES 

came  under  the  influences  of  the  sceptre  of  one  emperor  and 
he  was  truly  called  Asoka,  the  delight  of  the  gods.  His 
glory  was  to  spread  the  teachings  of  the  Buddha  through- 
out the  world  by  the  force  of  love,  and  indeed  nobody  could 
say  that  he  had  failed.  His  only  son  and  daughter  were 
made  apostles  of  the  gentle  creed  ;  and,  clad  in  the  orange- 
colored  robes,  they  went  to  Ceylon,  converted  the  king  and 
established  Buddhism  there.  For  the  first  time  in  the  his- 
tory of  civilization  the  brotherhood  of  Humanity  is  recog- 
nized, different  nations  accept  one  living  truth,  virtue  is 
enthroned.  It  was  a  proud  achievement,  unprecedented  in 
history  since  the  dawn  of  civilization.  Pure  religion  recog- 
nizing no  Deity  finds  welcome  everywhere.  There  is  a 
grandeur  inherent  in  it,  for  it  does  not  want  to  appeal  to 
the  selfishness  of  man.  When  the  human  mind  reaches  a 
higher  stage  of  development,  the  conception  of  a  Deity 
becomes  less  grand.  Nearly  three  hundred  millions  of  peo- 
ple of  the  great  empire  of  Asoka  embrace  a  system  of  pure 
ethics  ;  a  social  polity  is  for  the  first  time  enunciated.  The 
highest  morality  is  inculcated  in  the  system  of  Buddha, 
since  it  permits  freedom  of  thought  and  opinion,  sets  its 
face  against  persecution  and  cruelty,  and  recognizes  the 
rights  of  animals.  Drink,  opium,  and  all  that  tend  to 
destroy  the  composure  of  the  mind  are  discountenanced. 
The  basic  doctrine  of  Buddhism  is  to  relieve  human  suffer- 
ing. A  life  of  sensual  pleasures  is  condemned,  and  the 
conflicts  of  labor  and  capital  and  other  problems  which  con- 
front Europe  are  not  to  be  met  with  in  Buddhistic  countries. 
In  the  Vasala  Sutta  he  who  does  not  look  after  the  poor  is 
called  a  Vasala  or  low-born  man.  In  the  Sigatowada  Sutta, 
Buddha  enjoins  on  men  to  devote  one-fourth  of  their  wealth 
in  the  cause  of  the  relief  of  the  needy.  In  the  Maha- 
dhamma  Samadana  Sutta  Buddha  says  the  poverty  of  a 
man  is  no  excuse  for  his  neglect  of  religion.  Buddha  said : 
*  Man  already  drunk  with  ignorance  should  not  add  thereto 
by  the  imbibition  of  alcoholic  drinks.'  One  of  the  vows 
taken  by  the  Buddhist  monks  and  by  the  laity  runs  thus : 
'  I  take  the  vow  to  abstain  from  intoxicating  drinks  because 


FROM  ALL  RACES  AND  NATIONS.  747 

they  hinder  progress  and  virtue.'  The  Dhammika  &utta 
says:  'The  householder  that  delights  in  the  law  should 
not  indulge  in  intoxicating  drinks,  should  not  cause  others 
to  drink,  and  should  not  sanction  the  acts  of  those  who 
drink,  knowing  that  it  results  in  insanity.  The  ignorant 
commit  sins  in  consequence  of  drunkenness  and  also  make 
others  drink.  You  should  avoid  this.  It  is  the  cause  of 
demerit,  insanity,  and  ignorance — though  it  be  pleasing  to 
the  ignorant.' " 

In  a  discussion  of  mission  work  in  India  Mr.  Dharmapala 
said: 

"For  nineteen  centuries  you  have  had  Christianity  in 
Europe.  Only  during  the  last  three  centuries  have  attempts 
been  made  to  propagate  it  in  the  East,  and  with  unsuccess- 
ful results.  The  platform  you  have  built  up  must  be  en- 
tirely reconstructed  if  Christianity  is  to  make  progress  in 
the  East.  You  must  send  men  full  of  unselfishness.  They 
must  have  a  spirit  of  self-sacrifice,  a  spirit  of  charity,  a  spirit 
of  tolerance.  We  want  the  lowly  and  meek  and  gentle 
teachings  of  Christ,  not  because  we  do  not  have  them  now, 
but  we  want  more  of  them.  The  missionaries  sent  to  Cey- 
lon, China,  or  Burmah,  as  a  rule,  have  not  the  tolerance  that 
we  need.  The  missionary  is  intolerant ;  he  is  selfish.  Why 
do  not  the  natives  mix  with  him  ?  Because  he  has  not  the 
tolerance  and  unselfishness  he  should  have.  Who  are  his 
converts  ?  They  are  all  men  of  low  type.  Seeing  the  self- 
ishness and  intolerance  of  the  missionary,  not  an  intelligent 
man  will  accept  Christianity.  Buddhism  had  its  mission- 
aries before  Christianity  was  preached.  It  conquered  all 
Asia  and  made  the  Mongolians  mild.  But  the  influence  of 
western  civilization  is  undoing  their  work. 

"It  is  left  for  you,  this  younger  family  of  European 
nations,  to  change  this.  I  warn  you  that  if  you  want  to 
establish  Christianity  in  the  East,  it  can  only  be  done  on 
the  principles  of  Christ's  love  and  meekness.  Let  the  mis- 
sionary study  all  the  religions ;  let  them  be  a  type  of  meek- 
ness and  lowliness  and  they  will  find  a  welcome  in  all 
lands." 


748  REPRESENTATIVE  VOICES 

In  a  paper  on  points  of  resemblance  and  difference  be- 
tween Buddhism  and  Christianity,  Mr.  Dharmapala  said : 

"  Buddha  taught  that  sin,  sorrow,  and  deliverance,  the 
state  of  man  in  this  life,  in  all  previous  and  in  all  future 
lives,  are  the  inevitable  results  of  his  own  acts  (Karma). 
He  thus  applied  the  inexorable  law  of  cause  and  effect  to 
the  soul.  What  a  man  sows  he  must  reap. 

"  As  no  evil  remains  without  punishment  and  no  good 
deed  without  reward,  it  follows  that  neither  priest  nor 
God  can  prevent  each  act  bearing  its  own  consequences. 
Misery  or  happiness  in  this  life  is  the  unavoidable  result  of 
our  conduct  in  a  past  life,  and  our  actions  here  will  deter- 
mine our  happiness  or  misery  in  the  life  to  come.  When 
any  creature  dies  he  is  born  again,  in  some  higher  or  lower 
state  of  existence,  according  to  his  merit  or  demerit.  His 
merit  or  demerit,  that  is,  his  character,  consists  of  the  sum 
total  of  his  actions  in  all  previous  lives. 

"  By  this  great  law  of  Karma  Buddha  explained  the  in- 
equalities and  apparent  injustice  of  man's  estate  in  this 
world  as  the  consequence  of  acts  in  the  past,  while  Chris- 
tianity compensates  those  inequalities  by  rewards  in  the 
future.  A  system  in  which  our  whole  well-being,  past,  pres- 
ent, and  to  come,  depends  on  ourselves,  theoretically,  leaves 
little  room  for  the  interference,  or  even  existence,  of  a  per- 
sonal God.  But  the  atheism  of  Buddha  was  a  philosoph- 
ical tenet,  which,  so  far  from  weakening  the  functions  of 
right  and  wrong,  gave  them  new  strength  from  the  doctrine 
of  Karma,  or  the  metempsychosis  of  character.  To  free 
ourselves  from  the  thraldom  of  desire  and  from  the  fetters 
of  selfishness  was  to  attain  to  the  state  of  the  perfect  dis- 
ciple, Arhat,  in  this  life  and  to  the  everlasting  rest  after 
death. 

"The  great  practical  aim  of  Buddha's  teaching  was  to 
subdue  the  lusts  of  the  flesh  and  the  cravings  of  self,  and 
this  could  only  be  attained  by  the  practice  of  virtue.  In 
place  of  rites  and  sacrifices  Buddha  prescribed  a  code  of 
practical  morality  as  the  means  of  salvation.  The  four 
essential  features  of  that  code  were :  Reverence  to  spiritual 


FROM  ALL  RACES  AND  NATIONS.  749 

teachers  and  parents,  control  over  self,  kindness  to  other 
men,  and  reverence  for  the  life  of  all  creatures.  He  urged 
on  his  disciples  that  they  must  not  only  follow  the  true 
path  themselves,  but  that  they  should  teach  it  to  all  man- 
kind. 

"  Here  are  some  Buddhist  teachings  for  comparison  with 
Christian : 

'  Hatred  does  not  cease  by  hatred  at  any  time.  Hatred 
ceases  by  love.  This  is  an  ancient  law.  Let  us  live  happily, 
not  hating  those  who  hate  us.  Among  men  who  hate  us, 
let  us  live  free  from  hatred.  Let  one  overcome  anger  by 
love.  Let  him  overcome  evil  by  good.  Let  him  overcome 
the  greedy  by  liberality,  let  the  liar  be  overcome  by  truth. 

'  As  the  bee,  injuring  not  the  flower,  its  color  or  scent, 
flies  away,  taking  the  nectar,  so  let  the  wise  man  dwell 
upon  the  earth. 

'  Like  a  beautiful  flower,  full  of  color  and  full  of  scent, 
the  fine  words  of  him  who  acts  accordingly  are  full  of 
fruit. 

'  Let  him  speak  the  truth,  let  him  not  yield  to  anger, 
let  him  give  when  asked,  even  from  the  little  he  has.  By 
these  things  he  will  enter  heaven. 

*  The  man  who  has  transgressed  one  law  and  speaks  lies 
and  denies  a  future  world,  there  is  no  sin  he  could  not  do. 

'  The  real  treasure  is  that  laid  up  through  charity  and 
piety,  temperance  and  self-control ;  the  treasure  thus  hid 
is  secured,  and  passes  not  away. 

'  He  who  controls  his  tongue,  speaks  wisely,  and  is  not 
puffed  up  ;  who  holds  up  the  torch  to  enlighten  the  world, 
his  word  is  sweet. 

'  Let  his  livelihood  be  kindness,  his  conduct  righteous- 
ness. Then  in  the  fullness  of  gladness  he  will  make  an  end 
of  grief. 

*  He  who  is  tranquil  and  has  completed  his  course,  who 
sees  truth  as  it  really  is,  but  is  not  partial  when  there  are 
persons  of  different  faith  to  be  dealt  with,  who  with  firm 
rnind  overcomes  ill-will  and  covetousness,  he  is  a  true  dis- 
ciple. 


750  REPRESENTATIVE  VOICES 

1  As  a  mother,  even  at  the  risk  of  her  own  life,  protects 
her  son,  her  only  son,  so  let  each  one  cultivate  good-will 
without  measure  among  all  beings.' 

"  Nirvana  is  a  state  to  be  realized  here  on  this  earth.  He 
who  has  reached  the  fourth  stage  of  holiness  consciously 
enjoys  the  bliss  of  Nirvana.  But  it  is  beyond  the  reach  of 
him  who  is  selfish,  skeptical,  realistic,  sensual,  full  of  hatred, 
full  of  desire,  proud,  self-righteous,  and  ignorant.  When 
by  supreme  and  unceasing  effort  he  destroys  all  selfishness 
and  realizes  the  oneness  of  all  beings,  is  free  from  all  prej- 
udices and  dualism,  when  he  by  patient  investigation  dis- 
covers truth,  the  stage  of  holiness  is  reached. 

"  Among  Buddhist  ideals  are  self-sacrifice  for  the  sake  of 
others,  compassion  based  on  wisdom,  joy  in  the  hope  that 
there  is  final  bliss  for  the  pure-minded,  altruistic  individual. 
The  student  of  Buddha's  religion  takes  the  burden  of  life 
with  sweet  contentment ;  uprightness  is  his  delight ;  he 
encompasses  himself  with  holiness  in  word  and  deed ;  he 
sustains  his  life  by  means  that  are  quite  pure ;  good  is  his 
conduct,  guarded  the  door  of  his  senses,  mindful  and  self- 
possessed,  he  is  altogether  happy." 

The  final  word  of  Mr.  Dharmapala  in  the  closing  meeting 
was  as  follows : 

"  I,  on  behalf  of  the  475,000,000  of  my  co-religionists,  fol- 
lowers of  the  gentle  Lord,  Buddha  Gautama,  tender  my 
affectionate  regards  to  you  and  to  Dr.  John  Henry  Barrows, 
a  man  of  noble  tolerance,  of  sweet  disposition,  whose  equal 
I  could  hardly  find.  And  you,  my  brothers  and  sisters, 
born  in  this  land  of  freedom,  you  have  learned  from  your 
brothers  of  the  far  East  their  presentation  of  the  respective 
religious  systems  they  follow.  You  have  listened  with  com- 
mendable patience  to  the  teachings  of  the  all-merciful  Bud- 
dha through  his  humble  followers.  During  his  earthly 
career  of  forty-five  years  he  labored  in  emancipating  the 
human  mind  from  religious  prejudices,  and  teaching  a  doc- 
trine which  has  made  Asia  mild.  By  the  patient  and  labo- 
rious researches  of  the  men  of  science  you  are  given  to  enjoy 
the  fruits  of  material  civilization,  but  this  civilization  by 


FROM  ALL  RACES  AND  NATIONS.  751 

itself  finds  no  praise  at  the  hands  of  the  great  naturalists  of 
the  day. 

"Learn  to  think  without  prejudice,  love  all  beings  for 
love's  sake,  express  your  convictions  fearlessly,  lead  a  life 
of  purity  and  the  sunlight  of  truth  will  illuminate  you.  If 
theology  and  dogma  stand  in  your  way  in  the  search  of 
truth,  put  them  aside.  Be  earnest  and  work  out  your  own 
salvation  with  diligence ;  and  the  fruits  of  holiness  will  be 
yours." 

The  highest  official  of  the  Buddhist  church  of  Ceylon, 
H.  Sumangala,  sent  a  paper,  read  by  Mr.  Dharmapala,  some 
points  of  which  were  these : 

"The  Sinhalese  followers  of  Arya  Dharma,  miscalled 
Buddhism  by  Western  scholars,  through  their  chosen  dele- 
gate, Mr.  Dharmapala,  greet  the  delegates  representing  all 
the  World's  Religions  in  open  Parliament  assembled  at 
Chicago,  in  the  year  2436  of  Buddha's  Nirvana — A.D.  1893. 
To  the  Advisory  Council  of  the  Exposition,  and  to  all  and 
several  the  delegates,  the  salutations  of  peace,  tolerance,  and 
human  and  divine  brotherhood. 

"  Be  it  known  to  you,  brethren,  that  ours  is  the  oldest  of 
missionary  religions,  the  principle  of  propaganda  having 
been  adopted  by  its  promulgator  at  the  very  beginning  and 
enforced  by  him  in  the  despatch  of  his  immediate  followers, 
*  The  Brethren  of  the  Yellow  Robe,'  shortly  after  his  attain- 
ment of  the  state  of  perfect  spiritual  illumination,  2,481 
years  ago,  under  the  Bodhi-tree  at  Buddha  Gaya  in  Middle 
India.  Traces  of  these  ancient  missions  have  been  discov- 
ered of  late  years,  and  the  influence  of  their  teachings  rec- 
ognized by  Western  scholars  in  various  directions.  The 
spread  of  these  ideas  has  invariably  been  effected  by  their 
intrinsic  excellence,  and  never,  as  we  rejoice  to  know,  by  the 
aid  of  force,  or  appeal  to  the  superstitious  weakness  of  the 
uneducated  masses.  No  blood  stains  our  temples,  no  profit- 
able harvest  have  we  reaped  from  human  oppression.  The 
Tathagata  Buddha  has  enjoined  his  followers  to  promote 
education,  foster  scientific  inquiry,  respect  the  religious 
views  of  others,  frequent  the  company  of  the  wise,  and 


752  REPRESENTATIVE  VOICES 

avoid  unproductive  controversy.  He  has  taught  them  to 
believe  nothing  upon  mere  authority,  however  seemingly 
influential,  and  to  discuss  religious  opinions  in  a  spirit  of 
love  and  forbearance,  without  fear  and  without  prejudice, 
confident  that  truth  protects  the  righteous  seeker  after  truth. 

"  It  is  evident  then,  brethren,  that  the  scheme  of  your 
Parliament  of  Religions  recommends  itself  to  the  followers 
of  Sakya  Muni,  and  that  we,  one  and  all,  are  bound  to  wish 
it  the  most  complete  success. 

"  The  religious  future  of  Ceylon,  brethren,  is  full  of  prom- 
ise, and  with  the  growth  of  our  enlightenment,  we  shall  be 
more  fit  to  carry  abroad  the  teachings  of  the  Great  Master, 
whose  mission  was  to  emancipate  the  human  mind  from  the 
bonds  of  selfishness,  superstition,  and  materialism. 

"The  labors  of  Orientalists,  especially  of  Pali  scholars, 
have  of  late  resulted  in  spreading  very  widely  throughout 
the  world  some  knowledge  of  the  Buddha's  teachings,  while 
Sir  Edwin  Arnold's  epic,  '  The  Light  of  Asia,'  has  created  a 
popular  love  for  the  stainless  and  compassionate  character 
of  Gautama  Buddha.  Justice  being  done  to  him,  his  per- 
sonality is  seen  to  shine  with  exceptional  brilliance  among 
the  figures  of  human  history.  We  think  that  our  Arya 
Dhama  reflects  the  spiritual  sunlight  of  his  own  pure  no- 
bility and  the  luminousness  of  his  own  wisdom.  We  invite 
you  all  to  examine  and  test  it  for  yourselves.  Our  founder 
taught  that  the  cause  of  all  miseries  is  ignorance ;  its  anti- 
thesis, happiness,  is  the  product  of  knowledge. 

"  He  taught  religious  tolerance,  the  kinship  of  human  fam- 
ilies with  each  other  and  with  the  universe,  the  existence  of 
a  common  law  of  being  and  of  evolution  for  us  all,  the  ne- 
cessity for  the  conquest  of  the  passions,  the  avoidance  of 
cruelty,  lying,  lustfulness,  and  all  sensual  indulgences,  of 
the  clinging  to  superstitious  beliefs,  whether  traditional  or 
modern,  and  of  belief  in  alleged  infallibility  of  men  or 
books.  He  inculcated  the  practice  of  all  virtues,  a  high 
altruism  in  word  and  deed,  the  following  of  blameless 
modes  of  living  and  the  keeping  of  an  open  mind  for  the 
discovery  of  truth.  He  taught  the  existence  of  a  natural 


FROM  ALL  RACES  AND  NATIONS.  75a 

causation  called  Karma,  which  operates  throughout  the  uni- 
verse, and  which,  in  the  sphere  of  ethics,  becomes  the  prin- 
ciple of  equilibrium  between  the  opposing  forces  of  igno- 
rance and  wisdom,  the  agent  of  both  retribution  and  recom- 
pense. 

"  Our  scriptures  are  grouped  into  three  divisions,  called 
Pitakas ;  of  which  the  first  (Sutta)  comprises  sermons  or 
lectures  on  morality  ;  the  second  (Vinaya)  specifies  the  con- 
stitution, rules,  and  discipline  of  the  Order  and  of  our  Laity ; 
and  the  third  (Abhi  Dhamma)  propounds  the  psychology  of 
our  system." 

BUDDHISM  IN  SIAM. 

Buddhism  from  the  standpoint  of  Siam  was  expounded 
in  the  parliament  by  a  brother  of  the  king  of  that  country, 
Prince  Chandradat  Chudhadharn.  Some  points  of  his  state- 
ment were  these : 

"Buddhism,  as  it  exists  in  Siam,  teaches  that  all  things 
are  made  up  from  the  Dharma,  a  Sanskrit  term,  meaning  the 
*  essence  of  nature.'  The  Dharma  presents  the  three  follow- 
ing phenomena,  which  generally  exist  in  every  being:  1. 
The  accomplishment  of  eternal  evolution.  2.  Sorrow  and 
suffering,  according  to  human  ideas.  3.  A  separate  power, 
uncontrollable  by  the  desire  of  man,  and  not  belonging  to 
man. 

"The  Dharma  is  formed  of  two  essences,  one  known  as 
matter,  the  other  known  as  spirit.  These  essences  exist  for 
eternity  ;  they  are  without  beginning  and  without  end  ;  the 
one  represents  the  world  and  the  corporeal  parts  of  man,  and 
the  other  the  mind  of  man.  The  fact  with  ourselves,  our 
lives,  our  deaths,  our  alarms,  our  cries,  our  lamentations,  our 
disappointments,  and  all  other  sufferings,  is,  that  they  are 
created  by  our  own  ignorance  of  eternity,  of  the  knowledge 
of  Dharma  to  do  away  with  and  annihilate  all  of  them.  The 
only  means  by  which  we  are  able  to  free  ourselves  from  suf- 
ferings and  death  is,  therefore,  to  possess  a  perfect  knowl- 
edge of  Dharma,  and  to  realize  by  will  and  acts  that  nature 


754  REPRESENTATIVE  VOICES 

only  obtainable  by  adhering  to  the  precepts  given  by  Lord 
Buddha  in  the  Four  Noble  Truths. 

"The  Four  Noble  Truths,  taught  by  our  Merciful  and 
Omniscient  Lord  Buddha,  point  out  the  path  that  leads  to 
Nirvana  or  to  the  desirable  extinction  of  self. 

"  The  first  Noble  Truth  is  suffering ;  it  arises  from  birth, 
old  age,  illness,  sorrow,  death,  separation,  and  from  what  is 
loved,  association  with  what  is  hateful,  and,  in  short,  the 
very  idea  of  self  in  spirit  and  matter  that  constitute  Dharma. 

"  The  second  Noble  Truth  is  the  cause  of  suffering  which 
results  from  ignorance,  creating  lust  for  objects  of  perish- 
able nature. 

"The  third  Noble  Truth  is  the  extinction  of  sufferings, 
which  is  brought  about  by  the  cessation  of  the  three  kinds 
of  lust,  together  with  their  accompanying  evils,  which  all  re- 
sult directly  from  ignorance. 

"  The  fourth  Noble  Truth  is  the  means  of  paths  that  lead  to 
the  cessation  of  lusts  and  other  evils.  This  Noble  Truth  is 
divided  into  the  following  eight  paths :  Right  understand- 
ing, right  resolutions,  right  speech,  right  acts,  right  way 
of  earning  a  livelihood,  right  efforts,  right  meditation,  right 
state  of  mind. 

"  By  right  understanding  is  meant  proper  comprehension, 
especially  in  regard  to  what  we  call  sufferings.  We  should 
strive  to  learn  the  cause  of  our  sufferings  and  the  manner  to 
alleviate  and  even  to  suppress  them.  We  are  not  to  forget 
that  we  are  in  this  world  to  suffer ;  that  wherever  there  is 
pleasure  there  is  pain,  and  that,  after  all,  pain  and  pleasure 
only  exist  according  to  human  ideas. 

"  By  right  resolutions  is  meant  that  it  is  our  imperative 
duty  to  act  kindly  to  our  fellow-creatures.  We  are  to  bear 
no  malice  against  anybody  and  never  to  seek  revenge.  We 
are  to  understand  that  in  reality  we  exist  in  flesh  and  blood 
only  for  a  short  time,  and  that  happiness  and  sufferings  are 
transient  or  idealistic,  and  therefore  we  should  try  to  control 
our  desires  and  cravings,  and  endeavor  to  be  good  and  kind 
toward  our  fellow-creatures. 

"  By  right  speech  is  meant  that  we  are  always  to  speak  the 


THE  ASAKUSA  DAI  BUTSU,  TOKIO,  JAPAN.— Among  tbe  parks  of  Tokio,  the 
capital  of  Japan,  the  Asakusa,  containing  the  temple  of  Kwaunon  (goddess  of  mercy),  and 
a  Dai  Butsu,  or  colossal  statue  of  Buddha,  is  one  of  the  most  popular.  It  is  the  scene  of  a 
continual  fair,  with  booths,  shows,  tea  houses,  and  every  means  of  pleasure  as  well  as 
devotion. 


SIEGFRIED  FIGHTING  THE  DRAGON.— DIELITZ.— In  the  Nibelungenlied,  the  great 
German  epic/  Siegfried,  the  hero,  .slays  a  dragon,  and  becomes  invulnerable  Jby  bathing  in  its  blood, 
except  a  spot  between  the  shoulders  on  which  a  leaf  falls  before  the  blood  is  dry.  The  character 
was  perhaps  originally  a  personification  of  bright  summer  fighting  the  gloom  of  winter. 


FROM  ALL  RACES  AND  NATIONS.  75.") 

truth,  never  to  incite  one's  anger  toward  others,  but  always 
to  speak  of  things  useful  and  never  use  harsh  words  destined 
to  hurt  the  feelings  of  others. 

"  By  right  acts  is  meant  that  we  should  never  harm  oui 
fellow-creatures,  neither  steal,  take  life,  or  commit  adultery. 
Temperance  and  celibacy  are  also  enjoined. 

"  By  right  way  of  earning  a  livelihood  is  meant  that  we  are 
always  to  be  honest  and  never  to  use  wrongful  or  guilty 
means  to  attain  an  end. 

"  By  right  efforts  is  meant  that  we  are  to  persevere  in  our 
endeavors  to  do  good  and  to  mend  our  conduct  should  we 
ever  have  strayed  from  the  path  of  virtue. 

"  By  right  meditation  is  meant  that  we  should  always  look 
upon  life  as  being  temporary,  consider  our  existence  as  a 
source  of  suffering,  and  therefore  endeavor  always  to  calm 
our  minds  that  may  be  excited  by  the  sense  of  pleasure  or 
pain. 

"  By  right  state  of  mind  is  meant  that  we  should  be  firm 
in  our  belief,  and  be  strictly  indifferent  both  to  the  sense 
or  feeling  of  pleasure  and  pain." 

"  To  summarize  the  meaning  of  these  truths,  sorrow  and 
sufferings  are  mainly  due  to  ignorance,  which  creates  in  our 
minds  lust,  anger,  and  other  evils.  The  extermination  of  all 
sorrow  and  suffering  and  of  all  happiness  is  attained  by  the 
eradication  of  ignorance  and  its  evil  consequences,  and  by 
replacing  it  with  cultivation,  knowledge,  contentment,  and 
love. 

"  As  to  good  and  evil,  every  act,  speech,  or  thought  de- 
rived from  falsehood,  or  that  which  is  injurious  to  others,  is 
evil.  Every  act,  speech,  or  thought  derived  from  truth  and 
that  which  is  not  injurious  to  others  is  good.  Buddhism 
teaches  that  lust  prompts  avarice  ;  anger  creates  animosity  ; 
ignorance  produces  false  ideas.  These  are  called  evils  be- 
cause they  cause  pain.  On  the  other  hand,  contentment 
prompts  charity;  love  creates  kindness;  knowledge  pro- 
duces progressive  ideas.  These  are  called  good  because  they 
give  pleasure. 

"  The  teachings  of  Buddhism  on  morals  are  numerous,  and 


756  REPRESENTATIVE  VOICES 

are  divided  into  three  groups  of  advantages  :  The  advantage 
to  be  obtained  in  the  present  life,  the  advantage  to  be  ob- 
tained in  the  future  life,  and  the  advantage  to  be  obtained 
in  all  eternity.  For  each  of  these  advantages  there  are 
recommended  numerous  paths  to  be  followed  by  those  who 
aspire  to  any  one  of  them.  I  will  only  quote  a  few  examples : 

"To  those  who  aspire  to  advantages  in  the  present  life 
Buddhism  recommends  diligence,  economy,  expenditure 
suitable  to  one's  income,  and  association  with  the  good. 

"  To  those  who  aspire  to  the  advantages  of  the  future  life 
are  recommended  charity,  kindness,  knowledge  of  right  and 
wrong. 

"  To  those  who  wish  to  enjoy  the  everlasting  advantages  in 
all  eternity  are  recommended  purity  of  conduct,  of  mind,  and 
of  knowledge." 

"A  good  man  is  characterized  by  seven  qualities.  He 
should  not  be  loaded  with  faults,  he  should  be  free  from 
laziness,  he  should  not  boast  of  his  knowledge,  he  should  be 
truthful,  benevolent,  content,  and  should  aspire  to  all  that 
is  useful. 

"  A  husband  should  honor  his  wife,  never  insult  her,  never 
displease  her,  make  her  mistress  of  the  house,  and  provide 
for  her.  On  her  part,  a  wife  ought  to  be  cheerful  toward 
him  when  he  works,  entertain  his  friends  and  care  for  his 
dependents,  to  never  do  anything  he  does  not  wish,  to  take 
good  care  of  the  wealth  he  has  accumulated,  not  to  be  idle 
but  always  cheerful  when  at  work  herself. 

"  Parents  in  old  age  expect  their  children  to  take  care  of 
them,  to  do  all  their  work  and  business,  to  maintain  the 
household,  and,  after  death,  to  do  honor  to  their  remains  by 
being  charitable.  Parents  help  their  children  by  preventing 
them  from  doing  sinful  acts,  by  guiding  them  in  the  path  of 
virtue,  by  educating  them,  by  providing  them  with  husbands 
and  wives  suitable  to  them,  by  leaving  them  legacies. 

"  When  poverty,  accident,  or  misfortune  befalls  man,  the 
Buddhist  is  taught  to  bear  it  with  patience,  and  if  these  are 
brought  on  by  himself  it  is  his  duty  to  discover  their  causes 
and  try,  if  possible,  to  remedy  them.  If  the  causes,  however, 


FROM  ALL  RACES  AND  NATIONS.  757 

are  not  to  be  found  here  in  this  life  he  must  account  for  them 
by  the  wrongs  done  in  his  former  existence. 

"  Temperance  is  enjoined  upon  all  Buddhists  for  the  rea- 
son that  the  habit  of  using  intoxicating  things  tends  to 
lower  the  mind  to  the  level  of  that  of  an  idiot,  a  mad  man,  or 
an  evil  spirit." 

JAPANESE  BUDDHISM. 

Japan  was  represented  in  the  parliament  by  both  Buddh- 
ists and  Shintoists.  The  Buddhism  of  Japan  sent  four  emi- 
nent Buddhist  priests— Shaku  Soy  en,  Horin  Toki,  Zitsuzen 
Ashitsu,  and  Banriu  Yatsubuchi,  with  their  interpreter, 
Z.  Noguchi ;  also  Yoshigiro  Kawai,  of  the  Nichiren  sect ; 
and  Kinza  R.  M.  Hirai,  an  accomplished  layman,  who 
has  lived  for  some  years  in  America.  The  interpreter,  Z. 
Noguchi,  said  in  a  short  address : 

"  I  present  to  you  four  Buddhist  Sorios,  who  will  give 
their  addresses  before  you  and  place  in  your  hands  many 
thousand  copies  of  English  translations  of  Buddhist  works. 
I  regret  to  say  that  there  is  probably  no  Mahayana  doctrine, 
which  is  the  highest  order  of  Buddhist  teaching,  translated 
into  English." 

The  Rt.  Rev.  Shaku  Soyen  expounded  Buddha's  law  of 
cause  and  effect  in  a  paper  some  points  of  which  were 
these : 

"  As  the  phenomena  of  the  external  world  are  various  and 
marvelous,  so  is  the  internal  attitude  of  the  human  mind. 
Shall  we  ask  for  the  explanation  of  these  marvelous  phe- 
nomena ?  Why  is  the  universe  in  a  constant  flux  ?  Why 
do  things  change  ?  Why  is  the  mind  subjected  to  a  con- 
stant agitation?  For  these  Buddhism  offers  only  one  ex- 
planation, namely,  the  law  of  Cause  and  Effect.  All  the  re- 
ligions apply  more  or  less  the  causal  law  in  the  sphere  of 
human  conduct,  and  remark  that  the  pleasure  and  happi- 
ness of  one's  future  life  depend  upon  the  purity  of  his  pres- 
ent life.  But  what  is  peculiar  to  Buddhism  is,  it  applies 
the  law  not  only  to  the  relation  of  present  and  future  life, 
but  also  past  and  present.  We  enjoy  happiness  and  suffer 
misery,  our  own  actions  being  causes ;  in  other  words,  there 


758  REPRESENTATIVE  VOICES 

is  no  other  cause  than  our  own  actions  which  make  us  happy 
or  unhappy.  Heaven  and  hell  are  self-made.  God  did  not 
provide  you  with  a  hell,  but  you  yourself.  The  glorious 
happiness  of  future  life  will  be  the  effect  of  present  virtuous 
actions. 

"  According  to  the  different  sects  of  Buddhism,  more  or 
less  different  views  are  entertained  in  regard  to  the  law  of 
Causality,  but  so  far  they  agree  in  regarding  it  as  the  law 
of  nature,  independent  of  the  will  of  Buddha,  and  much  less 
of  the  will  of  human  beings.  The  law  exists  for  an  eternity, 
without  beginning,  without  end.  Things  grow  and  decay, 
and  this  is  caused,  not  by  an  external  power,  but  by  an  in- 
ternal force  which  is  in  things  themselves  as  an  innate 
attribute.  This  internal  law  acts  in  accordance  with  the 
law  of  cause  and  effect.  Bodily  health,  material  wealth, 
wonderful  genius,  unnatural  suffering,  are  the  infallible  ex- 
pressions of  the  law  of  causality  which  governs  every  parti- 
cle of  the  universe,  every  portion  of  human  conduct. 
Would  you  ask  me  about  the  Buddhist  morality?  I  re- 
ply, in  Buddhism  the  source  of  moral  authority  is  the 
causal  law.  Be  kind,  be  just,  be  humane,  be  honest,  if  you 
desire  to  crown  your  future.  Dishonesty,  cruelty,  inhuman- 
ity, will  condemn  you  to  a  miserable  fall. 

"  As  I  have  already  explained  to  you,  our  sacred  Buddha 
is  not  the  creator  of  this  Law  of  Nature,  but  he  is  the  first 
discoverer  of  the  law  who  led  thus  his  followers  to  the  height 
of  moral  perfection." 

And  in  a  paper  on  "  Arbitration  instead  of  War,"  the  same 
speaker  said : 

"  Our  Buddha,  who  taught  that  all  people  entering  into 
Buddhism  are  entirely  equal  in  the  same  way,  as  all  rivers 
flowing  into  the  sea  become  alike,  preached  this  plan  in  the 
wide  kingdom  of  India.  Not  only  Buddha  alone,  but  Jesus 
Christ,  as  well  as  Confucius,  taught  about  universal  love  and 
fraternity.  We  also  acknowledge  the  glory  of  universal 
brotherhood.  Then  let  us,  the  true  followers  of  Buddha, 
the  true  followers  of  Jesus  Christ,  the  true  followers  of  Con- 
fucius, and  the  followers  of  truth,  unite  ourselves,  for  the 


FROM  ALL  RACES  AND  NATIONS.  759 

sake  of  helping  the  helpless  and  living  glorious  lives  of 
brotherhood  under  the  control  of  truth.  Let  us  hope  that 
we  shall  succeed  in  discountenancing  those  obstinate  people 
who  dared  to  compare  this  parliament  with  Niagara  Falls, 
saying,  '  Broad,  but  fruitless.'  We,  the  lovers  of  truth  and 
martyrs  of  love,  must  not  rest  until  success  smiles  upon  the 
home  of  truth.  International  law  is  the  outburst  of  univer- 
sal brotherhood.  War  is  only  the  ambition  of  a  few  men 
disturbing  the  social  peace,  the  social  order,  against  the 
course  of  truth.  How  great  a  story  of  dreadful  wars  and 
battles  that  have  been  fought  in  the  world  does  history  tell 
us !  The  perusal  of  those  barbarous  records  is  enough  to 
make  the  blood  of  those  who  love  truth,  peace,  and  frater- 
nity tingle  and  shut  the  book  with  a  crying  sigh.  Interna- 
tional law  has  done  a  great  deal  toward  arbitration  instead 
of  war.  Can  we  not  hope  that  it  shall  be  carried  out  on  a 
more  and  more  enlarged  scale,  so  that  the  world  will  be 
blessed  with  the  everlasting,  glorious,  bright  sunshine  of 
peace  and  love,  instead  of  the  gioomy,  cloudy  weather  of 
bloodshed,  battles,  and  wars  ?  We  very  often  say  that  we 
are  brothers,  but  what  a  troublesome  brotherhood  it  is 
where  one  has  to  be  well  armed  against  the  other ! 

"We  are  not  born  to  fight  one  against  another.  We 
are  born  to  enlighten  our  wisdom  and  cultivate  our  virtues 
according  to  the  guidance  of  truth.  And,  happily,  we  see 
the  movement  toward  the  abolition  of  war  and  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  peace-making  society.  But  how  will  our  hope 
be  realized  ?  Simply  by  the  help  of  the  religion  of  truth. 
The  religion  of  truth  is  the  fountain  of  benevolence  and 
mercy.  It  is  the  duty  of  religion  and  truth  to  attain  this 
beautiful  project  of  brotherhood,  and  is  it  not  our  duty  to 
become  the  nucleus  and  motive  power  of  this  great  plan  ? 
It  is,  and  we  must  be  that  nucleus  and  power.  We  must 
not  make  any  distinction  between  race  and  race,  between 
civilization  and  civilization,  between  creed  and  creed,  and 
between  faith  and  faith.  You  must  not  say  *  go  away '  be- 
cause we  are  not  Christians.  You  must  not  say  '  go  away ' 
because  we  are  yellow  people.  All  beings  in  the  universe 


760  REPRESENTATIVE  VOICES 

are  in  the  bosom  of  truth.  We  are  all  sisters  and  brothers ; 
we  are  sons  and  daughters  of  truth,  and  let  us  understand 
one  another  much  better  and  be  true  sons  and  daughters  of 
truth.  Truth  be  praised  ! " 

The  Rt.  Rev.  Horin  Toki  spoke  at  length  in  a  parliament 
paper  on  the  history  of  Buddhism  and  its  sect  in  Japan. 
He  began  by  saying : 

"  Bhagavat  Sakyamuni,  to  whom  500,000,000  human  beings 
on  earth  at  the  present  age  pay  respect,  was  born  in  the 
royal  family  of  Kapilavastu  in  India.  It  is  said  that  at  his 
birth  he  manifested  extraordinary  signs  of  greatness,  saying : 
'  I  am  the  only  one  respectable  in  heaven  and  earth.'  At  the 
age  of  19  he  left  the  palace  and  went  into  the  mountain  and 
attained  his  enlightenment  at  the  age  of  30  in  Buddhagaya. 
During  the  fifty  years  after  that  time  he  developed  innu- 
merable disciples  and  converted  all  followers  of  Brahmanism, 
elucidating  and  giving  the  light  with  the  truth  of  Buddhism 
to  the  whole  world.  He  died  on  the  bank  of  a  river  in  the 
city  of  Kushi  at  the  age  of  79. 

"The  doctrines  of  Buddha,  taught  during  his  lifetime, 
are  divided  into  two — Mahayana  and  Hinayana.  He  in- 
tended to  make  this  distinction  from  his  great  humanity  to 
develop  his  disciples  according  to  their  plane  of  intellect, 
and  the  method  of  enlightenment  eventually  reverts  back  to 
the  truth  taught  in  Mahayana ;  therefore,  into  whatever  num- 
ber the  sects  are  divided,  there  is  no  distinction  in  their  truth. 

"Those  countries  where  the  Hinayana  doctrine  prevails 
are  the  southern  and  central  parts  of  Asia,  as  Siam,  Anam, 
Burmah,  Ceylon,  Chittagong,  Aracan,  etc.,  and  the  teaching 
is  called  Southern  Buddhism.  And  those  countries  where 
the  Mahayana  doctrine  prevails  are  Japan,  China,  Corea, 
Manchuria,  and  Thibet.  But  that  Buddhism  which  is  met 
in  the  last  two  countries  is  called  Lamaism  and  differs 
greatly  in  its  origin  from  the  Mahayana  doctrine  in  Japan  ; 
and,  though  it  is  comprised  in  the  list  of  Northern  Maha- 
yana, in  comparison  to  the  Southern  Hinayana,  really  it  is 
not  the  same  as  the  Mahayana. 


FROM  ALL  RACES  AND  NATIONS.  761 

"  Japan  has  handed  down  Mahayana  together  with  Hina- 
yana  doctrine,  but  the  latter  is  only  studied  as  the  side 
study  of  the  former  and  there  was  never  a  disseminator 
who  devoted  himself  to  promulgate  the  latter  as  an  especial 
feature. 

"  The  first  introduction  of  Buddhism  into  Japan  was  552 
A.D.  The  King  of  Corea  sent  his  ambassador,  together 
with  the  priest  of  Doshin  and  seven  others,  and  offered  for 
the  first  time  the  copper  image  of  Buddha  and  all  the  scrip- 
tures of  Buddhism  to  the  Japanese  imperial  court.  A  court 
official  called  Iname  changed  his  villa  in  Nurkawara  Yamato 
into  a  temple  and  the  image  was  put  in  it.  This  is  the  first 
Buddhist  temple  and  was  named  after  the  place.  But  there 
was  yet  no  distinction  of  sect." 

The  learned  story  of  the  sects,  nine  ancient  and  six  mod- 
ern, as  told  by  Horin  Toki,  is  in  summary  as  follows.  The 
Sanron  and  Jojoku  doctrines  were  planted  about  A.D.  625. 
They  are  taken  as  side  studies  by  some  Buddhists,  but  are 
not  now  represented  by  any  active  body  of  believers.  Some 
twenty-four  years  later  a  priest  who  had  studied  Buddhism 
in  China  founded  the  Hosso  sect.  Sixty  years  after,  another 
priest  who  had  gone  to  China  for  study  renewed  the  Hosso 
teaching.  This  was  the  first  Buddhism  from  China.  Though 
widely  understood  it  has  only  the  temple  of  Kobukji  with 
fourteen  priests  and  forty-eight  branch  temples.  The 
Shugen  sect  was  founded  about  the  same  time  as  the  Hosso. 
It  became  attached  later  to  the  Shingon  sect.  Like  the  lat- 
ter it  was  famous  for  grand  beneficial  works,  such  as  clear- 
ing the  high  mountains,  opening  the  deep  valleys,  and 
bridging  the  impassable  rivers.  The  Kegon  sect,  a  later 
foundation,  has  the  temple  Todaiji,  in  Nara,  in  which  is  an 
immense  bronze  statue  of  Buddha.  It  has  twenty-one  sub 
temples,  only  ten  priests,  and  few  believers.  The  Ritsu 
(Yinay  or  Moral  Precept)  sect  was  the  first  which  secured 
the  adherence  to  Buddhism  of  the  emperor  and  a  great 
number  of  the  princes,  nobles,  and  high  officials.  Its  teach- 
ing is  widely  given  to  Buddhist  learners,  but  it  is  not  active 
as  an  independent  sect.  The  Tendai  sect,  founded  by  two 


762  REPRESENTATIVE  VOICES 

priests  who  had  studied  the  deepest  truth  in  China,  has  at 
present  over  forty-eight  hundred  temples.  The  Shingon 
sect,  or  True  Word  sect,  was  established  under  an  imperial 
authorization  by  a  high  priest  who  had  sought  in  China  a 
solution  of  the  problem  found  in  Buddhist  scripture,  how 
Buddha,  human  beings,  and  all  other  things,  are  one.  There 
was  assigned  to  the  founder  of  this  sect  a  magnificent  build- 
ing, to  serve  as  the  State  temple,  under  the  name  of  Gokokji, 
which  means  protecting  the  country.  There  are  other  head 
temples  of  the  same  sect,  and  after  some  three  hundred 
years  that  of  Negoroji  became  head  temple  to  a  New  Order 
of  the  sect.  The  Shingon  temples  number  over  13,600,  and 
its  adherents  embrace  more  than  half  the  country.  There 
were  no  new  sects  during  more  than  three  hundred  years, 
from  806  to  1118  A.D.,  and  then  a  half  dozen  of  mod- 
ern sects  grew  up,  within  a  space  of  159  years ;  the 
Yuzunbuk,  with  357  temples  ;  the  Jods,  with  8,300  temples ; 
the  Kinzai,  with  ten  head  temples  and  over  6,100  temples 
under  them  ;  also  the  Soto  order,  with  14,070  temples ;  the 
Nobak,  with  600  temples ;  the  Shinthu  or  True,  with  over 
19,100  temples  ;  the  Nichiren,  with  over  3,060  temples  ;  and 
the  Jishu,  with  357  temples.  The  conclusion  of  Horin  Toki's 
story  of  the  sects  is  in  these  words : 

"  The  present  Japanese  Buddhism  has  passed  several  hun- 
dred years  since  the  last  change.  The  past  experience 
points  out  to  us  that  it  is  time  to  remodel  the  Japanese 
Buddhism — that  is,  the  happy  herald  is  at  our  gates  inform- 
ing us  that  the  Buddhism  of  perfected  intellect  and  emo- 
tion, synthesizing  the  ancient  and  modern  sects,  is  now 
coming. 

**  The  Japanese  Buddhists  have  many  aspirations,  and  at 
the  same  time  great  happiness,  and  we  cannot  but  feel 
rejoiced  when  we  think  of  the  probable  result  of  this  new 
change  by  which  the  Buddhism  of  great  Japan  will  rise  and 
spread  its  wings  under  all  heaven  as  the  grand  Buddhism 
of  the  whole  world." 

Some  points  of  Horin  Toki's  account  of  Buddhism  in 
Japan  are  as  follows : 


FROM  ALL  RACES  AND  NATIONS.  763 

"  The  preliminary  yana  or  vehicle  for  the  conveyance  of 
truth,  taught  in  the  Deer  Park  of  Benares  by  Bhagavat 
(Buddha)  when  he  first  attained  his  enlightenment,  con- 
tained five  moral  precepts,  taught  to  the  laymen  of  both 
sexes, — *  not  to  kill,  not  to  steal,  not  to  commit  adultery, 
not  to  talk  in  immoral  language,  and  not  to  drink  intoxicat- 
ing liquors.'  Also  cause  and  effect  were  explained  from 
the  point  of  view  of  ethics. 

"  In  the  Hinayana  or  Small  vehicle,  the  core  of  the  doc- 
trine is  to  reach  into  the  realm  of  pure,  clean  tranquillity 
out  from  the  grievous  appearing  world  of  humanity.  This 
is  the  point  forcibly  elucidated  in  the  Southern  Buddhism. 
The  Mahayana  or  Great  vehicle  is  the  Northern  Buddhism, 
which  is  especially  elucidated  in  Japan.  It  demands  men- 
tal harmony  with  the  moral  precepts  (not  mere  outward 
obedience),  teaches  the  believer  to  look  for  his  clear  tran- 
quil world,  not  outside  of  himself,  but  in  his  own  mind, 
right  in  this  world,  and  to  look  at  all  things  from  the  abso- 
lute, not  the  relative,  point  of  view. 

"Although  the  temporary  distinction  is  like  the  above, 
Mahayana  does  not  exclude  Hinayana,  and  together  they 
are  called  Ekayana.  These  are  the  principal  different  points 
of  Northern  and  Southern  Buddhism,  but  both  teach  cause 
and  effect,  and  their  origin  is  one.  We  believe  that  finally 
these  two  views  will  come  together  without  any  contest 
according  to  the  development  of  the  human  intellect  and 
the  progress  of  science.  This  is  the  reason  why  the  Maha- 
bodhi  Society  was  organized  in  Calcutta,  India,  and  there  are 
in  the  lands  of  Northern  and  Southern  Buddhism  those  who 
want  to  combine  these  two  systems. 

"Buddhism  claims  that  all  beings,  both  sensible  and 
senseless,  have  the  nature  of  Buddha,  therefore  men,  lower 
animals,  plants,  etc.,  are  said  to  have  the  Buddhistic  nature 
—that  is,  the  essential  Spirit  in  full  completeness.  But 
they  seem  entirely  different  from  each  other  by  their  vari- 
ous forms  of  development  on  the  physical  plane,  in  spite  of 
their  having  the  same  spirit.  This  is  the  reason  why  in 
Nirvana-Sutra  it  is  said,  'All  beings  have  the  nature  of 


?84  REPRESENTATIVE  VOICES 

Buddha.'  If  the  nature  of  all  things  is  explained  by  men- 
tal science,  biology,  etc.,  it  will  be  ascertained  that  the  idea 
taught  in  the  Nirvana-Sutra  of  the  uniform  spirit  in  all 
things  is  true. 

"  Buddhism  enlightens  all  beings  and  makes  them  Bud- 
dha. The  method  to  obtain  that  result  is  generally  divided 
into  two  kinds :  One  is  the  Holy  Path — that  is,  for  beings 
to  liberate  themselves  by  their  own  exertion ;  the  other  is 
the  Pure  Path — that  is,  to  be  delivered  by  the  external 
power.  But  in  the  long  run,  without  regard  to  the  above 
distinction,  we  enlighten  ourselves  and  we  become  Buddha 
by  the  correspondence  of  our  wisdom  with  the  universal 
truth;  therefore  to  become  Buddha  means  to  reach  the 
stage  of  perfect  development  or  the  virtue  and  power  of 
Buddha  inherent  in  ourselves.  As  that  nature  of  Buddha 
was  already  existent  in  all  beings  through  eternity,  to  be- 
come Buddha  does  not  mean  that  any  virtue  or  power  comes 
from  without — that  is,  from  an  omnipotent  being  outside 
ourselves.  Or  it  is  not  a  weak  emancipation,  as  it  is  taught 
that  the  spiritual  nature  of  all  beings  approaches  the  nature 
of  the  Divine  one,  but  it  cannot  become  one  with  the  one. 
To  manifest  the  same  virtue  and  power  as  that  of  Buddha, 
and  finally  to  reach  to  the  plane  of  principle,  which  is  the 
body  of  truth,  and  manifest  fully  the  intellect,  and  its  appli- 
cation of  that  one  most  divine  in  all  the  universe,  is  to  be 
Buddha. 

"  The  especial  characteristics  of  Buddhism  are  humanity 
and  patient  forbearance,  therefore  the  aim  of  it  is  to  help 
all  beings  to  develop  the  nature  of  Buddha,  and  to  guide 
them  to  the  plane  of  Buddha  with  the  deepest  sympathy 
and  tenderest  humanity ;  from  age  to  age,  and  from  life  to 
life,  and  by  patient  forbearance,  to  pity  those  who  believe 
in  false  doctrines,  those  who  are  enemies  and  those  teachers 
of  vicious  doctrines,  all  being  looked  upon  with  impartial 
love,  as  the  children  of  one  mother,  and  they  are  guided 
into  the  true  reason  and  right  path  with  all  patience.  This 
is  the  especial  characteristic  of  Buddhism  and  which  we 
conduct  with  a  deep  reverence.  To  be  called  jealous  even 


FROM  ALL  RACES  AND  NATIONS.  765 

occasionally  is  the  great  shame  of  the  Buddhist.  In  Arai- 
tayus-dhyana-sutra  it  is  said,  *  The  mind  of  Buddha  is  that 
of  the  greatest  humanity';  and  in  the  sutra  of  the  Last 
Instruction  it  is  said,  'The  virtue  of  patience  cannot  be 
superseded  by  keeping  moral  precepts  and  ethical  conduct.' 
These  are  the  evidences  that  the  characteristics  of  Buddh- 
ism are  patience  and  humanity. 

"  Buddhism  teaches  the  right  path  of  cause  and  effect, 
and  nothing  which  can  supersede  the  idea  of  cause  and 
effect  will  be  accepted  and  believed.  Buddha  himself  can- 
not contradict  this  law,  which  is  the  Buddha  of  Buddha, 
and  no  omnipotent  power  except  this  law  is  believed  to  be 
existent  in  the  universe.  The  action  of  the  law  of  cause 
and  effect  is  the  operation  of  truth,  and  truth  is  the  real 
substance  of  this  law,  therefore  truth  and  the  law  of  cause 
and  effect  are  respectively  the  appellations  of  the  substance 
and  action  of  one  thing,  but  not  of  two  things. 

"  Good  and  evil  in  Buddhism  are  divided  into  the  charac- 
teristic and  conventional.  The  first  term  is  applied  to  the 
case  of  goodness  or  wickedness  of  the  character,  and  the 
second  to  that  good  or  evil  produced  by  the  social  constitu- 
tion and  customs.  Therefore  in  Buddhism  the  character- 
istic good  and  evil  are  ten  virtues — that  is,  not  to  kill,  not 
to  steal,  not  to  commit  adultery,  not  to  use  immoral  lan- 
guage, not  to  use  scurrilous  language,  not  to  use  double- 
tongued  language,  not  to  be  brutal  and  covetous,  not  to  be 
angry,  not  to  be  intolerant  and  uncharitable ;  and  ten  evils 
which  are  the  opposite  of  the  above.  All  other  evil  and 
good  belong  to  the  second  kind  or  conventional." 

"  As  to  the  feeling  of  pain  and  pleasure,  it  is  experienced 
by  the  cause  of  good  or  evil,  and  there  is  no  Buddha  or 
divinity  who  administers  it.  The  relative  revolution  of 
pain  into  pleasure  and  vice  versa,  and  good  into  bad  and 
vice  versa,  is  dependent  upon  the  mental  disturbance; 
therefore  the  good  and  evil  and  pain  and  pleasure  are  only 
phantoms  floating  upon  the  ruffled  surface  of  the  mind,  and 
are  produced  and  felt  by  ourselves,  as,  for  instance,  the  silk- 
worm produces  the  thread  from  within  and  surrounds  itself 


766  REPRESENTATIVE  VOICES 

by  the  cocoon.  No  pain  and  pleasure  will  come  from  with- 
out, but  they  are  only  the  effect  felt  like  the  sound  or 
shadow  of  good  or  bad  action  produced  by  the  mind  of 
ourselves. 

"  The  meditation  in  Buddhism  is  to  call  out  the  mysteri- 
ous and  tremendous  force  from  the  pure  and  absolute  truth 
in  the  universe,  and  to  correspond  it  with  the  mental  power 
of  ourselves.  At  this  point  of  correspondence  there  is 
again  the  mysterious  function  or  action  which  will  cause 
the  union  of  our  mental  power  with  that  great  force  of  the 
absolute  truth  in  clear,  pure,  and  active  manner.  This 
instant  of  harmony  is  the  instant  when  our  nature  of  Bud- 
dha and  that  pure  truth  together  become  one  absolute 
body ;  this  is  called  enlightenment,  and  it  is  the  effect  of 
meditation. 

"  The  prayer,  the  worship,  and  the  truth  of  Buddhism 
fill  the  universe ;  therefore  to  pray  and  to  worship  a  sym- 
bol is  not  the  idea ;  but  in  the  case  where  a  symbol  is  used 
it  is  only  the  means  to  make  clear  and  pure  the  minds  of 
those  who  are  not  yet  fully  enlightened.  In  other  words, 
prayer  and  worship  are  only  the  means  to  generalize  and 
enlighten  the  mental  horizon  which  dwells  on  the  view  of 
the  clouded  distinction,  thou  and  I,  regarding  the  symbol 
as  an  example  representing  the  grand,  uniform,  and  absolute 
truth.  Therefore,  if  we  arrive  to  the  understanding  of  the 
same  equalization  of  the  truth  with  ourselves,  of  course 
there  is  no  need  of  worship  or  prayer.  Prayer  or  worship 
is  like  a  finger  which  points  to  the  moon  ;  when  the  round 
face  of  the  moon  is  once  seen  there  is  no  need  of  the  finger. 
However,  the  erroneous  mind  of  the  mass  of  mankind  is  not 
on  the  plane.  They  are  always  against  this  uniformity,  and 
consequently  the  contention  of  different  views  is  aroused,  and 
the  prayer  or  the  worship  of  a  symbol  of  the  truth  is  con- 
stantly introduced  before  them  to  reflect  themselves  to  their 
own  minds.  If  our  mind  agrees  to  the  substance  of  this 
uniformity  under  all  circumstances,  our  actions  will  have 
the  virtue  which  will  fill  the  universe,  and  happiness  and 
tranquillity  will  always  be  there. 


FROM  ALL  RACES  AND  NATIONS.  767 

"  Buddhism  demonstrates  Nirvana ;  this  is  a  great  source 
of  truth,  and  may  be  called  the  pinnacle  of  the  unknowable. 
In  the  Hinayana  doctrine,  the  uniting  with  the  law  of  pas- 
sive uniformity  to  sink  in  the  realm  of  the  calm  extinction 
of  mind  and  body,  separating  from  the  delirious  condition 
of  a  one-sided  or  crude  idea  is  looked  upon  as  the  complete 
attainment  of  the  Nirvana.  But  this  is  only  the  beginning 
of  the  Nirvanic  understanding,  because  there  is  another  and 
still  higher  point,  which  is  called  the  '  undwelling '  or  free 
attainment  of  Nirvana.  This  is  to  go  out  from  the  limit  of 
the  calmness  of  the  body  and  mind,  entertaining  the  grand 
aspiration  to  develop  everything  and  benefit  mankind,  and 
to  engage  in  active  exertion  for  humanity  from  the  circle  of 
Buddhas  down  to  the  Sravakas,  from  heaven  to  men,  from 
the  higher  class  to  the  lower  class  of  human  society,  from 
the  animals  to  the  devils,  from  paradise  to  hell,  without 
leaving  any  vacant  place,  this  is  the  free  attainment  of 
Nirvana  in  Mahayana.  Those  who  go  along  the  Mahayana 
road  have  this  free  understanding  as  their  ultimate  aim 
from  the  beginning,  whether  by  self -exertion  or  external 
power.  Consequently  their  vows  and  conduct  correspond 
and  they  do  the  greatest  humanity  always.  The  point 
where  this  active  engagement  culminates  is  the  point  where 
this  vow  and  conduct  exactly  correspond,  and  also  it  is  the 
point  of  the  most  developed  state  of  freest  attainment  of 
Nirvana.  This  is  called  the  doctrine  of  absorption. 

"In  'Chidoron,'  which  means,  translated  into  English, 
'  degrees  of  wisdom,'  it  is  said  that  all  Buddhas  teach  in 
two  ways.  What  are  those  two  ways  ?  One  is  to  teach  the 
truth  of  doctrine  ;  the  other  is  to  guide  the  goodness  and 
righteousness  of  mankind.  The  former  teaches  us  that  our 
body  and  spirit  are  always  in  constant  contact  with  the  out- 
side world,  and  regulated  by  the  absolute  truth,  which,  hav- 
ing no  beginning  or  no  end,  and  yet  performing  the  endless 
action  of  cause  and  effect  as  in  a  circle,  fills  the  universe. 
The  latter— that  is  to  guide  the  goodness  and  righteousness 
of  mankind— inspires  us  with  purity  and  righteousness  into 
body  and  mind  as  well  as  the  surrounding  conditions.  In 


768  REPRESENTATIVE  VOICES 

other  words,  I  should  say  that  it  teaches  that  absolute  truth 
is  constantly  acting  to  make  a  man  on  the  surface  of  the 
earth  complete  this  purity  and  goodness.  Therefore,  should 
I  speak  from  the  side  of  goodness,  I  should  say  that  Buddh- 
ism, as  in  Christianity,  teaches  Ten  Commandments,  such 
as,  *  not  to  kill ;  not  to  steal ;  not  to  commit  adultery  ;  not 
to  tell  a  falsehood ;  not  to  joke ;  not  to  speak  evil  of  others ; 
not  to  use  double  tongue ;  not  to  be  greedy,  neither  be 
stingy;  not  to  be  cruel.'  Such  commandments  guide  us 
into  morality  and  goodness,  kindly  and  minutely,  by  regu- 
lating our  every-day  personal  action.  Such  commandments 
by  pacifying,  purifying,  and  enlightening  our  passions,  as 
well  as  our  wisdom,  shall  in  the  run,  of  course,  make  the 
present  society,  which  is  full  of  vice,  hatred,  and  struggles 
of  race,  just  like  hungry  dogs  or  wolves,  a  holy  paradise  of 
purity,  peace,  and  love.  The  regulating  power  of  such  com- 
mandments shall  turn  this  troublesome  world  into  the  spir- 
itual kingdom  of  fraternity  and  humanity.  This  is  only 
one  illustration  of  Buddhist  preaching,  and  you  see  that 
Buddhism  does  not  quarrel  with  other  religions  about  the 
truth.  If  there  were  a  religion  which  teaches  the  truth  in 
the  same  way,  Buddhism  regards  it  as  the  truth  of  Buddh- 
ism disguised  under  the  garment  of  other  religion.  Buddh- 
ism never  cares  what  the  outside  garment  might  be.  It 
only  aims  to  promote  the  purity  and  morality  of  mankind. 
It  never  asks,  Who  discovered  it  ?  Who  taught  them  ?  It 
only  appreciates  the  goodness  and  righteousness.  It  helps 
the  others  to  succeed  in  the  purification  of  mankind.  Bud- 
dha himself  called  Buddhism  '  a  round  circulating  religion,' 
which  means  that  Buddhism  is  truth  common  to  every  relig- 
ion, regardless  of  the  outside  garment.  The  absolute  truth 
must  not  be  regarded  as  the  monopolization  of  one  religion 
or  other.  The  truth  is  the  broadest  and  widest.  In  short, 
Buddhism  teaches  us  that  the  Buddhism  is  the  goddess  of 
truth,  who  is  common  to  every  religion,  but  who  showed  her 
true  phase  to  us  through  the  Buddhism." 

"  And  now  let  me  tell  you  that  this  Buddhism  has  been  a 
living  spirit  and  nationality  of  our  beloved  Japan  for  so 


FROM  ALL  RACES  AND  NATIONS.  769 

many  years  (eleven  hundred),  and  will  be  forever.  Conse- 
quently the  Japanese  people,  who  have  been  constantly 
guided  by  this  beautiful  star  of  Buddhism,  are  very  hos- 
pitable toward  other  religions  and  countries,  and  are  entire- 
ly different  from  some  other  obstinate  nations. 

"  The  Japanese  history  of  thirty  years— that  is,  the  history 
since  we  opened  our  country  for  foreigners — will  prove  to 
you  that  our  country  is  quite  unequalled  in  the  way  of 
picking  up  what  is  good  and  right,  even  done  by  others. 
We  never  said,  Who  invented  this  ?  Which  country  brought 
that  ?  The  things  of  good  nature  have  been  most  heartily 
accepted  by  us,  regardless  of  race  and  nationality.  Is  this 
not  the  precious  gift  of  the  truth  of  Buddhism,  the  spirit 
of  our  country  ?  But  don't  too  hastily  conclude  that  we 
are  only  blinded  in  imitating  others.  We  have  our  own 
nationality  ;  let  me  assure  you  that  we  have  our  own  spirit. 
But  we  are  not  so  obstinate  to  deny  even  what  is  good. 
So,  we  trust  in  the  unity  of  truth,  but  do  not  believe  the 
Creator  fancied  out  by  imperfect  brain  of  human  beings. 
We  also  firmly  preserve  our  own  nationality  as  to  manner, 
customs,  arts,  literature,  benevolence,  architecture,  and  lan- 
guage. We  have  very  charming  and  lovely  nationality 
which  characterizes  all  customs  and  relation  between  the 
sexes,  between  old  and  young,  and  so  on,  with  peace  and 
gentleness.  The  Japanese  fine -arts  production,  which 
abounds  in  all  the  cities  of  Japan,  will  tell  you  their  own 
history.  And  let  me  ask  you,  who  do  you  think  originated 
such  beautiful  customs,  fine-arts  of  world- wide  reputation 
in  Japan  ?  Allow  me  to  assure  you  that  it  was  Buddhism. 
I  have  no  time  to  count  one  by  one  what  Buddhism  has 
wrought  out  in  Japan  during  the  past  eleven  hundred  years. 
But  one  word  is  enough  :  Buddhism  is  the  spirit  of  Japan  ; 
her  nationality  is  Buddhism." 

The  thoughtful,  scholarly,  and  sympathetic  paper  on 
Buddha,  written  by  Rt.  Rev.  Zitsuzen  Ashitsu,  contained 
the  following  passages : 

"  There  have  been  a  great  many  Europeans  and  Americans 


770  REPRESENTATIVE  VOICES 

who  studied  Buddhism  with  interest,  but  unfortunately  they 
have  never  heard  of  Mahayana.  They  too  hastily  concluded 
that  the  true  doctrine  of  Buddhism  is  Hinayana,  and  that 
so-called  Mahayana  is  nothing  but  a  portion  of  Indian  pure 
philosophy.  They  are  wrong.  They  have  entirely  misun- 
derstood. They  have  only  poorly  gained,  with  their  scanty 
knowledge,  a  smattering  of  Buddhism.  They  are  entirely 
ignorant  of  the  boundless  sea  of  Buddha's  doctrine  rolling 
just  beneath  their  feet.  His  preaching  is  really  so  great 
that  the  famous  Chishadaishi,  of  ancient  China,  divided  it 
into  five  epochs  of  time  and  eight  teachings. 

"  Right  after  Buddha  attained  his  perfect  enlightenment 
he  preached  that  all  beings  have  the  same  nature  and  wis- 
dom with  him.  Then  he  preached  the  Hinayana  doctrine 
divided  into  three  classes — the  three  fundamental  principles 
of  Hinayana.  To  the  Shomon  class  he  preached  the  four 
doctrines  of  Hinayana  for  attaining  Nirvana : — (1)  the  world 
is  full  of  sufferings  and  miseries ;  (2)  superstitions  and  lusts 
come  one  after  another  and  induce  us  to  misconceive  birth 
and  death ;  (3)  the  way  of  attaining  Nirvana  is  to  get  rid  of 
pains ;  (4)  calmness  and  emptiness  is  the  profound  state  of 
Nirvana.  To  the  Engaku  class  he  preached  the  doctrine 
of  twelve  causes  and  conditions  of  human  mind  which  fol- 
low each  other  continually  just  like  links  in  a  chain.  In 
this  class  one  is  able  to  attain  Nirvana  by  closely  pursuing 
the  course  of  mental  culture.  Then  to  the  Bosaku  class  he 
taught  six  glorious  behaviors  by  which  man  becomes  Bud- 
dha, such  as  charity,  good  behavior,  forbearance,  diligence, 
meditation,  comprehension. 

"  After  he  had  finished  this  teaching,  in  the  next  epoch 
he  preached  principles  designed  to  lead  from  Hinayana  doc- 
trine to  Mahayana ;  and  in  the  epoch  of  Mahayana  which 
followed  he  taught  the  personality  of  wisdom,  that  it  is 
perfectly  spiritual  and  entirely  colorless  and  formless.  By 
this  he  led  his  disciples  to  comprehend  the  constitution  of 
the  spiritual  world.  And  in  the  last  epoch  he  brought  his 
disciples  to  the  highest  summit  of  his  doctrine,  where  he 
taught  the  perfect  principle  of  absolute  unity,  the  perfect 


FROM  ALL  RACES  AND  NATIONS.  771 

enlightenment  of  true,  grand  Nirvana.  Of  the  eight  teach- 
ings of  Buddha's  preaching,  the  first  four  are  caMed  the 
four  kinds  of  teaching  manners,  while  the  last  four  are 
called  the  four  kinds  of  teaching  principle.  These  eight 
teachings  are  the  doorway  through  which  the  Buddhists 
enter  the  perfect  enlightenment.  The  'complete  work  of 
Shaku  Buddha '  is  really  a  wonderful  store  of  truth.  Most 
students  in  Buddhism  lose  their  courage  and  ambition  at 
the  first  glance  at  this  inexhaustible  fountain  of  the  truth 
so  profound  in  meaning.  But  still  the  pleasure  once  felt 
in  digesting  its  meaning  can  never  be  forgotten,  and  will 
naturally  lead  scholars  into  deeper  and  deeper  parts  of  the 
sea  of  spiritual  tranquillity  and  calmness. 

"Buddha  has  three  personalities.  The  first  is  entirely 
colorless  and  formless,  but,  at  the  same  time,  it  has  the 
nature  of  eternality,  omnipresence,  and  unchangeableness. 
The  second  is  the  personality  of  the  result  which  the  Bud- 
dha attained  by  refining  his  action,  a  state  of  the  mind  free 
from  lust  and  evil  desire,  but  full  of  enlightened  virtues 
instead.  It  includes  the  enlightenment  of  one's  own  mind, 
and  also  the  enlightenment  of  the  minds  of  others.  The 
third  personality  spontaneously  appears  to  all  kinds  of  be- 
ings in  any  state  and  condition  in  order  to  preach  and 
enlighten  them  equally. 

"  These  three  personalities  are  the  attributes  of  the  Bud- 
dha's intellectual  activity,  and  at  the  same  time  they  are  the 
attributes  of  his  one  supreme  personality.  We  also  are  pro- 
vided with  the  same  attributes.  Then  what  is  the  difference 
between  the  ordinary  beings  and  Buddha,  who  is  most 
enlightened  of  all  ?  Nothing,  but  that  he  is  developed  by 
his  self -culture  to  the  highest  state,  while  we  ordinary  be- 
ings have  our  intellect  buried  in  the  dust  of  passions.  If 
we  cultivate  our  minds,  we  can,  of  course,  clear  off  the 
clouds  of  ignorance  and  reach  to  the  same  enlightened  plat- 
form with  the  Buddha." 

[An  omitted  passage  here  describes  the  double  aspect  of 
Buddha,  his  perfect  calm,  entirely  free  from  life  and  death, 
while  yet  "  he  is  perfectly  humane,  consequently  is  not  con- 


772  REPRESENTATIVE  VOICES 

tent  even  in  his  state  of  Nirvana," — Nirvana,  in  the  highest 
view,  leading  to  a  life  of  mercy  absolutely  pure  and  perfect, 
as  the  paper  goes  on  to  say  :] 

'"  In  the  highest  state  of  Nirvana  we  get  a  perfect  intel- 
lectual wisdom  ;  we  are  not  any  more  subject  to  birth  and 
death.  Also,  we  become  perfectly  merciful ;  we  are  not  con- 
tent with  the  indulging  state  of  highest  Nirvana ;  but  we 
appear  to  the  beings  of  every  class  to  save  them  from  pre- 
vailing pains  by  imparting  the  pleasure  of  Nirvana. 

"  After  Shaku  Buddha's  departure  from  this  world,  two 
disciples,  Kasho  and  Suan,  collected  the  dictations  of  his 
teachings.  This  is  the  first  appearance  of  Buddha's  book, 
and  it  was  entitled  '  The  Three  Stores  of  Hinayana '  (Sanzo), 
which  means,  it  contains  three  different  classes  of  doctrine : 
(1)  Kyo,  a  principle— the  principle  which  is  permanent  and 
is  taken  as  the  origin  of  the  law  of  Buddhism.  (2)  Ritsu,  a 
law  or  commandment — the  commandments  founded  by  the 
Buddha,  to  stop  human  evils.  (3)  Ron,  an  argument — all  the 
arguments  or  discussions  written  by  his  disciples  or  fol- 
lowers. 

"  These  three  stores  being  a  part  of  Buddhist  works,  there 
is  another  collection  of  three  stores  which  is  called  that  of 
Mahayana,  compiled  by  the  disciples  of  the  Buddha. 

"  Both  the  Hinayana  and  Mahayana  were  prevailing  to- 
gether among  the  countries  of  India  for  a  long  time  after 
the  Buddha's  departure.  But  when  several  hundred  years 
had  passed  they  were  gradually  divided  into  three  parts. 
One  of  them  has  been  propagated  toward  northern  coun- 
tries, such  as  Thibet,  Mongolia,  Manchuria,  etc.  One  has 
been  spread  eastward  through  China,  Corea,  and  Japan. 
Another  branch  of  Buddhism  still  remains  in  the  southern 
portion  of  Asiatic  countries,  such  as  Ceylon,  Siam,  etc. 
These  three  branches  are  respectively  called  Northern  Ma- 
hayana, Eastern  Mahayana,  and  Southern  Hinayana ;  and 
at  present  Eastern  Mahayana  in  Japan  is  the  most  powerful 
of  all  Buddhism. 

"  The  difference  between  Mahayana  and  Hinayana  is  this : 
The  former  is  to  attain  an  enlightenment  by  getting  hold  of 


FROM  ALL  RACES  AND  NATIONS.  773 

the  intellectual  constitution  of  Buddha,  while  the  latter 
teaches  how  to  attain  Nirvana  by  obeying  strictly  the  com- 
mandments given  by  Buddha.  But  if  you  would  ask  a 
question,  which  is  the  principal  part  of  Buddhism.  I  should 
say,  it  is,  of  course,  Mahayana,  in  which  is  taught  how  to 
become  Buddha  ourselves,  instead  of  Hinayana. 

"  I  am  not  an  orator,  neither  a  great  talker,  myself,  but  I 
sincerely  believe  that  your  characteristic  quick  perception 
has  made  you  understand  what  I  have  said  hitherto,  and 
that  the  miscomprehension  you  had  about  Buddha  or 
Buddhism  has  been  cleared  off.  But  I  hope  you  will  not 
stay  there  satisfied  with  what  you  have  hitherto  under- 
stood. Go  on,  my  dear  brothers  and  sisters.  Keep  on,  and 
you  will  at  last  succeed  in  crowning  your  future  with  the 
perfect  enlightenment.  It  is  for  your  own  sake.  Nay,  not 
only  for  your  own,  but  also  for  your  neighbors.  You  occi- 
dental nations,  working  in  harmony,  have  wrought  out  the 
civilization  of  the  present  century,  but  who  will  it  be  that 
establishes  the  spiritual  civilization  of  the  twentieth  cen- 
tury ?  It  must  be  you. 

"  You  know  very  well  that  our  sun-rising  Island  of  Japan 
is  noted  for  its  beautiful  cherry-tree  flowers.  But  don't 
you  know  that  our  native  country  is  also  the  kingdom 
where  the  flowers  of  truth  are  blooming  in  great  beauty 
and  profusion  at  all  seasons  ?  Come  to  Japan.  Don't  for- 
get to  take  with  you  the  truth  of  Buddhism.  Ah,  hail  the 
glorious  spiritual  spring  day,  when  the  song  and  odor  of 
truth  invite  you  all  out  to  our  country  for  the  search  for 
holy  paradise ! " 

The  conclusion  of  the  paper  made  the  following  statement 
in  regard  to  a  Japanese  society  organized  to  promote  inter- 
est in  the  holy  places  of  Buddhism  in  India : 

"INDO   BUSSEKI   KOFUKU   SOCIETY. 

"  The  object  of  this  society  is  to  restore  and  re-establish  the 
holy  places  of  Buddhism  in  India,'  and  to  send  out  a  certain 
number  of  Japanese  priests  to  perform  devotional  services 


774  REPRESENTATIVE  VOICES 

in  them,  and  promote  the  convenience  of  pilgrims  from 
Japan.  These  holy  places  are  Buddha  Gaya,  where  Buddha 
attained  to  the  perfect  enlightenment ;  Kapilavastu,  where 
Buddha  was  born ;  the  Deer  Park,  where  Buddha  first 
preached ;  and  Kusinagara,  where  Buddha  entered  Nirvana. 
"The  Prince  Siddhartha  was  born  in  the  palace  of  his 
father,  King  Suddhodana,  in  Kapilavastu,  the  capital  of 
the  kingdom  Magadha.  When  he  was  nineteen  years  old 
he  began  to  lament  men's  inevitable  subjection  to  the  vari 
ous  sufferings  of  sickness,  old  age,  and  death  ;  and,  discard 
ing  all  his  precious  possessions  and  the  heirship  of  the  king- 
dom, he  went  into  a  mountain  jungle  to  seek,  by  meditation 
and  asceticism,  the  way  of  escape  from  these  sufferings. 
After  spending  six  years  there  and  finding  that  the  way 
he  sought  was  not  in  asceticism,  he  went  out  from  there  and 
retired  under  the  Bodhi  tree  of  Buddha  Gaya,  where,  at 
last,  by  profound  meditation,  he  attained  the  supreme  wis- 
dom and  became  Buddha.  The  light  of  truth  and  mercy 
began  to  shine  from  him  over  the  whole  world,  and  the  way 
of  perfect  emancipation  was  opened  for  all  human  beings, 
so  that  every  one  can  bathe  in  his  blessings  and  walk  in  the 
way  of  enlightenment. 

TEMPLE  OF  BUDDHA  GAYA. 

"  When  the  ancient  King  Asoka,  of  Magadha,  was  con- 
verted to  Buddhism  he  erected  a  large  and  magnificent 
temple  over  the  spot  to  show  his  gratitude  to  the  founder 
of  his  new  religion. 

"  But,  sad  to  say,  since  the  fierce  Mohammedans  invaded 
and  laid  waste  the  country,  there  being  no  Buddhist  to 
guard  the  temple,  its  possession  fell  into  the  hand  of  a 
Brahmanist  priest,  who  chanced  to  come  there  and  seized  it. 

"  It  was  early  in  the  spring  of  1891  that  the  Japanese 
priest,  Rev.  Shaku  Kionen,  in  company  with  H.  Dharma- 
pala,  of  Ceylon,  visited  this  holy  ground.  The  great  Bud- 
dha Gaya  Temple  was  carefully  repaired  and  restored  to  its 
former  state  by  the  British  Government,  but  they  could  not 
help  being  very  much  grieved  to  see  it  subjected  to  much 


FROM  ALL  RACES  AND  NATIONS.  775 

desecration  in  the  hands  of  the  Brahmanist  Mahant,  and 
communicated  to  us  their  earnest  desire  to  rescue  it. 

"With  warm  sympathy  for  them,  and  thinking,  as  Sir 
Edwin  Arnold  said,  that  it  is  not  right  for  Buddhists  to 
leave  the  guardianship  of  the  holy  centre  of  a  Buddhist's 
religion  of  Grace  to  the  hand  of  a  Brahmanist  priest,  we 
organized  this  Indo  Busseki  Kofuku  Society  in  Japan,  to 
accomplish  the  object  above  mentioned,  in  co-operation  with 
the  Maha  Bodhi  Society,  organized  by  Mr.  H.  Dharmapala 
and  other  Buddhist  brothers  in  India. 

"  These  are  the  outlines  of  the  origin  and  object  of  our 
Indo  Busseki  Kofuku  Society ;  and  I  believe  our  Buddha 
Gaya  movement  will  bring  people  of  all  Buddhist  countries 
into  closer  connection,  and  be  instrumental  in  promoting 
the  brotherhood  among  the  people  of  the  whole  world." 

In  the  address  prepared  by  Rt.  Rev.  Banriu  Yatsubuchi 
on  Buddhism,  some  of  the  notable  points  were  these : 

"  In  Buddhism  we  have  Buddha  as  our  Saviour,  the  spirit 
incarnate  of  absolute  self-sacrifice  and  divine  compassion, 
and  the  embodiment  of  all  that  is  pure  and  good.  Buddha 
was  a  man  as  we  are,  but  he,  apart  from  us,  knew  the  truth 
or  original  body  of  the  universe,  and  cultured  the  virtuous 
works  ;  or,  in  other  words,  he  worked  thoroughly  by  his 
wisdom  and  mercy,  so  that  he  may  be  called  our  Saviour. 
Although  Buddha  was  not  a  creator,  and  he  had  no  power 
to  destroy  the  law  of  the  universe,  he  had  the  power  of 
knowledge  to  know  .the  origin,  nature,  and  end  of  the  uni- 
verse, and  cleared  off  the  cravings  and  illusions  of  his  mind 
till  he  had  no  higher  grade  of  spiritual  and  moral  faculties 
attainable.  The  truth  or  original  body  of  the  universe  is 
absolute,  infinity,  eternity,  and  not  material  and  not  imma- 
terial, and  not  existing  and  not  unexisting.  As  every  object 
of  the  universe  is  one  part  of  the  truth,  of  course  it  may  be- 
come Buddha  according  to  the  natural  reason.  If  one  does 
not  neglect  to  purify  his  mind  and  to  increase  power  of 
wisdom,  he  may  take  in  spiritual  world  or  space  and  have 
cognizance  of  past,  present,  and  future  in  his  mind.  Then  he 


776  EEPRESENTATIVE  VOICES 

can  use  spirit  and  matter  freely  as  he  chooses,  and  can  save 
all  beings  of  the  innumerable  world.  The  ways  to  purify 
the  mind  and  to  evolve  wisdom  were  expressed  by  Buddha 
Shaku  himself  in  his  preachings  throughout  his  life." 

"  Buddhism  aims  to  turn  from  the  incomplete  supersti- 
tious world  to  the  complete  enlightened  world  of  truth. 
Although  there  are  many  thousands  of  Buddha's  preachings 
of  different  sorts,  their  object  ought  to  be  one  as  above 
stated,  witnessing  by  either  preacher  or  preached.  The 
complete  preachings  of  Buddha,  who  spent  fifty  years  to 
give  them,  were  preached  precisely  and  heedf  ully,  and  their 
meanings  are  so  profound  and  deep  that  I  cannot  give  even 
an  infinitesimal  part  of  them  in  this  place.  It  is  comparable 
to  the  rising  sun  in  the  East  that  Buddha,  after  his  enlight- 
ening, gave  his  great  law  to  lower  beings.  What  was  struck 
by  the  first  beam  of  morning  sun  was  the  highest  peak  of 
mountain,  which  may  be  compared  to  the  highest  Sutra  Ke- 
gon.  Next  Buddha  preached  to  the  lower  classes  of  Mn  Den, 
just  as  noonday  shines  on  every  lower  object  of  the  earth. 
That  the  purple  streams  of  twilight  of  setting  sun  reflect  on 
the  peaks  which  rise  upon  the  clouds,  is  Buddha's  preach- 
ing of  Hokke  Nehan  that  is  most  sublime  and  superior  to 
all.  He  preached  from  the  height  of  original  instinct  and 
body  of  the  truth  down  to  the  state  of  lower  beings  of  the 
universe.  His  law  is  a  light-house  to  light  the  dark  ocean 
of  our  ignorance.  His  preaching  is  a  compass  to  point  out 
the  direction  on  the  bewildering  spiritual  world.  His 
preaching  is  an  immortalized  storehouse  of  the  Truth.  He 
taught  his  disciples,  using  four  Shitsu  Tan  in  his  mind, 
just  as  the  doctor  cures  his  patients  by  giving  several  med- 
icines according  to  the  different  cases.  Twelve  divisions  of 
Sutras  and  eighty-four  thousand  laws  which  are  to  meet 
different  cases  of  Buddha's  patients  in  the  suffering  world 
are  minute  classifications  of  Buddha's  teaching,  discipline, 
and  essay.  Why  are  so  many  sects  and  preachings  in 
Buddhism  ?  Because  of  the  differences  in  human  character. 

"  It  is  no  need  to  censure  that  Buddhism  has  many  sects 
which  were  founded  in  Buddha's  teachings,  because  Buddha 


FROM  ALL  RACES  AND  NATIONS.  777 

preached  severally  to  suit  hearers,  and  they  believed  what 
they  choose.  There  are  two  divisions,  Mahay  ana  and  Hina- 
yana,  in  India,  and  thirteen  sects  in  China,  and  twelve  sects 
and  thirty  schools  in  Japan.  The  necessity  to  divide  many 
is  that  the  people  are  not  in  one  disposition,  but  are  differ- 
ent. So  one  preaching  of  Buddha  contains  many  elements 
which  are  to  be  distributed  and  separated. 

"  The  heart  of  my  country,  the  power  of  my  country,  the 
light  of  my  country  is  Buddhism.  That  Buddhism  is  not 
known  to  the  world,  and  European  scholars  hold  to  the 
opinion  that  Mahayana  was  not  preached  by  Buddha  Shaku 
himself,  but  by  others,  and  that  Hinayana  Nirvana  is  the 
ideal  of  our  Buddhism." 

A  somewhat  curious  variety  of  Japanese  Buddhism  was 
brought  to  view  by  the  paper  of  Yoshigiro  Kawai  on  the 
Nichiren  sect  and  its  peculiarities.  This  sect  employs  a 
picture-chart  called  the  Great  Mandala  to  symbolize  Bud- 
dha and  the  Truth.  For  a  glimpse  of  the  teaching  we  may 
take  what  is  said  of  the  ten  worlds  and  the  ten  degrees  of 
enlightenment,  from  the  highest  to  the  lowest. 

"  The  ten  worlds  of  living  beings.  The  ten  worlds  repre- 
sented by  them  are  as  follows :  (1)  the  world  of  Buddha, 
(2)  the  world  of  Bodhisattvas,  or  wise  beings,  (3)  the  world 
of  singly  enlightened  beings,  (4)  the  world  of  beings  of  low 
understanding,  (6)  the  world  of  deities,  (6)  the  world  of  hu- 
man beings,  (7)  the  world  of  human  spirits,  (8)  the  world  of 
beasts,  (9)  the  world  of  hungry  devils,  (10)  the  world  of 
infernal  beings. 

"  These  ten  worlds,  when  looked  at  as  regards  their  degrees 
of  enlightenment,  are  called  as  follows:  (1)  The  state  of 
mind  where  the  intellect  and  virtue  are  perfectly  attained, 
(2)  The  state  of  mind  where  one  can  save  both  himself  and 
others  from  evils  of  all  kinds,  (3)  The  state  of  mind  where 
one  saves  only  himself  without  any  effort,  (4)  The  state  of 
mind  where  one  saves  only  himself,  and  that  with  great 
effort,  (5)  The  state  of  mind  where  one  merely  enjoys  pleas- 
ures, (6)  The  state  of  mind  where  one  acts  well  for  duty's 


778  REPRESENTATIVE  VOICES 

sake,  (7)  The  state  of  mind  where  one  acts  well  for  the  sake 
of  his  own  fame  and  interest,  (8)  The  state  of  mind  where 
one  is  a  fool  and  without  shame,  (9)  The  state  of  mind  where 
one  is  sordid  and  covetous,  (10)  The  state  of  mind  where 
one  is  hard-hearted  and  lawless." 

The  most  effective  appeal  to  the  parliament  by  a  Japanese 
Buddhist  was  that  made  by  Kinza  Riuge  M.  Hirai,  an  edu- 
cated layman,  who  has  resided  some  years  in  California. 
It  was  made  in  a  paper  on  the  real  position  of  Japan  toward 
Christianity.  The  just  conceptions  and  feeling  of  the  speak- 
er, his  frank  appeal  to  Christian  principle  against  outrage 
done  by  Christian  nations,  and  the  refinement  and  vigor 
of  his  eloquence  completely  captured  the  great  audience. 
Loud  applause  followed  many  of  his  declarations  and  a 
thousand  cries  of  "  Shame ! "  were  heard  when  he  pointed 
to  the  wrongs  which  his.  countrymen  had  suffered  through 
the  practices  of  "  false  Christianity."  When  he  had  finished 
Dr.  Barrows  grasped  his  hand,  while  the  audience  cheered 
vociferously  and  waved  hats  and  handkerchiefs  in  the  ex- 
cess of  enthusiasm.  It  was  the  climax  of  a  great  day  for 
the  heathen.  The  eminent  Confucian,  Pung  Kwang  Yu, 
had  scored  an  immense  success  in  his  masterly  paper  on 
Confucianism,  and  there  came  later  an  address  not  exceeded 
for  the  grand  elevation  and  sweep  of  its  conclusion  by  any- 
thing uttered  in  the  parliament,  that  of  Reuchi  Shibata, 
the  Right  Reverend  Shintoist  representative.  The  chief 
points  of  Mr.  Hirai's  address  were  these  : 

"  There  are  very  few  countries  in  the  world  so  misunder- 
stood as  Japan.  Among  the  innumerable  unfair  judgments, 
the  religious  thought  of  my  countrymen  is  especially  mis- 
represented, and  the  whole  nation  is  condemned  as  heathen. 
Be  they  heathen,  pagan,  or  something  else,  it  is  a  fact  that 
from  the  beginning  of  our  history  Japan  has  received  all 
teachings  with  open  mind ;  and  also  that  the  instructions 
which  came  from  outside  have  commingled  with  the  native 
religion  in  entire  harmony,  as  is  seen  by  so  many  temples 
built  in  the  name  of  truth  with  a  mixed  appellation  of 


FROM  ALL  RACES  AND  NATIONS.  779 

Buddhism  and  Shintoism  ;  as  is  seen  by  the  affinity  among 
the  teachers  of  Confucianism  and  Taoism,  or  other  isms,  and 
the  Buddhists  and  Shinto  priests  ;  as  is  seen  by  the  individ- 
ual Japanese,  who  pays  his  or  her  respects  to  all  teachings 
mentioned  above  ;  as  is  seen  by  the  peculiar  construction  of 
the  Japanese  houses,  which  have  generally  two  rooms,  one 
for  a  miniature  Buddhist  temple  and  the  other  for  a  small 
Shinto  shrine,  before  which  the  family  study  the  respective 
scriptures  of  the  two  religions ;  as  is  seen  by  the  popular 
ode,  which  translated  means:  'Though  there  are  many 
roads  at  the  foot  of  the  mountains,  yet  if  the  top  is  reached 
the  same  moon  is  seen,'  and  other  similar  odes  and  mottoes, 
which  are  put  in  the  mouth  of  the  ignorant  country  old 
woman,  when  she  decides  the  case  of  bigoted  religious  con- 
tention among  young  girls.  In  reality  Synthetic  religion  is 
the  Japanese  specialty,  and  I  will  not  hesitate  to  call  it 
Japanism. 

"  But  you  will  protest  and  say :  '  Why,  then,  is  Christian- 
ity not  so  warmly  accepted  by  your  nation  as  other  relig- 
ions ? '  This  is  the  point  which  I  wish  especially  to  present 
before  you.  There  are  two  causes  why  Christianity  is  not 
so  cordially  received.  This  great  religion  was  widely  spread 
in  my  country,  but  in  1637  the  Christian  missionaries,  com- 
bined with  the  converts,  caused  a  tragic  and  bloody  rebel- 
lion against  the  country,  and  it  is  understood  that  those 
missionaries  intended  to  subjugate  Japan  to  their  own 
mother-country.  This  shocked  all  Japan,  and  it  took  the 
government  of  the  Shogun  a  year  to  suppress  this  terrible 
and  intrusive  commotion.  To  those  who  accuse  us  that  our 
mother-country  prohibited  Christianity,  not  now,  but  in  a 
past  age,  I  will  reply  that  it  was  not  from  religious  or  racial 
antipathy,  but,  to  prevent  such  another  insurrection,  and  to 
protect  our  independence,  we  were  obliged  to  prohibit  the 
promulgation  of  the  gospels. 

"  If  our  history  had  had  no  such  record  of  foreign  devas- 
tation under  the  disguise  of  religion,  and  if  our  people  had 
had  no  hereditary  horror  and  prejudice  against  the  name  of 
Christianity,  it  might  have  been  eagerly  embraced  by  the 


780  REPRESENTATIVE  VOICES 

whole  nation.  But  this  incident  has  passed  and  we  may 
forget  it.  Yet  it  is  not  entirely  unreasonable  that  the  ter- 
rified suspicion,  or  you  may  say  superstition,  that  Chris- 
tianity is  the  instrument  of  depredation  should  have  been 
avoidably  or  unavoidably  aroused  in  the  oriental  mind, 
when  it  is  an  admitted  fact  that  some  of  the  powerful 
nations  of  Christendom  are  gradually  encroaching  upon  the 
orient,  and  when  the  following  circumstance  is  daily  im- 
pressed upon  our  minds,  reviving  a  vivid  memory  of  the 
past  historical  occurrence.  The  circumstance  of  which  I  am 
about  to  speak  is  the  present  experience  of  ourselves,  to 
which  I  especially  call  the  attention  of  this  Parliament,  and 
not  only  this  Parliament,  but  also  the  whole  of  Christendom." 

[The  matter  thus  alluded  to  is  that  of  treaty  stipulations 
imposed  upon  Japan  in  1858,  when  the  old  feudal  regime 
had  not  yet  given  place  to  the  present  imperial.  Not  only 
were  the  stipulations  in  respect  of  judicial  power  and  of  tariff 
right  grossly  unjust,  but  that  article  which  gave  the  right 
to  either  party  to  give  a  year's  notice  demanding  revision 
at  any  time  after  1872,  has  availed  Japan  nothing.  She 
gave  due  notice  in  1871,  and  has  constantly  urged  her  de- 
mand for  justice  ever  since,  but  to  no  purpose.  The  strong 
powers  of  the  West  have  ignored,  evaded,  denied,  absolutely 
without  regard  to  the  plainest  decencies  of  justice.  And 
while  Japan  has  no  judicial  power  to  deal  with  imported 
beastly  vices  unknown  in  Japan  before,  missionaries  equally 
imported  expect  Japan  to  open  her  confidence  to  them, 
while  they  offer  some  stone  of  foreign  dogma  instead  of 
the  homely  bread  of  plain  justice.  In  indignant  complaint 
and  protest  Mr.  Hirai  went  on  to  say  :] 

"  If  you  closely  examine  with  your  unbiased  mind  what 
injuries  we  receive  you  will  be  astonished.  Among  many 
kinds  of  wrongs  there  are  some  which  were  utterly  unknown 
before  and  entirely  new  to  us — heathen,  none  of  whom 
would  dare  to  speak  of  them  even  in  private  conversation. 

"  One  of  the  excuses  offered  by  foreign  nations  is  that 
our  country  is  not  yet  civilized.  Is  it  the  principle  of 
civilized  law  that  the  rights  and  profits  of  the .  so-called 


FROM  ALL  RACES  AND  NATIONS.  781 

uncivilized  or  the  weaker  should  be  sacrificed  ?  As  I  un- 
derstand it,  the  spirit  and  the  necessity  of  law  is  to  protect 
the  rights  and  welfare  of  the  weaker  against  the  aggression 
of  the  stronger ;  but  I  have  never  learned  in  my  shallow 
studies  of  law  that  the  weaker  should  be  sacrificed  for  the 
stronger.  Another  kind  of  apology  comes  from  the  relig- 
ious source,  and  the  claim  is  made  that  the  Japanese  are 
idolaters  and  heathen.  Whether  our  people  are  idolaters 
or  not,  you  will  know  at  once  if  you  will  investigate  our 
religious  views  without  prejudice  from  authentic  Japanese 
sources. 

"  But  admitting,  for  the  sake  of  argument,  that  we  are 
idolaters  and  heathen,  is  it  Christian  morality  to  trample 
upon  the  rights  and  advantages  of  a  non-Christian  nation, 
coloring  all  their  natural  happiness  with  the  dark  stain  of 
injustice?  I  read  in  the  Bible,  'Whosoever  shall  smite 
thee  on  thy  right  cheek,  turn  to  him  the  other  also';  but  I 
cannot  discover  there  any  passage  which  says,  *  Whosoever 
shall  demand  justice  of  thee  smite  his  right  cheek,  and 
when  he  turns  smite  the  other  also.'  Again,  I  read  in  the 
Bible, '  If  any  man  will  sue  thee  at  law,  and  take  away  thy 
coat,  let  him  have  thy  cloak  also';  but  I  cannot  discover 
there  any  passage  which  says, '  If  thou  sha.lt  sue  any  man 
at  the  law,  and  take  away  his  coat,  let  him  give  thee  his 
cloak  also.' 

"  You  send  your  missionaries  to  Japan  and  they  advise 
us  to  be  moral  and  believe  Christianity.  We  like  to  be 
moral,  we  know  that  Christianity  is  good,  and  we  are  very 
thankful  for  this  kindness.  But  at  the  same  time  our  peo- 
ple are  rather  perplexed  and  very  much  in  doubt  about  this 
advice.  For  when  we  think  that  the  treaty  stipulated  in  the 
time  of  feudalism,  when  we  were  yet  in  our  youth,  is  still 
clung  to  by  the  powerful  nations  of  Christendom ;  when 
we  find  that  every  year  a  good  many  western  vessels  engaged 
in  the  seal  fishery  are  smuggled  into  our  seas ;  when  legal 
cases  are  always  decided  by  the  foreign  authorities  in  Japan 
unfavorably  to  us  ;  when  some  years  ago  a  Japanese  was  not 
allowed  to  enter  a  university  on  the  Pacific  coast  of  Amer- 


782  REPRESENTATIVE  VOICES 

ica  because  of  his  being  of  a  different  race ;  when  a  few 
months  ago  the  school  board  in  San  Francisco  enacted  a 
regulation  that  no  Japanese  should  be  allowed  to  enter  the 
public  school  there ;  when  last  year  the  Japanese  were 
driven  out  in  wholesale  from  one  of  the  Territories  of  the 
United  States  of  America  ;  when  our  business  men  in  San 
Francisco  were  compelled  by  some  union  not  to  employ  the 
Japanese  assistants  or  laborers,  but  the  Americans ;  when 
there  are  some  in  the  same  city  who  speak  on  the  platforms 
against  those  of  us  who  are  already  here  ;  when  there  are 
many  men  who  go  in  processions  hoisting  lanterns  marked 
'  Jap  must  go ';  when  the  Japanese  in  the  Hawaiian  Islands 
are  deprived  of  their  suffrage  ;  when  we  see  some  western 
people  in  Japan  who  erect  before  the  entrance  of  their 
houses  a  special  post  upon  which  is  the  notice, '  No  Japanese 
is  allowed  to  enter  here,'  just  like  a  board  upon  which  is 
written, '  No  dogs  allowed ';  when  we  are  in  such  a  situation 
is  it  unreasonable — notwithstanding  the  kindness  of  the 
western  nations,  from  one  point  of  view,  who  send  their 
missionaries  to  us — for  us  intelligent  heathen  to  be  embar- 
rassed and  hesitate  to  swallow  the  sweet  and  warm  liquid 
of  the  heaven  of  Christianity?  If  such  be  the  Christian 
ethics — well,  we  are  perfectly  satisfied  to  be  heathen. 

"  If  any  person  should  claim  that  there  are  many  people 
in  Japan  who  speak  and  write  against  Christianity,  I  am 
not  a  hypocrite  and  I  will  frankly  state  that  I  was  the  first 
in  my  country  who  ever  publicly  attacked  Christianity — no, 
not  real  Christianity,  but  false  Christianity,  the  wrongs  done 
toward  us  by  the  people  of  Christendom.  If  any  reprove 
the  Japanese  because  they  have  had  strong  anti-Christian 
Societies,  I  will  honestly  declare  that  I  was  the  first  in  Japan 
who  ever  organized  a  society  against  Christianity — no,  not 
against  real  Christianity,  but  to  protect  ourselves  from  false 
Christianity  and  the  injustice  which  we  receive  from  the 
people  of  Christendom.  Do  not  think  that  I  took  such  a 
stand  on  account  of  my  being  a  Buddhist,  for  this  was  my 
position  many  years  before  I  entered  the  Buddhist  Temple. 
But  at  the  same  time  I  will  proudly  state  that  if  any  one 


FROM  ALL  RACES  AND  NATIONS.  783 

discussed  the  affinity  of  all  religions  before  the  public, 
under  the  title  of  Synthetic  Religion,  it  was  I.  I  say  this 
to  you  because  I  do  not  wish  to  be  understood  as  a  bigoted 
Buddhist  sectarian. 

"  Really  there  is  no  sectarian  in  my  country.  Our  people 
well  know  what  abstract  truth  is  in  Christianity,  and  we,  or 
at  least  I,  do  not  care  about  the  names  if  I  speak  from 
the  point  of  teaching.  Whether  Buddhism  is  called  Chris- 
tianity or  Christianity  is  named  Buddhism,  whether  we  are 
called  Confucianists  or  Shintoists,  we  are  not  particular ; 
but  we  are  very  particular  about  the  truth  taught  and  its 
consistent  application.  Whether  Christ  saves  us  or  drives 
us  into  hell,  whether  Gautama  Buddha  was  a  real  person  or 
there  never  was  such  a  man,  it  is  not  a  matter  of  consider- 
ation to  us,  but  the  consistency  of  doctrine  and  conduct  is 
the  point  on  which  we  put  the  greater  importance.  There- 
fore unless  the  inconsistency  which  we  observe  is  renounced, 
and  especially  the  unjust  treaty  by  which  we  are  wronged 
is  revised  upon  an  equitable  basis,  our  people  will  never 
cast  away  their  prejudice  about  Christianity,  in  spite  of  the 
eloquent  orator  who  speaks  its  truth  from  the  pulpit.  We 
are  very  often  called  barbarians,  and  I  have  heard  and  read 
that  Japanese  are  stubborn  and  cannot  understand  the  truth 
of  the  Bible.  I  will  admit  that  this  is  true  in  some  sense, 
for,  though  they  admire  the  eloquence  of  the  orator  and 
wonder  at  his  courage,  though  they  approve  his  logical 
argument,  yet  they  are  very  stubborn  and  will  not  join 
Christianity  as  long  as  they  think  it  is  a  western  morality  to 
preach  one  thing  and  practice  another. 

"But  I  know  this  is  not  the  morality  of  the  civilized 
west,  and  I  have  the  firm  belief  in  the  highest  humanity 
and  noble  generosity  of  the  Occidental  nations  toward  us. 
Especially  as  to  the  American  nation,  I  know  their  sympa- 
thy and  integrity.  I  know  their  sympathy  by  their  eman- 
cipation of  the  colored  people  from  slavery.  I  know  their 
integrity  by  the  patriotic  spirit  which  established  the  inde- 
pendence of  the  United  States  of  America.  And  I  feel  sure 
that  the  circumstances  which  made  the  American  people 


784  REPRESENTATIVE  VOICES 

declare  independence  are  in  some  sense  comparable  to  the 
present  state  of  my  country.  I  cannot  refrain  my  thrilling 
emotion  and  sympathetic  tears  whenever  I  read  the  Declara- 
tion of  Independence.  You,  citizens  of  this  glorious,  free  Uni- 
ted States,  who  struck  when  the  right  time  came,  struck  for 
*  Liberty  or  Death,'  you,  who  waded  through  blood  that 
you  might  fasten  to  the  mast  your  banner  of  the  Stripes 
and  Stars  upon  the  land  and  sea ;  you,  who  enjoy  the  fru- 
ition of  your  Liberty  through  your  struggle  for  it ;  you,  I 
say,  may  understand  somewhat  our  position,  and  as  you 
asked  for  justice  from  your  mother-country,  we,  too,  ask 
justice  from  these  foreign  powers. 

"If  any  religion  teaches  injustice  to  humanity,  I  will 
oppose  it,  as  I  have  ever  opposed  it,  with  my  blood  and  soul. 
I  will  be  the  bitterest  dissenter  from  Christianity,  or  I  will  be 
the  warmest  admirer  of  its  gospels.  To  the  promoters  of 
the  Parliament  and  the  ladies  and  gentlemen  of  the  world 
who  are  assembled  here,  I  pronounce  that  your  aim  is  the 
realization  of  the  Religious  Union,  not  nominally,  but  prac- 
tically. We,  the  forty  million  souls  of  Japan,  standing 
firmly  and  persistently  upon  the  basis  of  international  jus- 
tice, await  still  further  manifestations  as  to  the  morality  of 
Christianity." 

In  the  second  of  his  papers  in  the  parliament,  on  "  Syn- 
thetic Religion,"  speaking  of  the  religions  as  "brilliant 
suns,"  Mr.  Hirai,  to  open  his  subject,  said : 

"  One  sparkles  still  over  the  blue  vault  in  the  Persian 
forest,  while  the  two  brightest  flashing  from  the  sky  of 
India  and,  throwing  their  glittering  light  over  the  oriental 
wilderness,  tinge  with  crimson  hue  the  white  face  of  the 
snow  on  the  purple  Himalayas.  One  or  more  isolated  lumi- 
naries glance  toward  the  western  seas  from  among  the  clouds 
hovering  over  the  fan-shaped  Fujinoyama  pendant  from  the 
empyrean  of  sunland.  Several  in  the  celestial  expanse  of 
the  flowery  kingdom  and  in  the  horizons  of  the  Arabian 
desert,  with  many  others  here  and  there,  vie  with  one  another 
in  their  splendor  in  the  vast  cosmic  sphere.  One — *  the  star 
of  the  east ' — flashing  first  with  unwonted  splendor  over  the 


FROM  ALL  RACES  AND  NATIONS.  785 

Mount  of  Olives,  gradually  travelled  toward  the  European 
firmament  and  on  to  the  skies  of  the  new  world  of  America." 

In  what  the  writer  calls  an  age  of  concussion,  religions 
have  broken  up  into  many  sects.  The  next  stage  is  the 
present,  and  of  it  Mr.  Hirai  says : 

"  The  age  of  concussion,  however,  has  already  passed  and 
all  faiths  are  now  desiring  to  face  one  another  in  order  to 
blend  their  special  rays,  but  unfortunately  there  are  some 
obstacles  against  this  ideal  hope  of  friendship.  The  Occi- 
dent and  the  orient  are  attired  in  their  own  apparel  and  are 
speaking  in  their  own  tongues,  which  differ  entirely  from 
each  other,  and  in  so  far  as  the  costumes  of  them  are  not 
stripped  off  and  their  languages  are  not  translated,  they  will 
ever  remain  as  strangers.  There  is  still  another  impediment 
which  is  not  of  an  external  and  physical  nature,  but  is  of 
the  most  delicate  quality,  deeply  set  at  the  bottom  of  each 
mind — the  true  heart  of  different  religions,  and  until  this 
central  point  comes  to  be  well  comprehended  one  will  per- 
sistently repel  the  other  and  not  the  slightest  halo  can  be 
interchanged.  Unless  this  essential  nature  is  distinctly  re- 
vealed and  each  comes  to  a  better  understanding  of  the 
other,  there  will  never  be  the  time  of  a  grand  union  of  the 
world's  religions. 

"  Heretofore  we  have  had  scholars  who  have  investigated 
and  compared  the  different  religions,  yet  very  few  have  dis- 
cerned the  true  kernel  or  fixed  star,  but  most  of  them  have 
only  discovered  the  outside  discolored  envelope  of  these 
teachings,  just  like  the  astronomers,  who,  through  a  tele- 
scope, have  descried  the  black  spots  on  the  face  of  the  sun  and 
certain  unusual  phases  of  the  planets,  but  who  never  could 
prove  their  real  substances,  or,  sometimes,  a  fragmentary 
piece  of  scripture  supplies  the  topic  of  criticism  or  discus- 
sion, like  a  small  meteoric  stone  which  is  carefully  analyzed 
and  considered  to  be  the  essential  part  of  the  moon,  the 
composition  of  which  can  hardly  be  determined  by  a  single 
meteorite. 

"  How  can  religions  be  synthesized  ?  There  are  no  two 
things  exactly  alike,  and  as  long  as  we  dwell  upon  dissim- 


786  REPRESENTATIVE  VOICES 

ilarity  nothing  can  be  generalized.  A  certain  attribute 
equally  possessed  by  different  things  must  be  found  in  order 
to  arrange  them  in  one  group  under  its  head.  The  innumer- 
able different  living  beings  are  thus  classified  into  the  ani- 
mal kingdom,  or  the  larger  class  of  organism,  and  also  all 
organic  or  inorganic  bodies  are  brought  under  a  still  wider 
category  of  material  substance.  This  very  *  apprehension  of 
the  one  in  many '  is  the  only  method  by  the  application  of 
which  all  beliefs,  of  whatever  source  or  phase  they  may  be, 
are  to  be  reconciled.  In  other  words,  as  I  hinted  before,  if 
the  central  truth  common  to  all  religions  be  disclosed,  we 
can  accomplish  our  aim. 

"  It  is  an  idle  conception  to  think  that  prayer  and  wor- 
ship, with  their  mor,e  or  less  formal  ceremonies,  are  the 
important  characteristics  of  religion,  for  they  are  the  mere 
outside  paraphernalia  and  not  the  true  substance  which 
they  envelope." 

After  elaborately  discussing  the  nature  of  religion  as  be- 
lief in  the  unknown  behind  the  known,  Mr.  Hirai  said  : 

"  This  synthesis  of  all  faiths  is  no  more  a  vain  hope.  If  it 
were  ever  so  thought,  it  is  now  known  that  this  apparent 
dream  was  not  Utopian,  but  a  mirage  refracted  from  a  remote 
reality.  Could  I  but  have  for  a  few  moments  the  clairvoy- 
ant vision  of  the  seer  and  peer  into  the  deep  and  subtle 
minds  of  the  great  men  and  women  who  are  here  assembled, 
I  should  discover  one  aim  and  one  object  common  to  them 
all — the  desire  in  love  to  help  and  teach  the  others,  but  I 
should  also  find  a  mental  conception  and  hope  in  regard  to 
this  parliament  as  different  in  each  mind  as  the  faces  of  these 
members  vary  from  one  another. 

"  It  is  the  dream  of  the  Christian  representatives  that  in 
assembling  together  these  great  men  from  China,  from  India, 
from  Europe,  from  South  America,  from  Japan,  and  the 
islands  of  the  sea  they  will,  for  the  first  time,  behold  with 
understanding  the  bloody  cross  of  Christ  and  will  enroll 
under  the  banner  of  the  humble  Nazarene,  and  the  Christian 
representative  is  right ;  but  there  is  something  more. 

"  It  was  the  dream  of  the  Buddhist  that  the  clear  and  pure 


PALESTINE  JEWISH  WOMEN  IN  WALKING  COSTUME.— Oriental  custom 
prescribes  the  wearing  of  a  veil  to  women  of  any  social  position ;  and  to  even  look  at 
women  in  the  street  or  in  a  house  is  regarded  as  a  breach  of  decorum;  but  peasant  and 
Beduin  women  are  often  seen  unveiled. 


SHINTO  PRIEST,  JAPAN.— Shintoism,  based  on  respect  for  ancestors,  for  country, 
and  for  the  Imperial  House  which  is  at  the  head  of  the  country,  unites  all  Japanese,  what- 
ever other  faith  they  may  hold,  in  the  celebrations  of  ardent  patriotism.  No  existing 
religion  more  earnestly  seeks  peace  on  earth  and  good-will  to  men. 


FROM  ALL  RACES  AND  NATIONS.  787 

enlightenment  of  Gautama  might  be  explained  and  compre- 
hended by  the  student  of  the  west,  and  the  Buddhist  rep- 
resentative is  right ;  but  there  is  something  more. 

"  It  was  the  dream  of  the  representative  from  the  land  of 
the  star  and  crescent  and  all  those  Moslem^  who  pray  to 
Allah  with  their  faces  toward  Mecca,  that  some  recognition 
should  be  held  out  to  them  as  a  powerful  and  aggressive 
faith  which  has  earned  its  right  of  place  among  the  accepted 
religions  of  the  world,  and  the  representative  of  Mohammed 
is  right ;  but  there  is  something  more. 

"The  clean  Parsee,  purified  by  fire,  standing  almost  alone 
to-day  under  the  untarnished  flag  of  Zoroaster,  still  hopes 
and  dreams  of  a  revival  of  his  faith  by  the  influence  of  this 
parliament  of  religions,  and  he  is  right ;  but  there  is  some- 
thing more. 

"Members  of  this  great  auxiliary  assembly,  there  is  a 
surprise  awaiting  you.  The  lamb  and  the  lion  shall  lie 
down  together.  Looking  more  intently,  some  of  us  behold 
a  strange  thing — the  paradox,  the  anomaly — the  Christian  a 
Buddhist  and  the  Buddhist  a  Christian :  the  Moslem  a  Par- 
see  and  the  Parsee  a  Moslem.  The  grand,  far-reaching  result 
to  grow  out  of  this  parliament  is  not  what  you  conceive, 
but,  as  I  said  before,  a  surprise  awaits  you.  Out  of  it  shall 
come  a  pure  being— unfettered,  naked,  white,  with  eyes  like 
Christ  and  dignity  like  Buddha,  bearing  the  rewards  of 
Zoroaster  and  the  flaming  sword  of  Moslem.  To  her  the 
Jew  bows  his  head,  the  Christian  kneels,  the  Brahman  prays; 
before  her  the  habiliments  of  sects  and  creeds  fall  off,  for 
she  is  pure  and  naked — she  is  the  one  truth  resurrected 
from  the  mingled  heart  and  interchanged  mind  of  the 
world's  great  parliament  of  religions." 

The  farewell  word  of  Mr.  Hirai  was  this : 

"  We  cannot  but  admire  the  tolerant  forbearance  and 
compassion  of  the  people  of  the  civilized  west.  You  are 
the  pioneers  in  human  history.  You  have  achieved  an  as- 
sembly of  the  world's  religions,  and  we  believe  your  next 
step  will  be  toward  the  ideal  goal  of  this  parliament,  the 
realization  of  international  justice.  We  ourselves  desire  to 


788  REPRESENTATIVE  VOICES 

witness  its  fulfillment  in  our  lifetime  and  to  greet  you  again 
with  our  deepest  admiration." 

SHINTOISM. 

This  most  ancient  and  universal  faith  of  Japan  was  con- 
spicuously represented  in  the  parliament  by  Rt.  Rev. 
Reuchi  Shibata,  high-priest  of  the  Zhikko  sect  of  Shinto- 
ists.  The  Shinto  faith  turns  especially  on  respect  for  an- 
cestry, going  back  also  to  an  ideal  Divine  Ancestry.  It  is 
a  sort  of  national  spiritualism.  Zhikko  means  Practical,  and 
the  sect,  which  dates  from  a  founder  whose  work  covered 
the  years  1559-1647  A.D.,  finds  the  essence  of  religion  in  the 
practical  realization  of  good  teaching,  the  improvement  of 
the  present  life,  and  the  care  of  public  interests.  The  paper 
of  Mr.  Shibata  gave  this  general  idea  of  the  Shinto  faith,  to 
which,  as  a  nationalism,  all  Japanese  pay  respect,  no  matter 
what  other  faith  they  may  be  adherents  of  : 

"  I  feel  very  happy  to  be  able  to  attend  this  Congress 
of  Religions  as  a  member  of  the  Advisory  Council,  and  to 
hear  the  high  reasonings  and  profound  opinions  of  the  gen- 
tlemen who  come  from  various  countries  of  the  world.  As 
for  me  it  will  be  my  proper  task  to  explain  the  character  of 
Shintoism,  and  especially  of  my  Zhikko  sect. 

"  The  word  Shinto,  or  Kami-no-michi,  comes  from  the  two 
words  '  Shin '  or  *  Kami,'  each  of  which  means  Deity,  and 
*  to '  or  '  michi '  (way),  and  designates  the  way  transmitted 
to  us  from  our  Divine  Ancestors,  and  in  which  every  Jap- 
anese is  bound  to  walk.  Having  its  foundation  in  our  old 
history,  conforming  to  our  geographical  positions  and  the 
disposition  of  our  people,  this  way,  as  old  as  Japan  itself, 
came  down  to  us  with  its  original  form  and  will  last  forever, 
inseparable  from  the  Eternal  Imperial  House  and  the  Jap- 
anese nationality. 

"  According  to  our  ancient  Scriptures  there  were  a  gener- 
ation of  Kami  or  Deities  in  the  beginning  who  created  the 
heavens  and  the  earth,  together  with  all  things,  including 
human  beings,  and  became  the  ancestors  of  the  Japanese. 

"  Jimmu-tenno,  the  grandson  of  Mnigi-nomikoto,  was  the 


FROM  ALL  RACES  AND  NATIONS.  789 

first  of  the  human  emperors.  Having  brought  the  whole 
land  under  one  rule,  he  performed  great  services  to  the 
divine  ancestors,  cherished  his  subjects,  and  thus  discharged 
his  great  filial  duty,  as  did  all  the  emperors  after  him.  So 
also  all  the  subjects  were  deep  in  their  respect  and  adoration 
toward  the  divine  ancestors  and  the  emperors,  their  descend- 
ants. Though  in  the  course  of  time  various  doctrines  and 
creeds  were  introduced  into  the  country,  Confucianism  in 
the  reign  of  the  fifteenth  emperor,  Ojin,  Buddhism  in  the 
reign  of  the  twenty-ninth  emperor,  Kimmei,  and  Christianity 
in  modern  times,  the  emperors  and  the  subjects  never  neg- 
lected the  great  duty  of  Shinto.  The  present  forms  of  cere- 
mony are  come  down  to  us  from  time  immemorial  in  our 
history.  Of  the  three  divine  treasures  transmitted  from  the 
divine  ancestors,  the  divine  gem  is  still  held 'sacred  in  the 
imperial  palace,  the  divine  mirror  in  the  Great  Temple  of 
Iso,  and  the  divine  sword  in  the  Temple  of  Atsuta,  in  the 
Province  of  Owari.  To  this  day  his  majesty  the  emperor 
performs  himself  the  ceremony  of  worship  to  the  divine  an- 
cestors, and  all  the  subjects  perform  the  same  to  the  deities 
of  temples,  which  are  called,  according  to  the  local  extent  of 
the  festivity,  the  national,  the  provincial,  the  local,  and  the 
birthplace  temple.  When  the  festival  day  of  temples,  espe- 
cially of  the  birthplace,  etc.,  comes,  all  people  who,  living 
in  the  place,  are  considered  specially  protected  by  the  deity 
of  the  temple,  have  a  holiday,  and  unite  in  performing  the 
ancient  ritual  of  \vorship  and  praying  for  the  perpetuity  of 
the  imperial  line  and  for  profound  peace  over  the  land  and 
families.  The  deities  dedicated  to  the  temple  are  divine 
imperial  ancestors,  illustrious  loyalists,  benefactors  to  the 
place,  etc.  Indeed,  the  Shinto  is  a  beautiful  cultus  peculiar 
to  our  native  land,  and  is  considered  the  foundation  of  the 
perpetuity  of  the  imperial  house,  the  loyalty  of  the  subjects, 
and  the  stability  of  the  Japanese  State." 

Of  the  Zhikko  sect,  Mr.  Shibata,  who  is  its  presiding 
ecclesiastic,  said : 

"  The  Zhikko  (practical)  sect,  as  the  name  indicates,  does 
not  lay  so  much  stress  upon  mere  show  and  speculation  as 


790  REPRESENTATIVE  VOICES 

upon  the  realization  of  the  teachings.  Its  doctrines  are 
plain  and  simple,  and  teach  man  to  do  man's  proper  work. 
Being  a  new  sect,  it  is  free  from  the  old  dogmas  and  prej- 
udices, and  is  regarded  as  a  reformed  sect." 

[The  scriptures  in  use  and  the  theology  taught  in  them 
make  "  every  child  of  the  Heavenly  Deity  come  into  the 
world  with  a  soul  separated  from  the  one  original  soul  of 
Deity  ";  and  therefore  to  be  all  pure  in  thought  and  action.] 

"  We  would  respect  the  present  world  with  all  its  prac- 
tical works,  more  than  the  future  world  ;  pray  for  the  long 
life  of  the  emperor  and  the  peace  of  the  country  ;  and,  by 
leading  a  life  of  temperance  and  diligence,  co-operating  with 
one  another  in  doing  public  good,  we  should  be  responsible 
for  the  blessings  of  the  country." 

[From  a  sketch  of  the  Zhikko  founder,  it  appears  that 
Mr.  Shibata  is  the  eleventh  in  descent  from  him  ;  and  that 
Fuji  is  the  sacred  mountain  of  the  sect.] 

"As  our  doctrines  teach  us,  all  animate  and  inanimate 
things  were  born  from  One  Heavenly  Deity,  and  every  one 
of  them  has  its  particular  mission ;  so  we  ought  to  love 
them  all  and  also  to  respect  the  various  forms  of  religions 
in  the  world.  They  are  all  based,  I  believe,  on  the  funda- 
mental truth  of  religion.  The  difference  between  them  is 
only  in  the  outward  form,  influenced  by  variety  of  history, 
the  disposition  of  the  people,  and  the  physical  conditions  of 
the  places  where  they  originated. 

"  Lastly,  there  is  one  more  thought  that  I  wish  to  offer 
here.  While  it  is  the  will  of  Deity  and  the  aim  of  all  re- 
ligionists, that  all  His  beloved  children  on  the  earth  should 
enjoy  peace  and  comfort  in  one  accord,  many  countries  look 
still  with  envy  and  hatred  toward  one  another,  and  appear 
to  seek  for  opportunities  of  making  war  under  the  slightest 
pretext,  with  no  other  aim  than  of  wringing  out  ransoms  or 
robbing  a  nation  of  its  lands.  Thus,  regardless  of  the  ab- 
horrence of  the  Heavenly  Deity,  they  only  inflict  pain  and 
calamity  on  innocent  people.  Now  and  here  my  earnest 
wish  is  this,  that  the  time  should  come  soon  when  all  nations 
on  the  earth  will  join  their  armies  and  navies  with  one  ac- 


FROM  ALL  RACES  AND  NATIONS.  791 

cord,  guarding  the  world  as  a  whole,  and  thus  prevent  pre- 
posterous wars  with  each  other.  They  should  also  establish 
a  supreme  court,  in  order  to  decide  the  case  when  a  differ- 
ence arises  between  them.  In  that  state  no  nation  will 
receive  unjust  treatment  from  another,  and  every  nation  and 
every  individual  will  be  able  to  maintain  their  own  right 
and  enjoy  the  blessings  of  providence. 

"  There  will  thus  ensue,  at  last,  the  universal  peace  and 
tranquillity  which  seem  to  be  the  final  object  of  the  benevo- 
lent Deity. 

"  For  many  years  such  has  been  my  wish  and  hope.  In 
order  to  facilitate  and  realize  this  in  the  future,  I  earnestly 
plead  that  every  religionist  of  the  world  may  try  to  edify 
the  nearest  people  to  devotion,  to  root  out  enmity  between 
nations,  and  to  promote  our  common  object." 

CONFUCIANISM. 

No  more  modest,  thoughtful,  and  scholarly  master  of 
learning  and  wisdom  stood  before  the  parliament  than  the 
Chinese  representative,  Pung  Kwang.  Yu,  who  figures  in  the 
parliament  book  for  by  far  the  longest  of  its  papers.  As  Sec- 
retary of  the  Chinese  Legation  at  Washington  and  deputed 
by  the  Emperor  to  represent  China,  Mr.  Yu  was  one  of  the 
great  personages  of  the  parliament.  The  learned  story  of 
the  religions  of  the  world  has  never  before  had  a  chapter 
more  remarkable  than  his  extended  account  of  Confucian- 
ism. In  his  response  to  welcome  in  the  opening  meeting, 
Mr.  Yu  said : 

"  This  is  a  great  moment  in  the  history  of  nations  and  re- 
ligions. For  the  first  time  men  of  various  faiths  meet  in 
one  great  hall  to  report  what  they  believe  and  the  grounds 
for  their  belief.  The  great  sage  of  China,  who  is  honored 
not  only  by  the  millions  of  our  own  land,  but  throughout  the 
world,  believed  that  duty  was  summed  up  in  reciprocity, 
and  I  think  the  word  reciprocity  finds  a  new  meaning  and 
glory  in  the  proceedings  of  this  historic  parliament.  I  am 
glad  that  the  great  empire  of  China  has  accepted  the  invita- 
tion of  those  who  have  called  this  parliament  and  is  to  be 


792  REPRESENTATIVE  VOICES 

t 

represented  in  this  great  school  of  comparative  religion. 
Only  the  happiest  results  will  come,  I  am  sure,  from  our 
meeting  together  in  the  spirit  of  friendliness.  Each  may 
learn  from  the  other  some  lessons,  I  trust,  of  charity  and 
good- will,  and  discover  what  is  excellent  in  other  faiths 
than  his  own.  In  behalf  of  my  government  and  people,  I 
extend  to  the  representatives  gathered  in  this  great  hall  the 
friendliest  salutations,  and  to  those  who  have  spoken  I  give 
my  most  cordial  thanks." 

In  the  introduction  to  his  paper  on  Confucianism,  Mr.  Yu 
made  these  explanations : 

"  When  Europeans  first  made  their  way  into  China,  to- 
ward the  close  of  the  Ming  dynasty,  they  found  it  difficult 
to  hit  upon  a  proper  Chinese  word  for  God.  They  made 
use  of  the  terms  '  Shangti '  (Ruler  of  the  Upper  Regions), 
'Shen'  (Spirit),  'Chan  Shen'  (True  Spirit),  < Tuh-i-chi-Shen ' 
(Only  Spirit).  Sometimes  they  merely  translated  the  words 
*  Pater '  and  *  Jehovah '  by  means  of  Chinese  characters.  In 
their  worship  they  made  use  of  images.  They  had  certain 
traditions  on  the  subject  of  cosmogony.  Their  religious 
beliefs  seemed  to  bear  a  strong  resemblance  to  those  held 
by  Buddhist  and  Taoist  priests.  The  Buddhists  call  their 
God  Si-di-hun-yin,  and  Taoist  priests  also  have  a  distinct 
name  for  their  Supreme  Ruler  of  Heaven,  together  with  the 
host  of  deities  they  adore.  Both  the  Buddhists  and  the 
Taoists  in  their  worship  make  use  of  pictures  and  graven 
images,  and  represent  their  deities  in  costumes  of  princes 
that  once  ruled  the  land  of  their  origin.  They  have  their 
own  accounts  of  the  creation  of  the  universe,  in  which 
events  are  related  with  the  vividness  of  eye-witnesses,  but  in 
which  there  are  irreconcilable  discrepancies  as  to  the  names 
and  dates.  The  Confucianists,  however,  have  never  indulged 
in  speculations  of  this  nature. 

"  There  are  some  Western  scholars  who  say  that  the  sys- 
tem of  doctrines  of  Confucius  cannot  be  properly  called  a 
Religion,  and  there  are  others  who  say  that  China  has  no 
Religion  of  her  own.  That  the  ethical  system  of  Confucius 
cannot  be  called  a  Religion  may  be  admitted  without  fear  of 


FROM  ALL  RACES  AND  NATIONS.  793 

contradiction,  but  that  China  has  no  Religion  of  her  own 
must  be  taken  as  not  well  founded  iu  fact.  The  primary 
signification  of  the  word  '  yu '  is  scholar.  In  remote  times, 
when  observations  had  to  be  first  made  of  things  in  the 
heavens  above  and  of  things  on  the  earth  beneath,  discov- 
eries and  inventions  were  the  order  of  the  day.  There  were 
no  teachers  to  teach  and  no  learners  to  learn.  Consequently 
there  were  no  men  who  could  lay  claim  to  the  title  of  *  yu ' 
in  the  beginning.  In  looking  up  the  origin  of  the  word 
'  yu,'  it  is  found  in  the  Book  of  Rites  of  the  Chau  dynasty, 
and  was,  therefore,  first  used  in  the  mediaeval  age  of  antiq- 
uity. But  there  were  priests  in  China  as  far  back  as  the 
time  of  Hwangti.  '  In  ancient  times,'  say  the  traditions  of 
Tsoh,  '  there  were  persons  who  were  known  by  their  single- 
ness of  heart ;  who  were  dignified  in  bearing  and  upright 
in  life  ;  whose  understandings  were  such  as  to  enable  them 
to  get  at  the  inner  meaning  of  things  above  and  things  be- 
low ;  whose  wisdom  shed  light  far  and  wide ;  whose  sight 
was  so  clear  that  things  appeared  to  them  as  if  illumined 
by  a  strong  light ;  and  whose  hearing  was  so  acute  that  they 
could  detect  the  faintest  sound.  Upon  such  the  Divine 
Spirit  often  descended.'  Inspired  persons  of  this  character 
were  called  '  chih,'  if  men,  and  *  wu,'  if  women,  in  order  to 
distinguish  their  sex.  But  in  the  Book  of  Rites  of  the 
Chau  dynasty  inspired  men  and  women  are  indiscriminately 
called  'wu.'  It  will  be  seen  that  a  form  of  Religion  was 
practiced  in  China  not  only  long  before  the  appearance  of 
the  Confucian  school,  but  also  long  before  the  appearance 
of  any  of  the  great  religious  founders  who  formulated  the 
grand  systems  of  religious  belief.  The  term  *  wu '  was  orig- 
inally applied  to  inspired  persons  possessing  clearness  of 
sight,  acuteness  of  hearing,  wisdom,  and  understanding. 
Such  gifts  were  quite  beyond  the  reach  of  common  men, 
but  as  men  of  wisdom  and  understanding  did  not  make 
their  appearance  in  every  age,  there  began  to  spring  up  in 
after  ages  men  who  made  pretensions  to  wisdom  and  under- 
standing while  they  were  only  familiar  with  magical  and 
strange  arts. 


794  REPRESENTATIVE  VOICES 

"Confucius  made  man  only  the  subject  of  his  study 
and  abstained  from  discoursing  on  wonders,  brute  force, 
rebellion,  and  spirits.  In  connection  with  this  subject,  he 
says  that  the  art  of  rendering  effective  services  to  the  peo- 
ple consists  in  keeping  aloof  from  spirits  as  well  as  holding 
them  in  respect.  '  We  have  not  yet  performed  our  duties 
to  men,'  says  he,  '  how  can  we  perform  our  duties  to  spir- 
its ?'  '  We  know  not  as  yet  about  life ;  how  can  we  know 
about  death ? '  'He  who  has  sinned  against  Heaven  has  no 
place  to  pray.'  '  The  master  minds  that  ruled  in  ancient 
times,'  says  he  in  his  notes  to  the  Book  of  Changes, '  in- 
structed the  people  how  to  live  in  conformity  with  the  laws 
of  nature,  and  thus  won  their  respect  and  confidence.' 
Again  he  says :  '  The  changes  are  in  perfect  accordance 
with  the  laws  of  nature;  consequently  they  pervade  the 
whole  system  of  nature.  They  are  noted  in  the  observation 
of  heavenly  bodies,  and  in  the  investigation  of  terrestrial 
phenomena;  consequently  from  them  may  be  learned  the 
cause  of  light  and  darkness.  They  commence  at  the  begin- 
ning and  return  at  the  end ;  consequently  from  them  may 
be  learned  the  theories  of  life  and  death.  They  show  that 
the  body  is  but  a  concretion  of  elementary  essences  which 
may  be  transformed  into  flitting  spirits  ;  consequently  from 
them  may  be  learned  the  nature  of  souls  and  spirits.'  Still 
he  is  silent  on  the  cause  of  light  and  darkness  that  may  be 
learned,  on  the  theories  of  life  and  death  that  may  be 
learned,  and  on  the  nature  of  souls  and  spirits  that  may  be 
learned.  One  may  infer  from  this  that  the  laws  of  nature 
and  the  laws  of  the  spiritual  world  lie  beyond  the  compre- 
hension of  all  men  but  those  endowed  by  nature  with  the 
spirit  of  wisdom,  and  can  be  understood  only  by  men  whose 
intellectual  gifts  are  far  above  the  average.  Under  such  cir- 
cumstances any  attempt  to  present  before  the  people  ques- 
tions and  problems  that  are  incomprehensible  and  incapable 
of  demonstration,  serves  only  to  delude  them  by  a  crowd  of 
misleading  lights  and  lead  them  to  error  and  confusion. 
On  the  other  hand,  everybody  can  understand  and  appre- 
ciate what  is  said  concerning  the  duties  of  life.  Even  men 


FROM  ALL  RACES  AND  NATIONS.  795 

of  the  lowest  order  of  intelligence  do  not  find  it  difficult  to 
know  and  to  do  them.  As  long  as  one  fulfills  the  duties  of 
life  conscientiously,  one  has,  in  fact,  followed  the  path  of 
virtue,  and  avoided  the  path  of  wickedness,  thus  holding  in 
his  hands  the  means  of  securing  happiness  and  keeping 
back  misfortune.  What  harm  is  there  if  such  a  one  has 
never  heard  of  the  laws  of  nature  or  the  laws  of  the  spir- 
itual world,  and  does  not  know  anything  about  prayer? 
Therefore,  the  wise  rulers  of  antiquity  laid  down  the  rules 
of  propriety  and  the  principles  of  instruction  so  clearly  that 
men  of  the  lowest  as  well  as  of  the  highest  order  of  intelli- 
gence could  all  understand  them  and  easily  carry  them  out, 
in  the  hope  that  the  people  would  not  turn  away  from  the 
duties  of  life  to  speculations  on  the  laws  of  nature  and  the 
laws  of  the  spiritual  world.  What  are  the  duties  of  life  ? 
They  consist  of  nothing  else  than  that  sovereigns  should  be 
humane ;  subjects  loyal ;  parents  loving ;  children  obedient ; 
husbands  faithful ;  wives  devoted ;  .elder  brothers  respect- 
ful ;  friends  true  to  each  other.  The  three  superior  claims 
and  the  live  social  relations  are  grounded  upon  tne  necessi- 
ties of  nature  and  fully  recognized  by  all  men.  The  wise 
and  the  foolish,  the  high  and  the  low,  are  equally  bound  by 
these  natural  ties.  For  this  reason  the  intelligent  portion 
of  the  Chinese  people  have  always  ranged  themselves  among 
the  followers  of  Confucius,  who  may  be  said  to  have  suc- 
ceeded to  the  privileges  of  the  ancient  priesthood  without 
adopting  the  practice  of  the  great  teachers  of  the  West  in 
making  religious  worship  the  basis  of  their  systems  of 
education. 

"  Owing  to  the  radical  differences  in  customs  and  manners 
between  China  and  the  nations  of  the  West,  what  is  properly 
called  religion  has  never  been  considered  as  a  desirable 
thing  for  the  people  to  know  and  for  the  Government  to 
sanction.  The  reason  is,  that  every  attempt  to  propagate 
religious  doctrines  in  China  has  always  given  rise  to  the 
spreading  of  falsehoods  and  errors,  and  finally  resulted  in  re- 
sistance to  legitimate  authority  and  in  bringing  dire  calami- 
ties upon  the  country.  At  first  the  Chinese  mind  was  not 


796  REPRESENTATIVE  VOICES 

prejudiced  in  any  way  against  religious  doctrines  of  any  kind 
or  against  religious  teachings  of  any  species.  Time  would 
not  suffice  if  I  were  to  adduce  proofs  from  the  whole  range 
of  Chinese  history  in  support  of  my  assertion. 

"  During  the  period  of  Chinese  history  known  as  the  period 
of  Spring  and  Autumn,  and  that  of  the  Warring  States,  the 
adherents  of  the  various  schools  of  philosophy  were  especi- 
ally addicted  to  propagandism.  But  Confucius  enjoined  a 
different  practice  on  his  disciples.  The  precept  given  by 
Confucius  is  comprised  in  the  two  words, '  sincerity '  and 
'disinterestedness.'  'Whatsoever  ye  would  not,'  says  he, 
'  that  others  should  do  to  you,  do  ye  not  then  unto  them.' 
Therefore  propagandism  is  a  practice  that  does  not  commend 
itself  to  the  favorable  consideration  of  Chinese  scholars, 
ministers  of  state,  and  emperors.  I  have  no  desire  to  be  re- 
garded as  a  propagandist  of  Confucianism.  My  ambition  is, 
that  I  may  be  called  a  follower  of  Confucius.  It  may  be 
rather  presuming  in  me,  however,  to  aspire  to  be  a  follower 
of  Confucius.  I  shall  be  content  if  it  can  be  said  of  me,  that 
I  strive  to  cultivate  that  love  of  study  which  Confucius 
recommends. 

"  Every  faith  has  its  grand  scriptures,  esoteric  doctrines, 
abstruse  principles,  and  well-known  expressions  of  thought. 
All  have  for  their  object  what  the  treaties  concluded  between 
China  and  the  Western  Powers  call  teaching  men  to  do  good. 
I  have  always  had  a  great  desire  to  know  about  the  good 
things  of  other  religions,  but  never  had  the  opportunity. 
Though  unable  to  contribute  anything  of  value  to  the  dis- 
cussions of  the  Parliament,  I  cannot  help  congratulating 
myself  that  I  may  now  have  a  chance  to  learn  about  such 
good  things  by  taking  my  place  at  the  foot  of  the  long  line 
of  delegates  from  all  nations.  It  is  the  duty  of  Confucian- 
ists  to  tell  one  another  any  good  one  may  hear  of,  and  to 
show  one  another  any  good  one  may  know.  It  is  said  that 
Yu  was  wont  to  acknowledge  with  a  bow  his  obligation  to 
any  one  who  spoke  a  good  word ;  that  Confucius,  upon  see- 
ing any  good  in  another,  felt  as  if  he  himself  had  not  attained 
to  it ;  that  Yen-tz,  when  he  had  attained  to  any  good,  held 


FROM  ALL  RACES  AND  NATIONS.  797 

it  with  a  firm  grasp  ;  that  Tz-lu  always  made  great  haste  to 
do  whatever  good  came  to  his  knowledge,  for  fear  that  he 
might  not  have  it  done  before  some  more  good  should  come 
to  his  knowledge.  I  am  actuated  with  just  such  a  desire  to 
learn  that  which  is  good." 

Leading  points  of  Mr.  Yu's  full  exposition  of  Chinese 
faith  may  be  seen  from  the  following  passages  : 

"  History  recognizes  only  a  single  uncrowned  lawgiver  who 
has  been  venerated  by  sovereigns  and  ministers  of  all  succeed- 
ing generations  as  their  own  teacher  in  compliance  with  com- 
mands issued  by  their  sovereigns  and  ministers,  and  who  has 
been  venerated  by  the  people  of  succeeding  generations  as 
the  teacher  of  their  sovereigns  and  ministers.  That  man  is 
Confucius.  Therefore,  before  the  time  of  Confucius,  though 
the  people  had  to  learn  from  teachers,  only  rulers  in  those 
days  were  the  repository  of  knowledge,  so  that  no  other 
teachers  could  be  had  than  those  that  were  in  authority. 
Instruction  given  by  teachers  was  then  equivalent  to  instruc- 
tion given  by  rulers.  After  Confucius,  however,  though  the 
people  have  always  looked  to  their  rulers  for  enlightenment, 
yet  if  the  teachings  of  Confucius  should  be  set  at  naught, 
the  people  would  not  willingly  obey.  For  this  reason,  in- 
struction given  by  rulers  has  become,  in  fact,  instruction 
given  by  a  teacher. 

"Confucius  appeared  on  the  scene  at  a  time  when  the 
fortune  of  the  Chau  dynasty  was  at  a  low  ebb ;  at  a  time 
when  one  tyrant  after  another  usurped  sovereign  authority. 
He  met  with  a  cold  reception  from  his  contemporaries,  and 
ended  his  days  in  discontented  retirement.  As  he  had  no 
opportunity  to  carry  out  his  ideas  of  social  reform  during 
his  lifetime,  why  should  he  desire  to  bequeath  his  teachings 
to  posterity  3  Yet  posterity  has  freely  accorded  to  him  its 
tribute  of  veneration,  nay,  has  even  matched  his  virtues  with 
those  of  heaven  and  earth,  and  extolled  his  principles  as  the 
connecting  link  between  the  ancient  and  modern  civiliza- 
tions. Confucius  practically  concentrated  in  himself  the 
wisdom  of  the  ancients— a  wisdom  as  comprehensive  as 
heaven  and  earth  in  its  beneficence ;  a  wisdom  as  splendid 


798  REPRESENTATIVE  VOICES 

as  the  combined  effect  of  the  sun  and  moon ;  a  wisdom  as  in- 
variable as  the  succession  of  the  seasons  ;  a  wisdom  so  pene- 
trating as  to  be  able  to  distinguish  good  and  evil  with  the 
unerring  judgment  of  spirits.  He  has  thus  given  an  example 
to  all  ages,  and  established  the  standard  of  moral  excellence. 
Chinese  civilization  would  have  suffered  an  irreparable  check 
if  Confucius  had  never  been  born.  For  after  the  death  of 
Confucius,  the  occupant  of  the  throne,  who  belonged  to  the 
House  of  Tsin,  attempted  to  blot  out  all  knowledge  of  an- 
tiquity from  the  land  by  consigning  all  books  found  to  the 
flames.  It  was  due  to  the  veneration  in  which  Confucius 
was  held  that  his  followers  took  the  pains  to  commit  to 
memory  the  various  productions  that  had  the  sanction  of  his 
authority,  and  preferred  death  to  the  renunciation  of  his 
teaching.  They  succeeded  in  rescuing  from  destruction  a 
hundredth  part  of  the  ancient  writings.  The  wisdom  of  the 
ancients  thus  came  out  of  the  dark  age  of  oppression,  like 
the  reappearance  of  the  sun  or  moon  after  an  eclipse,  or  the 
return  of  the  raging  waters  to  their  proper  channels  after  a 
great  flood.  In  this  way  the  shining  examples  of  the  past 
have  been  preserved  to  rulers  in  after  ages  for  their  instruc- 
tion and  support. 

"  It  is  then  due  to  the  unsatisfied  ambition  and  pitying 
heart  of  Confucius  that  we  have  this  day  the  means  of 
measuring  heaven  and  earth,  vast  as  they  are,  and  of  uniting 
the  ancient  and  modern  eras,  though  separated  by  great  dis- 
tance of  time.  In  order  to  appreciate  the  wisdom  of  Con- 
fucius, we  must  view  it  as  a  wisdom  running  though  the 
ancient  and  modern  civilizations.  In  order  to  conceive  of 
the  service  of  Confucius  to  mankind,  we  can  only  compare 
it  to  that  of  heaven  and  earth.  Other  master  minds  were 
only  the  representatives  of  the  wisdom  of  the  age  to  which 
they  belonged ;  but  Confucius  concentrated  in  himself  the 
quintessence  of  them  all. 

"  From  the  dawn  of  Chinese  civilization  down  to  the  pres- 
ent day  sixty  centuries  have  rolled  by.  During  this  long 
period  men  of  transcendent  wisdom  have  appeared  by  the 
hundred,  men  of  genius  by  the  thousand,  men  of  intelligence 


FROM  ALL  RACES  AND  NATIONS.  799 

and  ability  by  tens  and  hundreds  of  thousands.  Some  have 
attained  to  the  highest  posts  in  the  State,  and  others  hare 
been  founders  of  philosophical  systems.  Take  the  wisdom 
of  any  one  of  them  as  true  wisdom  and  his  virtues  as  true 
virtues,  and  even  carry  his  doctrines  to  their  legitimate  con- 
clusions, though  diametrically  opposite  they  may  be  to  those 
reached  by  others.  Still  some  good  would  doubtless  accrue 
to  future  generations,  and  some  benefits  spread  into  distant 
lands.  What,  then,  caused  the  Chinese  to  choose  from 
among  all  the  master  minds  of  ancient  and  modern  times 
Confucius,  who  was  but  a  private  individual,  and  with  one 
voice  acknowledge  him  as  their  most  venerated  teacher,  and 
base  their  system  of  education  entirely  on  the  lines  laid 
down  by  him  ?  Why  is  it  that  Confucius  alone  should  be 
able  to  obtain  recognition  as  the  pre-eminent  example  for  all 
ages  to  follow?  And  why  is  it  that  his  teachings  should 
have  such  a  hold  upon  the  Chinese  people  as  to  become  ab- 
solutely fixed  in  their  hearts  ? 

"  The  '  yu,'  says  the  Book  of  Rites,  in  the  chapter  on  the 
functions  of  the  Prime  Minister, '  is  a  person  that  has  won 
the  respect  of  the  people  by  his  sound  learning.'  The  Min- 
ister of  Public  Instruction  was  charged  with  the  duty  of 
selecting  orthodox  scholars  for  teachers.  The  signification 
of  the  word  '  yu '  is  scholar — one  who  has  self-control  enough 
to.be  able  always  to  maintain  a  mild  and  equable  temper,  and 
at  the  same  time  devotes  his  life  to  the  cultivation  of  the  arts 
and  sciences.  He  must  have,  in  other  words,  such  endow- 
ments and  attainments  as  qualify  him  to  mediate  between 
the  conflicting  interests  of  the  people,  and  at  the  same  time 
win  for  him  their  respect  and  confidence.  Confucius  used 
to  think  that  the  characteristics  of  a  typical  *  yu '  were  so 
manifold  that  a  complete  analysis  of  them  could  not  be 
given  offhand,  or  at  one  sitting,  but  must  take  time.  This 
much  may  be  said  about  the  *  yu '  as  he  was  before  the  time 
of  Confucius. 

"  Confucius,  in  his  teaching,  holds  up  Yao  and  Shun  as 
examples  of  perfection,  and  Wen  and  Wu  as  models  of 
excellence.  He  prescribes  rules  of  propriety  for  the  guid- 


800  REPRESENTATIVE  VOICES 

ance  of  sovereigns  and  subjects,  of  parents  and  children, 
and  draws  a  line  of  demarkation  between  the  spheres  of  hus- 
band and  wife,  and  between  those  of  the  old  and  the  young. 
He  lays  special  stress  on  the  doctrine  of  clearly  denned 
social  relations  as  the  foundation-stone  of  his  system.  The 
writings  of  the  different  schools,  on  this  account,  are  satu- 
rated with  it. 

"  Confucius,  though  endowed  with  a  sort  of  intuitive  wis- 
dom, failed  to  arrive  at  a  high  station  in  the  State,  and 
therefore  had  no  opportunity  to  carry  out  his  own  theories 
of  government.  Accordingly  he  devoted  himself  to  study 
and  contemplation,  and  recommended  a  similar  course  of 
life  to  posterity.  On  this  account,  students  have  ever  held 
him  in  reverence  as  the  universally  recognized  father  of 
learning. 

"  Confucius  devoted  himself  to  the  study  of  man's  rela- 
tions to  society.  In  his  teaching,  he  directed  his  attention 
to  four  things,  namely,  refinement,  proper  conduct,  sincer- 
ity, and  truth,  all  having  important  bearing  on  man's  rela- 
tion to  society. 

"The  schools  in  China  are  divided  into  several  grades. 
There  are  family  schools,  national  academies,  endowed  insti- 
tutions of  learning.  The  different  departments,  prefectures, 
and  districts  have  their  respective  schools,  the  general  name 
for  them  all  being  Confucian  schools.  But  what  is  the 
course  of  study  pursued  in  these  schools  ?  Literature  and 
art  are  considered  merely  as  adjuncts,  and  the  exposition  of 
social  duties  is  the  fundamental  thing.  Thus,  from  the  upper 
classes  to  the  lower,  there  is  not  a  day  in  which  the  observ- 
ance of  social  duties  is  not  inculcated.  Accordingly  every 
Confucian  school  consists  of  a  shrine  for  the  worship  of 
Confucius,  bearing  the  words  '  Ta  Ching '  (which  is,  being 
interpreted, '  Great  Completeness '),  and  a  hall  for  the  assem- 
bling of  students,  bearing  the  words  '  Ming  Lun '  (which  is, 
being  interpreted,  *  Exposition  of  Social  Duties.' 

" '  Man,'  says  Confucius  in  the  Book  of  Rites, '  is  the  prod- 
uct of  heaven  and  earth,  the  union  of  the  active  and  passive 
principles,  the  conjunction  of  the  soul  and  spirit,  and  the 


FROM  ALL  RACES  AND  NATIONS.  801 

ethereal  essence  of  the  five  elements.'  Again  he  says, « Man 
is  the  heart  of  heaven  and  earth,  and  the  nucleus  of  the  five 
elements,  formed  by  assimilating  food,  by  distinguishing 
sounds,  and  by  the  action  of  light.'  Now,  the  heaven  and 
earth,  the  active  and  passive  principles,  and  the  soul  and 
spirit  are  dualisms  resulting  from  unities.  The  product  of 
heaven  and  earth,  the  union  of  the  active  and  passive  prin- 
ciples, the  conjunction  of  the  soul  and  spirit,  are  unities 
resulting  from  dualisms.  Man,  being  the  connecting  link 
between  unities  and  dualisms,  is  therefore  called  the  heart 
of  heaven  and  earth.  By  reason  of  his  being  the  heart  of 
heaven  and  earth,  humanity  is  his  natural  faculty  and  love 
his  controlling  emotion.  'Humanity,'  says  Confucius,  'is 
the  characteristic  of  man.'  On  this  account  humanity  stands 
at  the  head  of  the  five  faculties,  or  innate  qualities  of  the 
soul,  namely:  humanity,  rectitude,  propriety,  understanding, 
and  truthfulness.  Humanity  must  have  the  social  relations 
for  its  sphere  of  action.  Love  must  begin  at  home. 

"  What  are  the  social  relations  ?  They  are  sovereign  and 
subject,  parent  and  child,  husband  and  wife,  elder  and 
younger  brothers,  and  friends.  These  are  called  the  five 
relations,  or  natural  relations.  As  the  relation  of  husband 
and  wife  must  have  been  recognized  before  that  of  sovereign 
and  subject,  or  that  of  parent  and  child,  the  relation  of  hus- 
band and  wife  is,  therefore,  the  first  of  the  social  relations. 
The  relation  of  husband  and  wife  bears  a  certain  analogy  to 
that  of  '  kien '  and  '  kiun.'  The  word  '  Men '  may  be  taken 
in  the  sense  of  heaven,  sovereign,  parent,  or  husband.  As 
the  earth  is  subservient  to  heaven,  so  is  the  subject  subser- 
vient to  the  sovereign,  the  child  to  the  parent,  and  the  wife 
to  the  husband.  These  three  mainstays  of  the  social  struc- 
ture have  their  origin  in  the  law  of  nature,  and  do  not  owe 
their  existence  to  the  invention  of  men. 

"  The  emotions  are  but  the  manifestations  of  the  soul's 
faculties  when  acted  upon  by  external  objects.    There  are 
seven  emotions,  namely :  joy,  anger,  grief,  fear,  love,  hate, 
and  desire.    The  faculties  of  the  soul  derive  their  origin  ( 
from  nature,  and  are,  therefore,  called  natural  faculties; 


802  REPRESENTATIVE  VOICES 

the  emotions  emanate  from  man,  and  are,  therefore,  called 
human  emotions. 

"  Humanity  sums  up  the  virtues  of  the  five  natural  facul- 
ties. Filial  duty  lies  at  the  foundation  of  humanity.  The 
sense  of  propriety  serves  to  regulate  the  emotions.  The 
recognition  of  the  relation  of  husband  and  wife  is  the  first 
step  in  the  cultivation  and  development  of  humanity.  The 
principles  that  direct  human  progress  are  sincerity  and 
charity,  and  the  principles  that  carry  it  forward  are  devotion 
and  honor.  '  Do  not  unto  others,'  says  Confucius,  '  whatso- 
ever ye  would  not  that  others  should  do  unto  you.'  Again 
he  says :  '  A  noble-minded  man  has  four  rules  to  regulate 
his  conduct :  to  serve  one's  parents  in  such  a  manner  as  is 
required  of  a  son  ;  to  serve  one's  sovereign  in  such  a  man- 
ner as  is  required  of  a  subject ;  to  serve  one's  elder  brother 
in  such  a  manner  as  is  required  of  a  younger  brother  ;  to 
set  an  example  of  dealing  with  one's  friends  in  such  a  man- 
ner as  is  required  of  friends.'  This  succinct  statement  puts 
in  a  nutshell  all  the  requirements  of  sincerity,  charity,  devo- 
tion, and  honor, — in  other  words,  of  humanity  itself.  There- 
fore all  natural  virtues  and  established  doctrines  that  relate 
to  the  duties  of  man  in  relation  to  society,  must  have  their 
origin  in  humanity. 

"  The  spirit  of  man  is  invisible ;  yet  when  we  consider 
that  the  eyes  can  see,  the  ears  can  hear,  the  mouth  can  dis- 
tinguish flavors,  the  nose  can  smell,  and  the  mind  can  grasp 
what  is  most  minute  as  well  as  what  is  most  remote,  how 
can  we  account  for  all  this  ?  But  the  Spirit  who  rules  this 
universe  of  created  things ;  who  accomplishes  all  his  pur- 
poses without  effort ;  whose  presence  cannot  be  perceived 
by  the  senses  of  hearing  and  of  smell ;  who  dwells  ever  in 
an  atmosphere  of  serene  majesty  ;  who  is  the  dispenser  of 
all  things, — is  called  by  Confucianists  '  Ti,'  Supreme  Ruler, 
and  not  merely  *  shen,'  spirit.  The  '  Ti,'  '  Supreme  Ruler,' 
is  eternal  and  unchangeable.  Before  the  creation  of  the 
universe  he  existed,  and  after  the  dissolution  of  the  universe 
he  will  remain  the  same. 

"The  purpose  of  inducing  men  to  do  good  and  forsake 


FROM  ALL  RACES  AND  NATIONS.  803 

evil  by  presenting  in  striking  contrast  a  hereafter  to  be 
striven  for  and  a  hereafter  to  be  avoided,  is  laudable  enough 
in  some  respects.  But  it  is  the  perpetuation  of  falsehood 
by  slavishly  clinging  to  errors  that  deserve  condemnation. 
For  this  reason  Conf  ucianists  do  not  accept  such  doctrines, 
though  they  make  no  attempt  to  suppress  them.  « We  can- 
not as  yet,'  says  Confucius,  '  perform  our  duties  to  men  ; 
how  can  we  perform  our  duties  to  spirits  ? '  Again  he  says, 
'  We  know  not  as  yet  about  life  ;  how  can  we  know  about 
death  3 '  '  From  this  time  on,'  says  Tsang-tz, '  I  know  that 
I  am  saved.'  'Let  my  consistent  actions  remain,'  says 
Chang- tz,  '  and  I  shall  die  in  peace.'  It  will  be  seen  that  the 
wise  and  good  men  of  China  have  never  thought  it  advisable 
to  give  up  teaching  the  duties  of  life,  and  turn  to  specula- 
tions on  the  conditions  of  souls  and  spirits  after  death. 

"  Suppose  there  is  a  man  who  has  never  entertained  a 
good  thought,  and  never  done  a  good  deed,  does  it  stand  to 
reason  that  such  a  wretch  can,  by  means  of  sacrifice  and 
prayer,  attain  to  the  blessings  of  life  ?  Let  us  take  the  op- 
posite case,  and  suppose  that  there  is  a  man  who  has  never 
harbored  a  bad  thought  and  never  done  a  bad  deed,  does  it 
stand  to  reason  that  there  is  no  escape  for  such  a  man  from 
adverse  fortune  except  through  prayers  and  sacrifices  ?  *  My 
prayers,'  says  Confucius,  *  were  offered  up  long  ago.'  The 
meaning  he  wishes  to  convey  is  that  he  considers  his  prayers 
to  consist  in  living  a  virtuous  life  and  in  constantly  obeying 
the  dictates  of  conscience.  He,  therefore,  looks  upon  prayers 
as  of  no  avail  to  deliver  any  one  from  sickness.  '  He  who 
sins  against  Heaven,'  again  he  says,  '  has  no  place  to  pray.' 

"  I  have  always  read  with  delight  the  writings  of  the 
ancient  sages  of  Asia,  but  unfortunately  I  am  not  gifted 
with  a  retentive  memory.  Though  the  founders  of  the  most 
widespread  historic  faiths,  like  Zoroaster,  Gautama,  Christ, 
and  Mohammed,  were  all  born  in  Asia,  yet  they  made  use  of 
different  languages  to  communicate  their  teachings.  With 
the  exception  of  the  Buddhistic  and  Christian  Scriptures, 
there  are  no  good  Chinese  versions  of  the  sacred  writings  of 
the  other  great  faiths.  What  is  found  in  China,  therefore, 


804  REPRESENTATIVE  VOICES 

about  Zoroastrianism  and  Mohammedanism  is  somewhat  frag- 
mentary. It  is  a  great  pity  that  the  Christian  Scriptures 
have  been  translated  into  the  Chinese  thus  far  only  by  men 
evidently  deficient  in  doctrinal  knowledge  as  well  as  in 
lingual  requirements,  so  that  the  best  version  of  the  Chris- 
tian Bible  is  far  inferior  to  the  versions  of  the  Buddhistic 
scriptures.  There  is  no  Chinese  scholar,  after  reading  a  few 
lines  of  it,  but  lays  it  aside.  Since  I  came  to  America,  I 
have  dipped  into  English  a  little  bit.  Knowing  well  that 
the  political  and  educational  institutions,  as  well  as  the  cus- 
toms and  manners  of  the  people  of  Europe  and  America,  are 
founded  upon  the  principles  of  the  Christian  Religion,  I 
recognize  the  importance  of  a  knowledge  of  the  principles 
of  the  Christian  Religion  to  any  one  who  desires  to  make 
the  customs  and  manners  of  the  West  a  subject  of  study. 
During  these  six  or  seven  years  I  have  from  time  to  time 
carefully  looked  over  the  English  version  of  the  Bible,  and 
have  found  it,  in  point  of  literary  merit,  vastly  superior  to 
any  of  the  Chinese  versions. 

"  In  the  historical  sketches  of  ancient  times  are  recorded 
many  instances  of  wonderful  birth.  It  was  not  confined 
to  men  of  wisdom  and  virtue.  There  is  an  ancient  say- 
ing that  remarkable  men  have  remarkable  circumstances 
attending  their  births.  Tradition  has  handed  down  many 
marvellous  circumstances  connected  with  the  birth  of  Con- 
fucius. It  is  said  that  two  dragons  wound  their  bodies 
round  the  house  where  he  was  born ;  that  five  men,  vener- 
able with  age,  representing  the  five  planets,  descended  unto 
the  open  court ;  that  the  air  was  filled  with  music ;  that  a 
voice  came  out  of  the  heaven  saying :  *  This  is  a  heaven-born, 
divine  child, hence  the  sound  of  melodious  music  descends'; 
that  a  unicorn  threw  out  of  its  mouth  a  book  of  jade,  upon 
which  was  engraved  this  inscription :  '  Son  of  the  essence 
of  water,  who  shall  succeed  to  the  kingdom  of  the  degener- 
ate house  of  Chau.'  It  is  also  said  that  the  Duke  of  Chau, 
who  lived  five  hundred  years  before  Confucius,  on  coming 
to  the  place  where  Confucius  was  to  be  born,  said :  '  Five 
hundred  years  hence,  on  this  sacred  spot,  shall  a  divine 


FROM  ALL  RACES  AND  NATIONS.  805 

character  be  born.'  As  Confucius  appeared  at  the  time 
predicted,  the  Duke  of  Chau  is  therefore  considered  to  have 
had  a  previous  knowledge  of  the  coming  of  Confucius.  The 
fact  that  Confucius,  during  his  lifetime,  often  dreamed  of 
the  Duke  of  Chau,  is  also  attributed  to  this  circumstance. 
Tales  of  this  character  were  scattered  broadcast  during  the 
Han  dynasty  by  men  who  delighted  in  the  mysteries  of 
geomancy,  priestcraft,  and  soothsaying.  Though  Confu- 
cianists  do  not  reject  such  stories  altogether,  they  do  not 
set  much  value  on  them.  Marvellous  tales  have  always 
exerted  a  sort  of  fascinating  influence  over  the  minds  of 
the  Chinese  people  both  in  ancient  and  in  modern  times. 
But  the  Confucianists  hold  Confucius  in  the  highest  honor 
and  veneration,  not  by  reason  of  miraculous  performances 
of  any  kind,  but  by  reason  of  his  virtuous  example. 

"  Christ's  method  of  teaching  by  similitudes  and  parables 
was  extensively  employed  by  the  different  schools  of  philos- 
ophy during  the  Chau  and  Tsin  dynasties.  In  regard  to 
the  proprieties  that  should  govern  the  relation  of  sovereign 
and  subject,  parent  and  child,  husband  and  wife,  elder  and 
younger  brothers,  and  friends,  Confucianists  amplify  on 
every  point  and  go  into  the  minutest  details.  Moreover, 
the  philosophers  of  the  various  schools  have  handled  the 
metaphysical  questions  respecting  the  human  faculties  and 
the  principles  of  morality  with  a  fullness  and  subtlety  that 
is  really  confusing. 

"  In  the  practice  of  virtue  by  following  the  dictates  of 
nature,  the  Confucian  school  lays  much  stress  on  conscien- 
tious self-examination  and  a  humane  disposition.  The  aim 
is  to  secure  a  perfect  self-control  and  spontaneous  obedience 
to  the  rules  of  propriety.  The  Confucian  school  regards 
men  who  have  attained  to  such  a  state  of  perfection  as  the 
embodiment  of  humanity,  and  applies  to  them  the  title  of 
sage  and  man  of  virtue.  The  inhabitants  of  the  earth  all 
derive  their  existence  and  being  from  nature.  All  philosoph- 
ical systems  recognize  some  ideal  state  of  human  perfection, 
though  it  is  known  under  different  names.  It  seems  rather 
unnecessary  for  thinkers  of  different  schools  to  attack  the 


806  REPRESENTATIVE  VOICES 

opinions  of  one  another,  for  owing  to  the  difference  of 
natural  endowments  and  social  surroundings,  all  men  can- 
not possible  arrive  at  the  same  opinion  on  any  subject. 

"  The  life  of  man  is  practically  limited  by  nature  to  a  hun- 
dred years.  What  is  required  of  him  in  the  various  rela- 
tions he  stands  in  as  sovereign  and  subject,  parent  and 
child,  husband  and  wife,  elder  and  younger  brother,  and 
friend,  is  so  multifarious  that  a  faithful  performance  of  all 
his  duties  would  certainly  take  more  than  a  hundred  years. 
What  practical  purpose  does  it  serve,  then,  to  engage  in 
senseless  discussions  respecting  the  state  of  man  previous 
to  his  coming  into  existence,  or  in  foolish  conjectures  con- 
cerning a  life  of  happiness  or  misery  that  may  be  in  store 
for  him  after  death,  while  one  leaves  his  duties  to  society 
unperformed  and  allows  the  flitting  years  to  go  by  without 
fear  or  regret,  as  if  the  precious  time  were  thrust  upon  his 
hands  against  his  will  ?  On  the  other  hand,  if  one  has  done 
those  things  that  he  should  do,  his  conscience  is  clear  both 
before  men  as  well  as  before  Heaven.  Granting  that  the 
belief  in  Heaven  and  hell  and  the  final  judgment  of  the 
world  is  well  founded,  he  who  has  tasted  the  pleasures 
derived  from  the  fulfillment  of  his  duties  to  society,  has 
already  ascended  into  Heaven,  and  he  who  allows  the  lust  of 
the  flesh  to  defile  his  heart  and  pervert  the  use  of  his  senses 
has  already  entered  into  hell." 

In  his  closing  word  before  the  parliament  Mr.  Yu's  gentle 
appeal  for  some  of  the  spirit  of  Christ  in  Christian  dealings 
with  China,  turned  an  electric  light  upon  the  nominal  Chris- 
tianity which  fails  to  do  justice  and  to  love  mercy.  Mr. 
Yu  said : 

"  As  I  am  a  delegate  to  the  religious  congresses,  I  cannot 
but  feel  that  all  religious  people  are  my  friends.  I  have  a 
favor  to  ask  of  all  the  religious  people  of  America,  and  that 
is  that  they  will  treat,  hereafter,  all  my  countrymen  just  as 
they  have  treated  me.  I  shall  be  a  hundred  times  more 
grateful  to  them  for  the  kind  treatment  of  my  countrymen 
than  of  myself.  I  am  sure  that  the  Americans  in  China 
receive  just  such  considerate  treatment  from  the  cultured  peo- 


FROM  ALL  RACES  AND  NATIONS.  807 

pie  of  China  as  I  have  received  from  you.  The  majority  of 
my  countrymen  in  this  country  are  honest  and  law-abiding. 
Christ  teaches  us  that  it  is  not  enough  to  love  one's  breth- 
ren only.  I  am  sure  that  all  religious  people  will  not  think 
this  request  too  extravagant." 

TAOISM  AND  CHINESE  BUDDHISM. 

Along  with  Confucianism  as  the  universal  religion  of 
China,  confined  to  ethical  culture,  there  exist  as  popular 
faiths  at  a  lower  level  of  culture,  a  Chinese  type  of  Buddh- 
ism, much  corrupted  from  the  original,  and  the  system 
known  as  Taoism,  which  was  in  its  founder's  teaching,  a 
little  earlier  than  Confucius,  an  elevated  philosophy,  but 
the  spread  of  which  has  been  characterized  by  attention  to 
spiritism  in  its  crudest  form  and  to  many  forms  of  vulgar 
superstition.  With  Confucianists  even  popular  temple 
worship  in  charge  of  priests  means  for  the  most  part  spirit- 
ism, and  here  all  three  faiths  in  China  come  together.  Mr. 
Yu  says  in  his  paper  on  Confucianism : 

"  During  the  Chau  and  Sain  dynasties,  when  the  philoso- 
phers of  rival  schools  were  vying  with  one  another  in  their 
effort  to  gain  popular  applause,  the  teaching  of  Gautama 
began  to  find  its  way  into  China.  The  historiographical 
works  of  China  mention  the  fact  that  the  scriptures  of  the 
Buddhists  were  brought  into  China  during  the  reign  of  the 
Emperor  Ming  of  the  Han  dynasty.  All  the  Buddhistic 
writings  that  have  been  translated  from  the  original  into 
Chinese,  from  that  time  down  to  the  present  day,  would  fill 
a  building  from  floor  to  ceiling,  and  would  make  up  a  load 
heavy  enough  to  cause  an  ox  to  sweat.  Still  they  only  treat 
of  the  methods  of  obtaining  release  from  this  world,  and 
have  not  a  word  to  say  concerning  the  arts  by  which  the 
world  is  ruled.  On  this  account,  though  the  teachings  of 
Buddha  are  called  heterodox,  and  not  accepted  by  the  Con- 
fucianists as  a  body,  yet  there  are  Confucianists  who  are 
fascinated  with  the  mysticism  of  the  ideas  set  forth.  At  the 
present  day,  the  followers  of  Buddha  in  China  are  merely 
priests  living  in  cloisters.  Few  of  them  are  versed  in  the 


808  REPRESENTATIVE  VOICES 

classical  works  of  their  religion.  Among  the  heterodox 
faiths  in  China,  Buddhism  can,  doubtless,  muster  the  great- 
est number  of  believers. 

"  Lao-tz,  the  founder  of  Taoism,  was  a  historiographer  of 
the  Chau  dynasty,  and  a  contemporary  of  Confucius.  His 
system  of  philosophy  is  eclectic,  and  not  original,  being 
characterized  by  a  sincere  seeking  after  truth,  and  by  a  love 
for  antiquity.  The  only  work  of  his  that  is  still  extant  is 
the  treatise  on  Wisdom  and  Virtue.  It  consists  of  five 
thousand  words  and  is  said  to  be  a  compilation  made  by 
him  of  the  maxims  of  Hwang-ti,  respecting  the  government 
of  the  nation  and  the  government  of  the  army.  The  sub- 
stance of  his  teaching  is  that  public  affairs  should  be  ad- 
ministered in  a  quiet  way  and  with  entire  self-abnegation  on 
the  part  of  the  public  servants,  who,  having  performed  the 
required  service,  should  at  once  seek  retirement.  Taoism  is 
commonly  regarded  as  having  derived  its  doctrines  and  pre- 
cepts from  Hwang-ti  and  Lao-tz.  Now,  Hwang-ti  was  a 
direct  ancestor  of  the  Yao,  who  is  regarded  by  Confucianists 
as  their  pattern  of  wisdom  and  virtue.  So  it  seems  that 
both  Confucianism  and  Taoism  may  be  said  to  have  sprung 
from  the  same  source.  The  living  exponents  of  Taoism  at 
the  present  day  are  an  ignorant  priesthood,  consisting  of 
temple-tenders  merely.  Though  the  temples  of  the  Taoists 
and  the  Buddhists  are  scattered  throughout  the  length  and 
breadth  of  the  Empire,  yet  there  are  essential  differences  in 
the  course  pursued  by  each  sect  to  gain  proselytes.  The  so- 
called  Buddhists  and  Taoists  of  the  present  day  differ  not  at 
all  in  their  training  and  practices  of  priests,  and  are  not, 
therefore,  allowed  to  compete  at  the  public  examinations 
with  the  Confucianists.  The  reason  is,  that  the  Confucian- 
ists devote  themselves  to  the  study  of  things  human,  while 
the  priests  of  the  two  sects  devote  themselves  to  the  study 
of  things  spiritual. 

"  What  the  Confucianists  call  things  spiritual  is  nothing 
more  than  the  law  of  action  and  reaction,  which  operates 
upon  matter  without  suffering  loss,  and  which  causes  the 
seasons  to  come  round  without  deviation.  What  priests  of 


FROM  ALL  RACES  AND  NATIONS.  809 

the  two  sects  call  things  spiritual  consist  of  prayers  and 
repentance,  which  they  make  use  of  as  a  means  of  practicing 
deception  upon  the  people  by  giving  out  that  they  can  reveal 
the  secrets  of  happiness  and  misery  thereby.  As  a  rule, 
they  are  men  given  to  speculations  on  the  invisible  world  of 
spirits,  and  neglectful  of  the  requirements  and  duties  of  life. 
For  this  reason  they  are  employed  by  public  functionaries 
to  officiate  on  occasions  of  public  worship,  and  at  the  same 
time  they  are  despised  by  the  Confucianists  as  the  dregs  of 
the  people. 

"  Under  the  later  dynasties,  especial  functionaries  have  al- 
ways been  appointed  to  perform  the  duties  of  priests.  All 
the  temples  scattered  over  the  Empire,  as  well  as  the  Buddh- 
ist and  Taoist  cloisters,  have  priests  in  charge  who  hold 
positions  in  the  government  similar  to  those  known  in  the 
Chau  dynasty  under  the  name  of  spiritual  officers.  These 
priests,  however,  are  but  common  men  with  no  special  train- 
ing. They  are  mere  servants  of  the  public  in  all  matters 
pertaining  to  the  worship  of  Heaven  and  spirits.  The  most 
noble  personage  of  this  class  is  the  living  descendant  of  one 
of  the  shining  lights  of  Taoism,  who  bears  the  title  of 
'Heavenly  Teacher.'  He  has  supreme  control  of  all  the 
matters  pertaining  to  the  worship  of  Heaven,  and  possesses 
a  supernatural  knowledge  of  the  light  and  darkness  of  the 
spiritual  world,  and  also  the  power  of  controlling  evil  spirits. 
He  may  be  called  the  spiritual  head  of  the  priesthood,  such 
as  existed  in  ancient  times,  and  is  a  man  full  of  wisdom  and 
understanding,  and  not  one  of  those  who  mislead  the  minds 
of  men  by  means  of  false  and  fraudulent  gods.  The  Im- 
perial Government  has  conferred  upon  him  the  dignity  of 
hereditary  noble  of  the  third  class,  and  the  spiritual  gifts 
which  have  remained  in  his  family  for  two  thousand  years, 
have  descended  to  him  from  father  to  son.  In  China  there 
is  but  one  family  of  this  character.  The  nation,  as  a  whole, 
has  always  held  the  head  of  the  Taoist  priesthood  in  high 
respect.  Not  a  word  of  complaint  has  ever  been  uttered 
against  him  for  any  cause.  Widely  different,  however,  is 
the  public  veneration  which  the  Chinese  nation  accords  to  the 


810  REPRESENTATIVE  VOICES 

living  lineal  descendant  of  Confucius.  He  stands  at  the 
head  of  the  five  classes  of  Chinese  nobility,  with  the  title  of 
Duke  of  Yen  Shing." 


PARSEEISM;  OR,  ZOROASTRIANISM. 

The  Parsees  derive  their  name  from  Persia,  where  Zoroas- 
ter created  a  system  of  faith  and  life  which  was  for  centuries 
the  Persian  state  and  national  religion.  When  the  Arabs 
effected  the  overthrow  of  the  Persian  monarchy  in  A.D.  642, 
Mohammedanism  suppressed  the  faith  which  Zoroaster  had 
made  that  of  Persia  fully  a  thousand  years  before  Christ ; 
and  to  escape  giving  up  their  ancient  faith  a  remnant  of  the 
Persian  Zoroastrians  migrated  to  India,  and  made  there 
what  has  since  been  the  seat  of  old  Persian  or  Parsee  relig- 
ion as  taught  by  Zoroaster  and  handed  down  in  the  Parsee 
or  Persian  sacred  books.  Bombay  in  India  is  the  chief  seat 
of  the  modern  Parsees,  whose  number  is  not  large,  but 
whose  preservation  of  a  peculiar  faith,  manner  of  life,  type 
ot  character,  and  remarkable  development  in  business, 
wealth,  and  charity,  is  one  of  the  great  facts  of  modern 
history. 

Among  papers  of  importance  prepared  for  the  parliament 
of  religions  one  of  the  most  valuable  was  a  pamphlet  of 
nearly  one  hundred  printed  pages  on  "  The  Zoroastrian  Re- 
ligion and  Customs."  It  was  prepared  and  printed  in  Bom- 
bay under  the  highest  Parsee  auspices,  and  endorsed  as  "  a 
work  which  will  be  of  permanent  use  not  only  to  strangers 
to  the  Religion  [of  the  Parsees],  but  to  the  Zoroastrians 
themselves."  The  principal  Parsee  society  of  Bombay  com- 
missioned their  lecturer,  an  eminent  Parsee  scholar,  to  pre- 
pare the  paper.  He  appears  on  the  title-page  as  Ervao. 
Sheriarji  Dadabhai  Bharucha,  and  in  a  preface  of  endorse- 
ment as  "  Mr.  Sheriarji."  This  monumental  "  Sketch  of 
the  Zoroastrian  Religion  and  Customs :  An  Essay  Written 
for  the  Religious  Congresses  of  the  World's  Congress  Aux- 
iliary ;  Printed  at  the  Duftur  Ashkara  Press,  Bombay," 
was  not  presented  to  the  parliament,  and  hardly  more  than 


FROM  ALL  RACES  AND  NATIONS.  811 

one  page  is  given  to  it  in  the  Parliament  book,  and  that 
without  any  exact  copying  of  Mr.  Sheriarji's  text.  Some 
principal  passages  of  that  text  are  the  following : 

"  The  Parsis  of  India  and  Persia  profess  the  ancient  relig- 
ion of  Zoroaster,  the  renowned  sage  and  prophet  of  Persia. 
While  other  religions  of  the  ancient  world,  snch  as  those 
of  ancient  Egypt,  Chaldea,  Assyria,  Babylon,  Greece,  and 
Rome,  have  disappeared  from  the  face  of  the  earth,  this  has 
survived  many  trials  and  vicissitudes  and  still  flourishes,  if 
not  in  all  its  pristine  vigor  and  glory,  with  many  of  its 
distinctive  features  preserved  practically  intact.  In  the 
earlier  days  of  its  greatness  its  adherents  were  counted  by 
millions,  and  it  had  a  considerable  body  of  renowned  liter- 
ature. But  the  repeated  conquests  of  Persia  by  foreigners, 
are  believed  to  have  caused  the  destruction  of  a  greater 
part  of  that  literature,  and  only  a  few  fragments  now  re- 
main. Centuries  of  persecution  and  oppression,  moreover, 
have  considerably  reduced  the  number  of  its  adherents,  who 
are  now  a  mere  handful.  But  small  though  its  literature 
and  insignificant  the  number  of  its  followers,  this  religion 
and  the  ancient  customs  of  its  followers,  some  of  which  have 
been  preserved  up  to  this  day,  possess  certain  striking  and 
interesting  features,  which  have  always  excited  the  admira- 
tion and  respect  of  those  who  have  brought  a  liberal  and 
sympathetic  spirit  to  bear  on  their  study  ;  while  the  intelli- 
gence, enterprise,  and  liberality  of  its  followers  have  again 
and  again  been  acknowledged  in  the  most  emphatic  manner. 

"It  seems  that  in  the  last  days  of  the  Sassanian  Mon- 
archy, and  shortly  after  its  downfall,  small  bands  of  Zoroas- 
trians  settled  in  India  from  time  to  time  for  commercial 
and  other  purposes.  And  when  owing  to  the  persecution 
of  the  fanatic  Arabs  it  became  more  and  more  difficult  to 
preserve  and  cherish  the  old  religion,  a  handful  of  Zoroas- 
trians  made  the  last  emigration  in  India,  and  settled  in  the 
province  of  Gujerat  under  the  protection  of  Hindu  Rajas. 

"The  Indian  Parsis  are  the  descendants  of  these  emi- 
grants. Their  number  according  to  the  last  census  of  1891 
is  89,887.  The  number  of  Zoroastrians  in  the  mother-coun- 


812  REPRESENTATIVE  VOICES 

try,  Persia,  was  reduced  in  course  of  time  through  conver- 
sion to  Mohammedanism  and  other  causes  ;  so  much  so  that 
in  1892  it  was  only  9,269. 

"Zoroaster  combined  in  himself  the  threefold  character 
of  philosopher,  poet,  and  prophet.  His  name  has  been  cele- 
brated throughout  the  civilized  world  from  the  most  ancient 
times  up  to  the  present  day,  and  the  A  vesta,  the  Scriptures 
of  the  Parsis,  teems  with  his  praises  too  numerous  to  be 
quoted  here.  Suffice  -it  to  say,  that  he  is  elevated  to  the 
rank  of  '  Aokhtonamano  Yazata ' — i.  e.,  one  whose  name  is 
mentioned  among  the  worshipful  beings — a  distinction  con- 
ferred only  on  divine  beings  and  never  upon  another  man 
throughout  the  Avesta. 

"  Zoroaster  appeared  in  the  time  of  Gushtasp,  a  king  of 
the  Kayanian  dynasty.  It  has  not  been  ascertained  when 
this  dynasty  of  the  ancient  kings  of  Persia  ended.  But 
that  there  was  such  a  dynasty,  and  that  it  ended  long 
before  Cyrus  the  Great  founded  the  Achaeminian  dynasty 
about  559  B.C.  is  certain.  And  though  the  exact  age  of 
Zoroaster  could  not  be  fixed  with  any  degree  of  certainty, 
all  the  available  evidence  shows,  and  there  is  a  powerful 
concensus  of  opinion  among  oriental  scholars  that  it  could 
not  have  been  later  than  the  twelfth  century  B.C. 

"The  name  of  Zoroaster's  religion  as  used  in  the  Parsi 
sacred  books  is  *  Mazdayasni,'  that  is  to  say  '  Mazda- wor- 
ship,' Mazda  being  the  name  of  God.  It  is  used  in  direct 
opposition  to  *  Daevayasni '  or  the  worship  of  the  Daevas. 
Some  of  the  Daevas  referred  to  in  this  word  are  recognized 
as  the  Vedic  and  other  old  Aryan  gods,  who  were  believed 
to  preside  over  natural  objects  ;  while  others  are  those  sup- 
posed to  preside  over  certain  evil  qualities,  etc.  It  is  clear 
that  the  religion  of  Zoroaster  teaches  the  worship  not  of 
many  gods  but  only  of  the  One  True  God,  Mazda. 

"In  the  Avesta  the  Mazdayasni  Religion  as  taught  by 
Zoroaster  is  emphatically  termed  *  Vanguhi  Daena '  (Beh 
Din),  the  Good  Religion.  And  accordingly  every  follower 
of  this  venerable  religion  calls  himself  a  '  behdin,'  i.  e.,  one 
professing  the  Good  Religion.  Several  times  in  the  day 


FROM  ALL  RACES  AND  NATIONS.  813 

while  renewing  his  '  padyab-kusti '  ceremony  (the  untying 
and  retying  of  the  sacred  thread  '  kusti '  round  the  waist) 
he  thus  confesses  his  faith  in  this  religion :  *  I  confess  the 
faith  of  Mazda  ....  which  is  the  greatest,  best,  and  most 
excellent  of  all  religions  which  exist  and  of  all  that  shall  in 
future  come  to  knowledge,  which  was  sent  by  Ahura  and 
preached  by  Zarathushtra.' 

"  The  opposition  of  the  Iranians  to  the  Daeva- worshippers 
is  said  to  have  come  down  from  prehistoric  times.  Long  be- 
fore the  advent  of  Zoroaster  several  ancient  Iranian  heroes ' 
such  as  Hoshang,  Tehmurasp,  Jamshed,  and  others,  are  said 
to  have  fought  against  them  with  more  or  less  success.  But 
it  was  Zoroaster,  who  at  last  succeeded  in  exterminating  the 
worship  of  the  Daevas  from  amongst  the  Iranians. 

"  The  name  of  God  in  the  Avesta  is  Ahura-Mazda.  His 
character  as  depicted  in  the  Gathas  of  Zoroaster  and  indeed 
in  most  of  the  subsequent  writings  of  the  Avesta,  Pazend, 
etc.,  is  the  highest  and  noblest  conception  of  spiritual  sub- 
limity. He  is  represented  as  the  Creator,  the  Supporter,  and 
the  absolute  Ruler  of  the  universe ;  the  Maker  of  the  sun, 
the  moon,  the  stars,  the  heaven,  the  earth,  the  waters,  the 
trees,  the  winds,  the  clouds,  the  man ;  the  Producer  of  the 
day  and  night ;  without  beginning,  and  without  end  ;  All- 
pervading,  All-wise,  All-powerful ;  the  Righteous,  the  Un- 
deceivable ;  Sole  worthy  of  worship ;  the  Highest,  the 
Greatest,  the  Best ;  the  Infallible  Rewarder  of  all  deeds,  the 
greatest  Increaser  ;  All-seeing  ;  the  Holiest,  the  Mightiest ; 
the  great  Consoler  in  distress ;  the  greatest  Helper  of  the 
helpless ;  the  most  Beneficent ;  the  most  Merciful ;  the 
Strongest ;  the  Giver  of  strength ;  the  Protector ;  the 
Nourisher;  the  Giver  of  victory,  etc.,  etc. 

"  The  Gathas  show  very  clearly  that  Spitama  Zarathushtra 
preached  and  inculcated  a  pure  monotheistic  creed  based  on 
the  quintessence  of  morality  under  the  three  sublime  heads 
of  good  thoughts,  good  words,  and  good  deeds,  and  he  de- 
nounced all  forms  of  evil  and  immorality  summarized  under 
the  three  heads  of  evil  thoughts,  evil  words,  and  evil  deeds. 
The  Gathas,  moreover,  illustrate  another  striking  peculiarity 


814  REPRESENTATIVE  VOICES 

of  this  religion  differentiating  it  from  some  of  the  other 
great  religions  of  the  world.  While  busily  engaged  in 
propagating  his  religion,  Zoroaster,  unlike  other  great  teach- 
ers, did  not  neglect  or  despise  the  study  of  nature  and  man, 
but  earnestly  prosecuted  and  promoted  it.  He  shows  him- 
self an  earnest  and  devoted  student  of  the  Natural  Sciences 
and  Metaphysics,  and  anxious  to  solve  and  penetrate  into 
some  of  the  mysteries  which  have  taxed  and  baffled  the 
powers  of  some  of  the  greatest  philosophers  of  all  ages. 
Another  peculiarity  of  his  teaching  is  his  earnest  exhorta- 
tion to  his  followers  not  to  take  any  dogma  or  doctrine  on 
trust  or  yield  a  blind  and  unreasoning  submission  thereto, 
but  to  induce  personal  conviction  by  careful  and  calm  ex- 
amination of  everything  by  the  light  of  the  good,  earnest, 
and  sincere  mind  and  then  accept  or  reject  it.  He  says : 
'  Hear  with  your  ears  the  best  (sayings),  see  with  your  clear 
mind  the  beliefs  of  (your)  choice,  every  man  or  woman  for 
his  or  herself.'  He  emphatically  denounces  the  worship  of 
many  gods  and  advocates  unflinching  adherence  and  sub- 
mission to  the  worship  of  the  One  Ahura  Mazda,  the  Wise 
Lord.  A  still  more  striking  feature  of  the  essentially  prac- 
tical and  ennobling  character  of  the  Zoroastrian  religion  is 
its  doctrine  of  Rewards  and  Punishments.  In  mankind, 
contrary  to  the  teaching  and  practice  of  other  religious  sys- 
tems of  antiquity,  Zoroastrianism  lays  down  in  the  clearest 
and  most  unequivocal  terms  that  every  one  is  so  to  say  the 
architect  of  his  own  salvation  and  will  be  judged  of  and  re- 
warded and  punished  solely  according  to  his  own  deserts 
and  irrespective  of  the  merits  of  the  intervening  saviour. 
His  shall  be  the  reward  of  Paradise  or  the  punishment  of 
perdition  according  as  he  is  or  is  not  able  to  give  a  good 
account  of  his  doings  in  this  life.  And  yet  notwithstanding 
these  noble  and  sublime  sentiments  and  tenets,  it  appears 
from  the  rest  of  the  Avesta  that  after  the  death  of  the  Proph- 
et, the  monotheistic  purity  of  his  teaching  could  not  be 
maintained  in  its  pristine  glory.  In  the  succeeding  centuries 
natural  objects,  instead  of  being  regarded,  as  Zoroaster  had 
taught,  as  only  created  things  and  mere  symbols  of  God's 


FROM  ALL  RACES  AND  NATIONS.  815 

greatness  and  might,  gradually  came  to  be  regarded  as  them- 
selves objects  of  worship  presided  over  by  several  gods  as  in 
the  pre-Zoroastrian  times,  and  hence  in  course  of  time  was 
established  a  hierarchy  of  Amesha-spentas  and  Yazatas,  i.  e., 
good  spirits  and  objects  worthy  of  homage,  as  subordinate 
heavenly  beings,  a  conception  wholly  foreign  and  opposed 
to  the  doctrines  which  Zoroaster  preached  with  such  lucidity 
and  earnestness.  Hence  every  angel — either  Amesha-spenta 
or  Yazata,  also  called  Izad — was  supposed  to  be  a  minor 
divinity  presiding  over  a  certain  beneficent  natural  object  or 
an  abstract  conception,  and  having  a  name  of  correspond- 
ing significance.  For  example,  Atar  meant  lire  as  well  as 
the  divinity  presiding  over  it.  In  the  later  Avesta  homage 
is  rendered  to  both  of  them  just  as  it  was  afterward  among 
the  ancient  Greeks  and  Romans  and  just  as  is  done  now 
among  the  Hindus.  For  example,  a  sacred  river  as  well  as 
the  deity  presiding  over  it,  bearing  the  same  name,  receive 
similar  homage. 

"  Zoroastrianism  teaches  that  God  has  provided  the  soul 
with  every  kind  of  aid  to  perform  his  work  successfully. 
The  following  are  a  few  of  them:  'khratu,'  knowledge; 
'chisti,'  wisdom;  <ushi'  (=hosh),  sense;  'manas,'  mind, 
thought ;  *  vachas,'  speech ;  <  shkyaothna,'  action ;  « vaso '  or 
'karna'  (kam  khutai),  free  will ; <  daena,'  religious  conscience ; 
'Ahu,' practical  conscience;  'fravashi,'  the  guiding  spirit; 
*  baodhas,'  consciousness,  memory,  etc. ;  over  and  above  them 
'Daena,'  the  revealed  religion. 

"  The  soul  having  been  thus  furnished  with  every  necessary 
aid,  he  is  expected  to  come  out  successfully  in  his  moral 
career  and  get  his  reward.  But  if  he  fails,  he  cannot  ask 
for  or  expect  a  vicarious  salvation,  which  is  unknown  in  the 
Zoroastrian  religion. 

"  In  the  Gathas  of  Zoroaster  we  meet  with  a  few  general 
hints  about  the  state  of  the  soul  after  death.  Briefly  stated 
they  are  these.  The  soul  of  the  virtuous  crosses  the  Bridge 
or  the  Ford  of  '  Chinvat,'  enters  the  house  of  purity  and 
eternal  light  (Garo  demana),  has  every  want  and  wish  satis- 
fied, and  enjoys  there  the  happiness  of  the  company  of  holy 


816  REPRESENTATIVE  VOICES 

souls.  On  the  other  hand  the  soul  of  the  wicked,  reaching 
the  same  bridge,  goes  to  the  house  of  impurity  and  utter 
darkness,  is  reproached  by  his  conscience,  bemoans  his  state, 
and  utters  bewailing  cries.  These  conceptions  of  retributive 
justice  and  a  system  of  divine  rewards  and  punishments 
received  considerable  development  in  later  times,  and  the 
abstract  principles  assumed  concrete  and  essential  shapes. 
The  reward  and  punishment  assigned  to  the  souls  of  the 
righteous  and  the  wicked  is  to  continue  till  '  Frasho-kereti ' 
or  '  Farshogard,'  i.  e.,  the  renovation  of  the  world,  when  the 
whole  creation  is  to  start  afresh,  or  *  Ristakhez,'  i.  e.,  resur- 
rection of  the  dead. 

"This  event  is  to  be  synchronous  with  the  end  of  the 
present  cycle.  Then  will  arise  the  last  of  the  Saoshyants. 
He  will  consummate  the  work  of  purifying  and  regenerating 
the  world  and  completely  removing  every  evil  effect  of  the 
work  of  Angromainyush.  All  the  souls  of  the  wicked  will 
be  brought  out  from  hell,  and  will  be  purified.  The  souls 
of  the  righteous  too  will  rise  and  there  will  be  brought 
about  *  Ristakhez,'  i.  e.,  the  rising  of  the  dead,  the  resurrec- 
tion. Thenceforth  the  world  will  enter  upon  a  new  cycle, 
free  from  all  evil  and  misery,  ever  young  and  rejoicing. 
All  souls  will  be  furnished  with  new  bodies  called  '  tan-i- 
pasin,'  the  future  body,  and  will  commence  a  life  of  ineffable 
bliss.  'Then  he  (the  Saoshyant)  shall  restore  the  world, 
which  will  (thenceforth)  never  grow  old  and  never  die,  never 
decaying  and  never  rotting,  ever  living  and  ever  increasing 
and  master  of  its  wish,  when  the  dead  will  rise,  when  life 
and  immortality  will  come,  and  the  world  will  be  restored 
at  (God's)  wish.' 

"  Since  the  salvation  of  man  is  made  to  depend  solely  and 
entirely  upon  his  own  efforts  and  deeds,  it  becomes  his  per- 
emptory duty  to  lead  a  holy  life  and  to  think,  speak,  and 
act  righteously.  The  Mazdayasnian  religion  thus  prescribes 
and  enjoins  a  sublime  code  of  ethics. 

"  All  morality  is  divided  into  three  great  classes,  (1) 
Humata,  good  thought,  (2)  Hukhta,  good  word,  and  (3) 
Huvarshta,  good  deed.  Similarly  there  are  three  categories 


FROM  ALL  RACES  AND  NATIONS.  817 

of  immorality,  (1)  Dushmata,  evil  thought,  (2)  Duzhkhuta, 
evil  word,  and  (3)  Duzhvarshta,  evil  deed.  4A11  good 
thoughts,  words,  and  works  are  done  with  wisdom.  All 
evil  thoughts,  words,  and  works  are  not  done  with  wisdom. 
All  good  thoughts,  words,  and  works  lead  to  Paradise. 
All  evil  thoughts,  words,  and  works  lead  to  hell.  To  all 
good  thoughts,  words,  and  works  (belongs)  Paradise— so  (is 
it)  manifest  to  the  pure.'  'Henceforth  let  me  stand  firm 
for  good  thoughts,  good  works,  and  good  deeds,  which 
must  be  thought,  must  be  spoken,  and  must  be  done. 
I  hold  fast  all  good  thoughts,  good  words,  and  good 
deeds.' 

"  Zoroastrian  worship  consists  either  of  simple  oral  recita- 
tions of  portions  of  the  Sacred  Word  or  such  recitations 
combined  and  accompanied  with  the  performance  of  ritual. 
These  recitals  are  compositions  in  the  sacred  language  of 
the  Avesta  or  of  a  combination  of  the  Avesta  and  Pazend 
languages.  Thanks  to  the  English,  Gujarati,  French,  and 
German  translations,  any  one  interested  in  the  matter  may 
acquire  swift  knowledge  of  the  subject,  though  a  knowledge 
of  the  original  languages  in  which  the  compositions  exist  is 
nowadays  very  rare.  Generally  every  one  prays  by  him- 
self, but  on  important  occasions  public  worship  by  the  whole 
congregation  is  also  performed.  Of  the  ancient  sacred  re- 
citals the  most  necessary  to  every  Zoroastrian  for  daily  use 
are  those  comprised  in  the  *  Nirang-i-kusti,'  i.  e.,  the  prayer 
on  untying  and  retying  the  sacred  thread  '  kusti '  refund  the 
waist,  on  the  sacred  shirt,  *  Sudra.'  Every  Zoroastrian  learns 
this  by  heart  and  recites  it  several  times  in  the  day.  The 
rest  may  be  orally  recited  or  read  out  from  the  Sacred 
Works.  The  recitals  combined  with  ritual  are  generally 
done  only  by  the  priests,  since  most  of  the  ritual  must  be 
performed  by  priests. 

''  There  is  not  clear  and  satisfactory  evidence  of  the  prac- 
tice of  establishing  fire-temples  in  the  time  of  the  Avesta, 
though  it  is  certain  that  the  house-fire  was  considered  sacred 
and  was  carefully  tended  with  dry  fuel,  and  other  fragrant 
substances.  In  later  times,  however,  fire-temples  seem  to 


818  REPRESENTATIVE  VOICES 

have  obtained  a  recognized  and  strong  footing.  They  are 
of  three  grades:  (1)  the  Atash-e-Dadgah,  (2)  the  Atash-e- 
Adaran,  and  (3)  the  Atash-e-Behram. 

"(1)  The  Atash-e-Dadgah  can  be  touched  both  by  priests 
and  laymen,  but  is  not  allowed  to  be  touched  by  non- 
Zoroastrians.  It  is  the  ordinary  fire  preserved  in  a  fire- 
temple  or  even  in  the  house  of  Zoroastrians  and  used  in 
sacred  ceremonies. — (2)  The  Atash-e-Adaran  is  not  allowed 
to  be  touched  by  any  one  but  by  priests.  There  is  a  peculiar 
ceremony  for  its  consecration.  From  sixteen  or  more  places 
such  as  furnaces  of  an  iron-smith,  dyer,  potter,  etc.,  fires  are 
picked  out  and  brought  together.  Then  certain  ceremonies 
are  performed  upon  them  collectively.  The  fire  thus  con- 
secrated is  kept  in  a  sanctuary,  and  the  utmost  care  is  used 
in  watching  and  keeping  it  perpetually  burning. — (3)  The 
highest  of  all  is  the  Atash-e-Behram.  Its  consecration  re- 
quires a  great  deal  of  expense  and  a  long  series  of  ritual, 
lasting  for  a  year  or  more.  Fires  are  picked  up  and  col- 
lected from  various  places  as  mentioned  above  to  which 
electric  fire  must  be  added.  Numerous  kinds  of  ritual,  too 
long  to  describe  here,  are  continually  performed  upon  them. 
At  last  they  are  all  amalgamated  into  one  big  and  costly 
urn.  This  sacred  fire  is  kept  perpetually  burning.  Its 
extinction  would  be  regarded  as  a  great  calamity  by  the 
Parsis.  It  is  constantly  watched  by  priests  who  have  under- 
gone the  highest  purification  both  of  body  and  mind.  It  is 
kept  on»  a  stone-altar  in  a  silver  or  bronze  urn,  and  it  is  fed 
only  with  pure  dry  wood  and  other  fragrant  substances. 
When  officiating  at  the  fire,  the  priests  cover  the  lower  part 
of  their  faces  with  a  piece  of  cloth  called  *  padan,'  to  prevent 
any  possibility  of  defiling  it  by  the  effluvia  from  the  mouth. 
The  '  padan '  is  also  used  in  various  other  ceremonies  for  the 
same  purpose. 

"  This  outward  and  visible  reverence  for  fire  as  a  benef- 
icent creation  of  Ahura  Mazda  and  as  a  potent  and  salutary 
natural  agent,  gave  rise  to  the  fallacy  of  Zoroastrians  being 
fire-worshippers.  But  it  is  a  gross  misconception  based  on  the 


FROM  ALL  RACES  AND  NATIONS.  819 

ignorance  and  forgetfulness  of  the  essential  and  underneath 
fact  that  none  of  the  elements,  though  regarded  as  objects  of 
veneration,  was  ever  worshipped  by  them  as  themselves  con- 
stituting the  Supreme  God  who  alone  has  again  and  again 
been  declared  to  be  the  sole  object  of  worship  and  adora- 
tion. The  principal  influence  which  fire,  as  the  source  of 
light  and  heat,  exercises  on  the  economy  of  the  universe,  is 
sufficient  to  explain  the  high  regard  and  esteem  in  which  it 
was  held  by  the  ancient  Iranians  ;  and  though  this  outward 
veneration  for  a  mighty  physical  agent  might  have  lent 
color  to  the  charge  which  the  ignorance  or  bigotry  of  their 
opponents  invented,  it  is  an  undoubted  fact  that  the  charge 
has  invariably  been  denounced  and  repudiated,  and  that 
thoughtful  and  observant  writers  of  antiquity  no  less  than 
the  learned  scholars  of  modern  times  have  absolved  them 
from  the  charge  and  formed  a  correct  judgment  of  the 
grounds  on  which  it  was  based.  Throughout  the  sacred  writ- 
ings, as  we  have  seen,  the  most  solemn  and  emphatic  injunc- 
tion has  been  given  to  worship  the  Supreme  God  and  Him 
alone,  and  in  all  times  Zoroastrians  have  in  their  writings 
been  called  '  Mazdayasna,'  i.  e.,  the  worshippers  of  God.  So 
that  though  the  ancient  Iranians  regarded  fire  as  the  symbol 
of  divinity  and  as  such  worthy  of  respect  and  reverence, 
they  never  professed  themselves  to  be  the  worshippers  of 
fire.  Zoroaster  in  his  own  Gathas  speaks  of  fire  as  a  bright 
and  powerful  creation  of  Ahura  Mazda,  and  prefers  it  as  a 
symbol  of  divinity  to  idols  and  other  objects.  But  nowhere 
does  he  enjoin  the  worship  of  fire.  On  the  contrary,  he 
most  emphatically  enjoins  the  worship  of  Ahura  Mazda 
alone.  He  says  :  '  Let  him  offer  to  Thy  fire  the  salutation 
of  holiness,  and  not  to  the  image  called  "  Isa." '  Herodotus, 
while  he  refers  to  this  reverence  of  the  Iranians  for  the  fire, 
nowhere  affirms  that  they  were  fire- worshippers.  Ferdosi  too 
bears  emphatic  testimony  on  the  point,  and  warmly  repels 
the  charge  of  fire-worship  sometimes  made  against  the  Zoro- 
astrians. Says  he  in  the  Shahnameh,  the  immortal  epic 
which  has  evoked  the  keenest  admiration  of  all  ages : 


820  REPRESENTATIVE  VOICES 

1  Na  gui  ke  atash-parastan  budand, 
Parastanda  e  pak  yazdah  budand.' 

'  Do  not  say  that  they  were  fire-worshippers ;  for  they 
were  worshippers  of  God  the  Holy.' 

"It  being  a  fundamental  principle  of  the  Zoroastrian  re- 
ligion to  maintain  fire,  earth,  and  water  pure  and  undefiled, 
the  Parsis  neither  burn  or  bury  their  dead,  nor  consign  them 
to  water.  Their  mode  of  disposing  of  the  dead  is  to  expose 
them  to  the  heat  of  the  sun  on  high  hills  or  raised  stony 
platforms,  there  to  be  devoured  by  carnivorous  birds — an 
eminently  sanitary  mode  of  eliminating  sources  of  contagion 
in  the  interest  of  the  living.  The  decomposing  dead  bodies 
being  a  source  of  contagion  and  infection,  cannot  be  touched 
except  by  the  corpse-bearers,  a  distinct  class  maintained  for 
the  purpose  of  removing  dead  bodies  to  the  Towers  of 
Silence.  The  dead  bodies  as  well  as  the  corpse-bearers  are 
covered  with  clean  white  cloths,  which  must  be  old  and  worn 
out  in  order  to  admit  of  ready  destruction.  The  corpse 
while  in  the  house  is  placed  on  the  ground  in  a  corner  on 
large  slabs  of  stone  or  dry  clods  of  earth,  and  is  carried  on 
an  iron  bier.  Before  removing  the  corpse,  two  priests  stand- 
ing side  by  side,  holding  a  piece  of  cloth  between  their 
hands  and  with  their  faces  toward  it,  recite  the  funeral 
service  called  '  Gahan-sarayashni,'  which  consists  of  the 
seven  chapters  of  the  first  Gatha  of  Zoroaster.  These  holy 
words  being  the  most  sublime  composition  of  the  Prophet 
himself  are  recited  on  that  occasion.  Having  brought  the 
corpse  to  the  Tower  of  Silence  and  the  mourners  having  had 
a  last  look  at  the  dead,  it  is  carried  into  the  Tower  by  the 
Nasa-salars,  i.  e.,  the  persons  who  are  specially  charged  with 
the  task  of  disposing  the  dead.  There  each  body — man, 
woman,  and  child— is  placed  in  separate  fixed  stone  recep- 
tacles, called  '  Pavi.'  In  the  earliest  times  corpses  were  ex- 
posed on  the  summit  of  high  mountains,  and  when  the  bones 
were  denuded  of  flesh  and  quite  dry,  they  were  preserved  in 
'  Astodans,'  i.  e.,  receptacles  for  bones,  the  stoned  urns  of 
classical  times.  The  Astddans  were  made  of  stone,  mortar, 
or  any  other  less  durable  substance,  according  to  the  means 


FROM  ALL  RACES  AND  NATIONS.  821 

of  the  relatives  of  the  dead.  The  present  Tower  of  Silence 
combines  both  these  processes  of  disposing  of  the  flesh  and 
preserving  the  bones. 

"  The  hoary  antiquity  of  the  religion  of  Zoroaster  is  now 
accepted  as  an  accomplished  historical  fact,  and  an  accom- 
plished critic  has  shown  in  a  very  recent  work,  that  Zoro- 
astrianism  was  the  earliest  birth  of  Time  ;  while  its  serene 
sublimity,  its  wise  and  practical  beneficence,  its  peculiarly 
humane  tendencies,  and  its  freedom  from  the  fantasies  and 
superstitions  which  debase  and  enslave  the  human  intellect, 
have  elicited  warm  applause  and  cordial  admiration  at  all 
periods  of  its  existence.  The  Gathas — the  earliest  and  au- 
thentic productions  of  the  great  Bactrian  Sage — breathe  a 
spirit  of  pure  monotheism  and  a  simple  sublimity  of  ethical 
and  philosophical  conceptions  unsurpassed  by  any  other 
religious  system  of  antiquity;  and  the  all-pervading  tone 
of  all  the  later  writings  is  an  equally  peremptory  Command- 
ment, '  Thou  shalt  serve  the  Lord  thy  God,  and  only  Him 
shalt  serve,'  and  an  injunction  for  unswerving  adherence  to 
Truth,  righteousness,  and  rectitude.  Ahura  Mazda  and  Asha 
—God  and  Truth— are  the  fundamental  articles  of  their 
creed;  Humta,  Hukhta,  and  Huvarshta— Good  thoughts, 
good  words,  and  good  acts — the  great  and  abiding  pillars  of 
the  faith.  The  intense  contemplation  of  the  mighty  and 
awe-inspiring  phenomena  of  nature,  and  the  deep  reverence 
for  the  great  and  beneficent  wor£s  of  the  Creator,  which  are 
like  the  visible  and  outward  manifestations  of  His  power 
and  greatness,  serve  but  as  an  uplifting  from  Nature  to 
Nature's  God.  The  great  and  all-absorbing  problems  of 
life,  the  hopes  and  yearnings  for  futurity  and  immortality— 
these  are  dealt  with  in  a  spirit  pre-eminently  humane  and 
rational.  Closely  intertwined  with  the  religious  ordinances 
and  the  ethical  and  philosophical  conceptions  is  a  highly- 
developed  and  organized  system  of  law  and  social  polity 
moulded  and  influenced  by  judicial,  sanitary,  and  hygienic 
notions  which  are  a  striking  reflex  of  the  teachings  of 
modern  science  ;  and  if,  as  some  maintain,  the  true  basis  of 
morality  is  utility,  i.  e.,  the  promotion  of  the  general  hap- 


822  REPRESENTATIVE  VOICES 

piness  and  welfare,  then  the  religious  system  of  Zoroaster  is 
in  the  highest  degree  moral  and  utilitarian  in  the  best  and 
noblest  sense  of  the  term.  The  name  '  Good  Religion,'  which 
has  been  assigned  to  it,  is  peculiarly  appropriate  and  felici- 
tous. In  its  condemnation  of  renunciation  of  the  world  and 
asceticism,  of  self-mortification  and  fastings,  of  celibacy  and 
religious  mendicancy,  of  vicarious  redemption  and  eternal 
punishment  and  torment,  we  have  striking  indications  of 
the  essentially  practical  and  beneficent  character  of  the  re- 
ligion ;  while  by  its  teaching  us  to  make  our  lives  sublime, 
and  the  injunctions  for  scrupulous  purity  and  cleanliness,  it 
furnishes  us  with  a  simple  but  sublime  guide  and  principle 
of  conduct  and  of  right  and  duty.  No  wonder  that  such  a 
religion  needed  not  fire  and  sword,  or  the  bayonet  and  bullet 
for  its  dissemination,  and  was  content  to  appeal  to  the  rea- 
son and  conviction  of  its  followers,  and  that  it  has  left  a 
deep,  permanent,  and  most  salutary  mark  on  the  moral  and 
intellectual  advancement  of  the  civilized  world." 


MOHAMMEDANISM. 

The  two  papers  of  Mohammed  Alexander  Russell  Webb 
read  to  the  parliament,  are  of  no  value  whatever  as  an  ex- 
position of  Moslem  belief.  Their  author  figures  as  a  Moslem 
on  the  basis  of  perversion  from  his  native  faith  as  a  Chris- 
tian, and  his  observations'  are  the  crude  opinions  of  a 
neophyte,  and  in  no  sense  the  testimonies  of  a  Moslem 
scholar  and  believer. 

A  short  paper  by  Rev.  Dr.  George  E.  Post,  purporting  to 
expose  the  ethics  of  Islam  by  a  few  exceptional  quotations 
from  the  Koran,  was  worse  than  worthless  as  a  contribution 
to  knowledge.  On  the  same  principle  of  selection,  a  few 
very  exceptional  Old  Testament  passages  could  be  used  to 
discredit  the  ethics  of  Christianity. 

Under  the  title  of  "  The  Koran  and  other  Scriptures,"  a 
parliament  paper  had  a  few  passages  from  the  Koran 
selected  by  a  Moslem  for  a  favorable  showing  of  points  of 
Moslem  religion,  but  an  exhibit  too  slight  to  be  of  value. 


FROM  ALL  RACES  AND  NATIONS.  823 

The  paper  by  Rev.  Dr.  George  Washburn,  president  of  a 
missionary  college  in  Constantinople,  on  "The  Points  of 
Contact  and  Contrast  between  Christianity  and  Moham- 
medanism," dealt  very  fairly  with  Moslem  belief.  Some  of 
Dr.  Washburn's  testimonies  were  these : 

"There  are  as  many  different  opinions  on  theological 
questions  among  Moslems  as  among  Christians,  and  it  is  im- 
possible to  present  any  summary  of  Mohammedan  doctrine 
which  will  be  accepted  by  all. 

"  The  faith  of  Islam  is  based  primarily  upon  the  Koran, 
which  is  believed  to  have  been  delivered  to  the  Prophet  at 
sundry  times  by  the  angel  Gabriel,  and  upon  the  traditions 
reporting  the  life  and  words  of  the  Prophet ;  and  second- 
arily, upon  the  opinions  of  certain  distinguished  theologians 
of  the  second  century  of  the  hegira,  especially,  for  the  Sunnis, 
of  the  four  Imams,  Hanife,  Shafi,  Malik,  and  Hannbel. 

"  The  Shiites,  or  followers  of  Aali,  reject  these  last  with 
many  of  the  received  traditions,  and  hold  opinions  which 
the  great  body  of  Moslems  regard  as  heretical.  In  addition 
to  the  twofold  divisions  of  Sunnis  and  Shiites  and  of  the 
sects  of  the  four  Imams,  there  are  said  to  be  several  hundred 
minor  sects. 

"  It  is,  in  fact,  very  difficult  for  an  honest  inquirer  to  de- 
termine what  is  really  essential  to  the  faith.  A  distin- 
guished Moslem  statesman  and  scholar  once  assured  me  that 
nothing  was  essential  beyond  a  belief  in  the  existence  and 
unity  of  God.  And  several  years  ago  the  Sheik-ul-Islam,  the 
highest  authority  in  Constantinople,  in  a  letter  to  a  German 
inquirer,  states  that  whoever  confesses  that  there  is  but  one 
God,  and  that  Mohammed  is  his  prophet,  is  a  true  Moslem, 
although  to  be  a  good  one  it  is  necessary  to  observe  the  five 
points  of  confession,  prayer,  fasting,  almsgiving,  and  pil- 
grimage; but  the  difficulty  about  this  apparently  simple 
definition  in  that  belief  in  Mohammed  as  the  prophet  of  God 
involves  a  belief  in  all  his  teaching,  and  we  come  back  at 
once  to  the  question  what  that  teaching  was. 

"  The  great  majority  of  Mohammedans  believe  in  the  Koran, 
the  traditions  and  the  teaching  of  the  school  of  Hanife. 


824  REPRESENTATIVE  VOICES 

"To  some  distinguished  writers  Mohammedanism  is  a 
form  and  outgrowth  of  Christianity — in  fact,  essentially  a 
Christian  sect. 

"  Carlyle,  for  example,  says  :  *  Islam  is  definable  as  a  con- 
fused form  of  Christianity.'  And  Draper  calls  it  '  The 
Southern  Reformation,  akin  to  that  in  the  North  under 
Luther.'  Dean  Stanley  and  Dr.  Dollinger  make  similar 
statements. 

"  This  view  seems  to  me  not  only  misleading,  but  essen- 
tially false. 

"  Neither  Mohammed  nor  any  of  his  earlier  followers  had 
ever  been  Christians,  and  there  is  no  satisfactory  evidence 
that  up  to  the  time  of  his  announcing  his  prophetic  mission 
he  had  interested  himself  at  all  in  Christianity.  No  such 
theory  is  necessary  to  account  for  his  monotheism.  The 
citizens  of  Mecca  were  mostly  idolaters,  but  a  few,  known  as 
Hanifs,  were  pure  deists,  and  the  doctrine  of  the  unity  of 
God  was  not  unknown  theoretically  even  by  those  who,  in 
their  idolatry,  had  practically  abandoned  it. 

"  It  was  against  this  prevalent  idolatry  that  Mohammed 
revolted,  and  he  claimed  that  in  so  doing  he  had  returned 
to  the  pure  religion  of  Abraham.  Still,  Mohammedanism  is 
no  more  a  reformed  Judaism  than  it  is  a  form  of  Christian- 
ity. It  was  essentially  a  new  religion. 

"  The  Koran  claimed  to  be  a  new  and  perfect  revelation  of 
the  will  of  God,  and  from  the  time  of  the  Prophet's  death  to 
this  day  no  Moslem  has  appealed  to  the  ancient  traditions 
of  Arabia  or  to  the  Jewish  or  Christian  Scriptures  as  the 
ground  of  his  faith.  The  Koran  and  the  traditions  are  suffi- 
cient and  final.  I  believe  that  every  orthodox  Moslem  re- 
gards Islam  as  a  separate,  distinct,  and  absolutely  exclusive 
religion ;  and  there  is  nothing  to  be  gained  by  calling  it  a 
form  of  Christianity.  But  after  having  set  aside  this  un- 
founded statement,  and  fully  acknowledged  the  independent 
origin  of  Islam,  there  is  still  a  historical  relationship  be- 
tween it  and  Christianity  which  demands  our  attention. 

"  The  Prophet  recognized  the  Christian  and  Jewish  Scrip- 
tures as  the  word  of  God,  although  it  cannot  be  proved  that 


FROM  ALL  RACES  AND  NATIONS.  825 

he  had  ever  read  them.  They  are  mentioned  131  times  in 
the  Koran,  but  there  is  only  one  quotation  from  the  Old 
Testament  and  one  from  the  New.  The  historical  parts  of 
the  Koran  correspond  with  the  Talmud,  and  the  writings  cur- 
rent among  the  heretical  Christian  sects,  such  as  the  Prot- 
evangelium  of  James,  the  pseudo  Matthew,  and  the  Gospel  of 
the  nativity  of  Mary,  rather  than  with  the  Bible.  His  in- 
formation was  probably  obtained  verbally  from  his  Jewish 
and  Christian  friends,  who  seem,  in  some  cases,  to  have  de- 
ceived him  intentionally.  He  seems  to  have  believed  their 
statements,  that  his  coming  was  foretold  in  the  Scriptures, 
and  to  have  hoped  for  some  years  that  they  would  accept 
him  as  their  promised  leader. 

"It  has  been  formally  decided  by  various  fetvas  that 
the  Koran  requires  belief  in  seven  principal  doctrines,  and 
the  confession  of  faith  is  this :  *  I  believe  on  God,  on  the 
Angels,  on  the  Books,  on  the  Prophets,  on  the  Judgment 
day,  on  the  eternal  Decrees  of  God  Almighty  concerning 
both  good  and  evil,  and  on  the  Resurrection  after  death.' 

"  There  are  many  other  things  which  a  good  Moslem  is 
expected  to  believe,  but  these  points  are  fundamental.  Tak- 
ing these  essential  dogmas  one  by  one  we  shall  find  that 
they  agree  with  Christian  doctrine  in  their  general  state- 
ment, although  in  their  development  there  is  a  wide  diverg- 
ence of  faith  between  the  Christian  and  Moslem. 

"  The  Moslem  and  Christian  statements  of  the  doctrine  of 
God  differ  chiefly  in  that  the  Christian  gives  special  prom- 
inence to  the  moral  attributes  of  God.  But  the  ninety-nine 
names  of  God  which  the  good  Moslem  constantly  repeats 
assign  these  attributes  to  him.  The  fourth  name  is  '  The 
Most  Holy';  the  twenty-ninth,  'The  Just';  the  forty-sixth, 
'  The  All  Loving';  the  first  and  most  common  is  *  The  Mer- 
ciful,' and  the  moral  attributes  are  often  referred  to  in  the 
Koran.  In  truth  there  is  no  conceivable  perfection  which 
the  Moslem  would  neglect  to  attribute  to  God. 

"  The  doctrine  of  the  sovereignty  of  God  is  a  fundamental 
principle  of  both  Christianity  and  Islam. 

"  The  Koran  says : 


826  REPRESENTATIVE  VOICES 

'  God  has  from  all  eternity  foreordained  by  an  immuta- 
ble decree  all  things  whatsoever  come  to  pass,  whether  good 
or  evil.' 

"  The  Westminster  Catechism  says  : 

'  The  decrees  of  God  are  His  eternal  purpose  according  to 
the  counsel  of  His  will,  whereby  for  His  own  glory  He  hath 
foreordained  whatever  comes  to  pass.' 

"  It  is  plain  that  these  two  statements  do  not  essentially 
differ,  and  the  same  controversies  have  arisen  over  this  doc- 
trine among  Mohammedans  as  among  Christians  with  the 
same  differences  of  opinion. 

"  Both  Moslems  and  Christians  believe  in  the  existence  of 
good  and  evil  angels,  and  that  God  has  revealed  His  will  to 
man  in  certain  inspired  books,  and  both  agree  that  the 
Hebrew  and  Christian  Scriptures  are  such  books.  The  Mos- 
lem, however,  believes  that  they  have  been  superseded  by 
the  Koran,  which  was  brought  down  from  God  by  the  angel 
Gabriel.  They  believe  that  this  is  His  eternal  and  uncreated 
word ;  that  its  divine  character  is  proved  by  its  poetic 
beauty  ;  that  it  has  a  miraculous  power  over  men  apart  from 
what  it  teaches,  so  that  the  mere  hearing  of  it,  without 
understanding  it,  may  heal  the  sick  or  convert  the  infidel. 
Both  Christians  and  Moslems  believe  that  God  has  sent 
prophets  and  apostles  into  the  world  to  teach  men  His  will ; 
both  believe  in  the  judgment  day  and  the  resurrection  of 
the  dead,  the  immortality  of  the  soul,  and  rewards  and  pun- 
ishments in  the  future  life. 

"  It  will  be  seen  that  in  simple  statement  the  seven  pos- 
itive doctrines  of  Islam  are  in  harmony  with  Christian 
dogma  ;  but  in  their  exposition  and  development  the  New 
Testament  and  the  Koran  part  company,  and  Christian  and 
Moslem  speculation  evolve  totally  different  conceptions, 
especially  in  regard  to  everything  concerning  the  other 
world.  It  is  in  these  expositions  based  upon  the  Koran 
(e.  g.,  suras,  Ivi.  and  Ixxviii.),  and  still  more  upon  the  tradi- 
tions, that  we  find  the  most  striking  contrasts  between 
Christianity  and  Mohammedanism." 

"  The  essential  dogmatic  difference  between  Christianity 


FROM  ALL  RACES  AND  NATIONS.  827 

and  Islam  is  in  regard  to  the  person,  office,  and  work  of 
Jesus  Christ.  The  Koran  expressly  denies  the  Trinity,  the 
Divinity  of  Christ,  His  death,  and  the  whole  doctrine  of  the 
Incarnation  and  the  Atonement,  and  rejects  the  sacraments 
which  He  ordained. 

"  It  accepts  His  miraculous  birth,  His  miracles,  His  moral 
perfection,  and  His  mission  as  an  inspired  prophet  or  teach- 
er. It  declares  that  He  did  not  die  on  the  cross,  but  was 
taken  up  to  heaven  without  death,  while  the  Jews  crucified 
one  like  Him  in  His  place.  It  consequently  denies  His 
resurrection  from  the  dead,  but  claims  that  He  will  come 
again  to  rule  the  world  before  the  day  of  judgment. 

"  It  says  that  He  will  Himself  testify  before  God  that  He 
never  claimed  to  be  divine;  this  heresy  originated  with 
Paul. 

"  And  at  the  same  time  the  faith  exalts  Mohammed  to  very 
nearly  the  same  position  which  Christ  occupies  in  the  Chris- 
tian scheme.  He  is  not  divine,  and  consequently  not  an 
object  of  worship,  but  he  was  the  first  created  being ;  God's 
first  and  best  beloved,  the  noblest  of  all  creatures,  the  medi- 
'ator  between  God  and  man,  the  greatest  intercessor,  the 
first  to  enter  Paradise  and  the  highest  there.  Although 
the  Koran  in  many  places  speaks  of  him  as  a  sinner  in  need 
of  pardon  (Ex.,  suras  xxiii.,  xlvii.,  and  xlviii.),  his  absolute 
sinlessness  is  also  an  article  of  faith. 

"  There  are  nominal  Mohammedans  who  are  atheists  and 
others  who  are  pantheists  of  the  Spinoza  type.  There  are 
also  some  small  sects  who  are  rationalists,  but  after  the 
fashion  of  old  English  Deism  rather  than  of  the  modern 
rationalism.  The  Deistic  rationalism  is  represented  in  that 
most  interesting  work  of  Justice  Ameer  Aali,  '  The  Spirit 
of  Islam.'  He  speaks  of  Mohammed  as  Xenophon  did  of 
Socrates  and  he  reveres  Christ  also,  but  he  denies  that  there 
was  anything  supernatural  in  the  inspiration  or  lives  of 
either,  and  claims  that  Hanife  and  the  other  Imams  cor- 
rupted Islam  as  he  thinks  Paul,  the  apostle,  did  Christian- 
ity ;  but  this  book  does  not  represent  Mohammedanism  any 
more  than  Kenan's  '  Life  of  Jesus '  represents  Christianity. 


828  REPRESENTATIVE  VOICES 

"  The  practical  and  ethical  relations  of  Islam  to  Christian- 
ity are  even  more  interesting  than  the  historical  and  dog- 
matic. The  Moslem  code  of  morals  is  much  nearer  the 
Christian  than  is  generally  supposed  on  either  side,  although 
it  is  really  more  Jewish  than  Christian.  The  truth  is,  that 
we  judge  each  other  harshly  and  unfairly  by  those  who  do 
not  live  up  to  the  demands  of  their  religion,  instead  of  com- 
paring the  pious  Moslem  with  the  consistent  Christian. 

"  The  Moslem  moral  law  is  based  upon  the  Koran,  and 
the  traditions  of  the  life  and  sayings  of  the  Prophet  en- 
larged by  deductions  and  analogies.  Whatever  comes  from 
these  sources  has  the  force  and  authority  of  a  revealed  law 
of  God. 

"  The  practical  duties  inculcated  in  the  religious  code 
are :  Confession  of  God  and  Mohammed  his  Prophet ;  Prayer 
at  least  five  times  a  day  ;  Fasting  during  the  month  of  Ra- 
mazan  from  dawn  to  sunset ;  Alms  to  the  annual  amount  of 
two  and  a  half  per  cent,  on  property  ;  Pilgrimage  to  Mecca 
at  least  once  in  a  lifetime. 

"In  addition  to  these  primary  duties  of  religion,  the 
moral  eode,  as  given  by  Omer  Nessefi,  demands :  Honesty 
in  business ;  Modesty  or  decency  in  behavior ;  Fraternity 
between  all  Moslems  ;  Benevolence  and  kindness  toward  all 
creatures.  It  forbids  gambling,  music,  the  making  or  pos- 
sessing of  images,  the  drinking  of  intoxicating  liquors,  the 
taking  of  God's  name  in  vain,  and  all  false  oaths.  And,  in 
general,  Omer  Wessefi  adds :  '  It  is  an  indispensable  obliga- 
tion for  every  Moslem  to  practice  virtue  and  avoid  vice — 
**.  e.t  all  that  is  contrary  to  religion,  law,  humanity,  good 
manners,  and  the  duties  of  society.  He  ought  especially  to 
guard  against  deception,  lying,  slander,  and  abuse  of  his 
neighbor.' 

"We  may  also  add  some  specimen  passages  from  the 
Koran : 

*  God  commands  justice,  benevolence,  and  liberality.    He 
forbids  crime,  injustice,  and  calumny. 

*  Avoid  sin  in  secret  and  in  public.     The  wicked  will  re- 
ceive the  rewards  of  his  deeds. 


FROM  ALL  RACES  AND  NATIONS.  829 

1  God  promises  his  mercy  and  a  brilliant  recompense  to 
those  who  add  good  works  to  their  faith. 

'  He  who  commits  iniquity  will  lose  his  soul. 

'It  is  not  righteousness  that  you  turn  your  faces  in 
prayer  toward  the  east  or  the  west,  but  righteousness  is  of 
him  who  believeth  in  God  and  the  last  day,  and  the  angels 
and  the  prophets  ;  who  giveth  money,  for  God's  sake,  to  his 
kindred  and  to  orphans,  and  to  the  needy  and  the  stranger, 
and  to  those  who  ask,  and  for  the  redemption  of  captives ; 
who  is  constant  in  prayer,  and  giveth  alms ;  and  of  those 
who  perform  their  covenant,  and  who  behave  themselves 
patiently  in  adversity  and  hardships,  and  in  time  of  vio- 
lence. These  are  they  who  are  true,  and  these  are  they  who 
fear  God.' 

"  So  far,  with  one  or  two  exceptions,  these  conceptions  of 
the  moral  life  are  essentially  the  same  as  the  Christian, 
although  some  distinctively  Christian  virtues,  such  as  meek- 
ness and  humility,  are  not  emphasized. 

"  Beyond  this  we  have  a  moral  code  equally  binding  in 
theory,  and  equally  important  in  practice,  which  is  not  at 
all  Christian,  but  is  essentially  the  morality  of  the  Talmud 
in  the  extreme  value  which  it  attaches  to  outward  observ- 
ances, such  as  fasting,  pilgrimages,  and  ceremonial  rites. 

"  All  the  concerns  of  life  and  death  are  hedged  about  with 
prescribed  ceremonies,  which  are  not  simple  matters  of  pro- 
priety, but  of  morality  and  religion ;  and  it  is  impossible 
for  one  who  has  not  lived  among  Moslems  to  realize  the 
extent  and  importance  of  this  ceremonial  law. 

"  In  regard  to  polygamy,  divorce,  and  slavery  the  moral- 
ity of  Islam  is  in  direct  contrast  with  that  of  Christianity, 
and  as  the  principles  of  the  faith,  so  far  as  determined  by 
the  Koran  and  the  Traditions,  are  fixed  and  unchangeable- 
no  change  in  regard  to  the  legality  of  these  can  be  expected. 
They  may  be  silently  abandoned,  but  they  never  can  be  for- 
bidden by  law  in  any  Mohammedan  state.  It  should  be 
said  here,  however,  that,  while  the  position  of  woman,  as 
determined  by  the  Koran,  is  one  of  inferiority  and  subjec- 
tion, there  is  no  truth  whatever  in  the  current  idea  that, 


830  REPRESENTA1IVE  VOICES 

according  to  the  Koran,  they  have  no  souls,  no  hope  of 
immortality,  and  no  rights.  This  is  an  absolutely  unfounded 
slander. 

"  In  practice  there  are  certainly  many  Moslems  whose 
moral  lives  are  irreproachable  according  to  the  Christian 
standard,  who  fear  God,  and  in  their  dealings  with  men  are 
honest,  truthful,  and  benevolent ;  who  are  temperate  in  the 
gratification  of  their  desires  and  cultivate  a  self-denying 
spirit,  of  whose  sincere  desire  to  do  right  there  can  be  no 
doubt. 

"  There  are  those  whose  conceptions  of  pure  spiritual 
religion  seem  to  rival  those  of  the  Christian  mystics.  This 
is  specially  true  of  one  or  two  sects  of  Dervishes.  Some  of 
these  sects  are  simply  Mohammedan  Neo-Platonists,  and 
deal  in  magic,  sorcery,  and  purely  physical  means  of  attain- 
ing a  state  of  ecstasy  ;  but  others  are  neither  pantheists  nor 
theosophists,  and  seek  to  attain  unity  of  spirit  with  a  su- 
preme, personal  God  by  spiritual  means. 

"  Those  who  have  had  much  acquaintance  with  Moslems 
know  that  in  addition  to  these  mystics  there  are  many  com- 
mon people — as  many  women  as  men — who  seem  to  have 
more  or  less  clear  ideas  of  spiritual  life  and  strive  to  attain 
something  higher  than -mere  formal  morality  and  verbal 
confession  ;  who  feel  their  personal  unworthiness,  and  hope 
only  in  God. 

"  There  is  one  other  point  concerning  Mohammedan  mor- 
ality of  which  I  wish  to  speak  with  all  possible  delicacy, 
but  which  cannot  be  passed  over  in  silence.  It  is  the  influ- 
ence of  the  Prophet's  life  upon  that  of  his  followers.  The 
Moslem  world  accepts  him,  as  Christians  do  Christ,  as  the 
ideal  man,  the  best  beloved  of  God,  and  consequently  their 
conception  of  his  life  exerts  an  important  influence  upon 
their  practical  morality. 

"  I  have  said  nothing  thus  far  of  the  personal  character 
of  the  Prophet,  because  it  is  too  difficult  a  question  to  dis- 
cuss in  this  connection  ;  but  I  may  say,  in  a  word,  that  my 
own  impression  is,  that  from  first  to  last,  he  sincerely  and 
honestly  believed  himself  to  be  a  superna-turally  inspired 


FROM  ALL  RACES  AND  NATIONS.  831 

prophet  of  God.  I  have  no  wish  to  think  any  evil  of  him, 
for  he  was  certainly  one  of  the  most  remarkable  men  that 
the  world  has  ever  seen.  I  should  rejoice  to  know  that  he 
was  such  a  man  as  he  is  represented  to  be  in  Ameer  Aali's 
*  Spirit  of  Islam,'  for  the  world  would  be  richer  for  having 
such  a  man  in  it. 

"  But  whatever  may  have  been  his  real  character,  he  is 
known  to  Moslems  chiefly  through  the  traditions;  and 
these,  taken  as  a  whole,  present  to  us  a  totally  different 
man  from  the  Christ  of  the  gospels.  As  we  have  seen,  the 
Moslem  code  of  morals  commands  and  forbids  essentially 
the  same  things  as  the  Christian  ;  but  the  Moslem  h'nds  in 
the  traditions  a  mass  of  stories  in  regard  to  the  life  and  say- 
ings of  the  Prophet,  many  of  which  are  altogether  inconsist- 
ent with  Christian  ideas  of  morality,  and  which  make  the 
impression  that  many  things  forbidden  are  at  least  ex- 
cusable. 

"  There  are  many  nominal  Christians  who  lead  lives  as 
corrupt  as  any  Moslems,  but  they  find  no  excuse  for  it  in 
the  life  of  Christ.  They  know  that  they  are  Christians  only 
in  name ;  while,  under  the  influence  of  the  traditions,  the 
Mohammedan  may  have  such  a  conception  of  the  Prophet 
that,  in  spite  of  his  immorality,  he  may  still  believe  himself 
a  true  Moslem.  If  Moslems  generally  believed  in  such  a 
prophet  as  is  described  in  the  *  Spirit  of  Islam,'  it  would 
greatly  modify  the  tone  of  Mohammedan  life." 


JUDAISM. 

The  conspicuous  voices  representative  of  Judaism  in  the 
parliament,  in  utterances  beyond  the  commonplace  of  fa- 
miliar teaching,  were  those  of  Rev.  Dr.  Kaufman  Kohler  and 
Dr.  Emil  G.  Hirsch,  the  one  a  New  York  and  the  other  a 
Chicago  minister  of  reformed  Judaism.  Dr.  Kohler,  in 
speaking  on  Human  Brotherhood,  said : 

"The  Merciful  One  of  Mohammed  enjoins  charity  and 
compassion  no  less  than  does  the  Holy  One  of  Isaiah  and 
the  Heavenly  Father  of  Jesus.  We  have  been  too  rash,  too 


832  REPRESENTATIVE  VOICES 

harsh,  too  uncharitable  in  judging  other  sects  and  creeds. 
'We  men  judge  nations  and  classes  too  often  by  the  bad  ex- 
amples they  produce ;  God  judges  them  by  their  best  and 
noblest  types,'  is  an  exquisite  saying  of  the  Rabbis.  Is 
there  a  race  or  a  religion  that  does  not  cultivate  one  great 
virtue  to  unlock  the  gates  of  bliss  for  all  its  followers  ? 
Hear  the  Psalmist  exclaim  :  *  This  is  the  gate  of  the  Lord  ; 
the  righteous  enter  into  it.'  No  priest,  nor  Levite,  nor 
Israel's  people  enjoy  any  privilege  there.  The  kind  Samar- 
itan, as  Jesus  puts  it  in  his  parable ;  the  good  and  just 
among  all  men,  as  the  Rabbis  express  it  (Sifra  Achre 
Moth,  13),  find  admission.  No  monopoly  of  salvation 
for  any  creed.  Righteousness  opens  the  door  for  all  the 
nations. 

"  Is  this  platform  not  broad  enough  to  hold  every  creed  ? 
Must  not  every  system  of  ethics  find  a  place  in  this  great 
brotherhood  with  whatever  virtue  or  ideal  it  emphasizes  ? 
Is  here  not  scope  given  for  every  honest  endeavor  and  each 
human  craving  for  whatever  cheers  and  inspires,  ennobles 
and  refines  man;  for  every  vocation,  profession,  or  skill;  for 
whatever  lifts  dust-born  man  to  higher  standards  of  good- 
ness, to  higher  states  of  blessedness  ? 

"  Too  long,  indeed,  have  Chinese  walls,  reared  by  nations 
and  sects,  kept  man  from  his  brother,  to  rend  humanity 
asunder.  Will  the  principle  of  toleration  suffice  ?  Or  shall 
Lessing's  parable  of  the  three  rings  plead  for  equality  of 
church,  mosque,  and  synagogue?  What,  then,  about  the 
rest  of  the  creeds,  the  great  Parliament  of  Religions  ?  And 
what  a  poor  plea  for  the  father,  if,  from  love,  he  cheats  his 
children,  to  find  at  the  end  he  has  but  cheated  himself  of 
their  love.  No.  Either  all  the  rings  are  genuine  and  have 
the  magic  power  of  love,  or  the  father  is  himself  a  fraud. 
Trust  and  love,  in  order  to  enrich  and  uplift,  must  be  firm 
and  immutable,  as  God  himself.  If  truth,  love,  and  justice 
be  the  goal,  they  must  be  my  fellow  man's  as  well  as  mine. 
And  should  not  every  act  and  every  step  of  man  and  hu- 
manity lead  onward  to  Zion's  hill,  which  shall  stand  high 
above  all  mounts  of  vision  and  aspiration,  above  every  single 


FROM  ALL  RACES  AND  NATIONS.  83» 

truth  and  knowledge,  faith  and  hope,  the  mountain  of  the 
Jx>rd2" 

Dr.  Hirsch,  on  the  last  day  of  the  parliament,  dealing 
with  the  question  of  the  elements  of  universal  religion,  pre- 
sented these  points  : 

"  Religion  is  one  of  the  natural  functions  of  the  human 
soul ;  it  is  one  of  the  natural  conditions  of  human,  as  dis- 
tinct from  mere  animal  life.  To  this  proposition  ethnology 
and  sociology  bear  abundant  testimony.  Man  alone  in  the 
wide  sweep  of  creation  builds  altars.  And  wherever  man  may 
tent,  there  also  will  curve  upward  the  burning  incense  of  his 
sacrifice  or  the  sweeter  savor  of  his  aspirations  after  the  bet- 
ter, the  diviner  light.  However  rude  the  form  of  society  in 
which  he  moves,  or  however  refined  and  complex  the  social 
organism,  religion  never  fails  to  be  among  the  determining 
forces  one  of  the  most  potent." 

"  Still  the  universal  religion  has  as  yet  not  been  evolved 
in  the  procession  of  the  suns.  It  is  one  of  the  blessings  yet 
to  come.  There  are  now  even  known  to  men  and  revered  by 
them  great  religious  systems  which  pretend  to  universality. 
And  who  would  deny  that  Buddhism,  Christianity,  and  the 
faith  of  Islam  present  many  of  the  characteristic  elements 
of  the  universal  faith  ?  In  its  ideas  and  ideals  the  religion 
of  the  prophets,  notably  as  enlarged  by  those  of  the  Baby- 
lonian exile,  also  deserves  to  be  numbered  among  the  procla- 
mations of  a  wider  outlook  and  a  higher  uplook.  These 
systems  are  no  longer  ethnic.  They  thus,  the  three  in  full 
practice  and  the  last  mentioned  in  spirited  intention,  have 
passed  beyond  some  of  the  most  notable  limitations  which 
are  fundamental  in  other  forms  created  by  the  religious 
needs  of  man.  They  have  advanced  far  on  the  road  leading 
to  the  ideal  goal ;  and  modern  man  in  his  quest  for  the  ele- 
ments of  the  still  broader  universal  faith  will  never  again 
retrace  his  steps  to  go  back  to  the  mile-posts  these  have  left 
behind  on  their  climb  up  the  heights.  The  three  great  re- 
ligions have  emancipated  themselves  from  the  bondage  of 
racial  tests  and  national  divisions.  Race  and  nationality 


834  REPRESENTATIVE  VOICES 

cannot  circumscribe  the  fellowship  of  the  larger  communion 
of  the  faithful,  a  communion  destined  to  embrace  in  one 
covenant  all  the  children  of  man. 

"  The  day  of  national  religions  is  past.  The  God  of  the 
universe  speaks  to  all  mankind.  He  is  not  the  God  of  Israel 
alone,  nor  that  of  Moab,  of  Egypt,  Greece,  or  America.  He 
is  not  domiciled  in  Palestine.  The  Jordan  and  the  Ganges, 
the  Tiber  and  the  Euphrates  hold  water  wherewith  the 
devout  may  be  baptized  unto  His  service  and  redemption. 
'  Whither  shall  I  go  from  Thy  spirit  ?  Whither  flee  from 
Thy  presence  ? '  exclaims  the  old  Hebrew  bard. 

"  The  church  universal  must  have  the  pentecostal  gift  of 
the  many  flaming  tongues  in  it,  as  the  Rabbis  say  was  the 
case  at  Sinai.  God's  revelation  must  be  sounded  in  every 
language  to  every  land.  But,  as  this  is  essential  as  marking 
a  new  advance,  the  universal  religion  for  all  the  children  of 
Adam  will  not  palisade  its  courts  by  the  pointed  and  for- 
bidding stakes  of  a  creed.  Creeds  in  time  to  come  will  be 
recognized  to  be  indeed  cruel  barbed-wire  fences,  wounding 
those  that  would  stray  to  broader  pastures,  and  hurting 
others  who  would  come  in.  Will  it  for  this  be  a  Godless 
church  ?  Ah,  no  ;  it  will  have  much  more  of  God  than  the 
churches  and  synagogues  with  their  dogmatic  definitions 
now  possess.  Coming  man  will  not  be  ready  to  resign  the 
crown  of  his  glory  which  is  his  by  virtue  of  his  feeling  him- 
self to  be  the  son  of  God.  But  for  all  this,  man  will  learn  a 
new  modesty  now  woefully  lacking  to  so  many  who  honestly 
deem  themselves  religious.  His  God  will  not  be  a  figment, 
cold  and  distant,  of  metaphysics,  nor  a  distorted  caricature 
of  embittered  theology.  '  Can  man  by  searching  find  out 
God  ? '  asks  the  old  Hebrew  poet.  And  the  ages  so  flooded 
with  religious  strife  are  vocal  with  the  stinging  rebuke  to 
all  creed-builders  that  man  cannot.  Man  grows  unto  the 
knowledge  of  God,  but  not  to  him  is  vouchsafed  that  fullness 
of  knowledge  which  would  warrant  his  arrogance  to  hold 
that  his  blurred  vision  is  the  full  light,  and  that  there  can 
be  none  other  which  might  report  truth  as  does  his." 

"  Says  Maimonides,  greatest  thinker  of  the  many  Jewish 


FROM  ALL  RACES  AND  NATIONS.  835 

philosophers  of  the  middle  ages :  « Of  God  we  may  merely  as- 
sert that  He  is ;  what  He  is  in  Himself  we  cannot  know.  "  My 
thoughts  are  not  your  thoughts,  and  my  ways  are  not  your 
ways."  '  This  prophetic  caution  will  resound  in  clear  notes 
in  the  ears  of  all  who  will  worship  in  the  days  to  come  at  the 
universal  shrine.  They  will  cease  their  futile  efforts  to  give 
a  definition  of  Him  who  cannot  be  defined  in  human  symbols. 

"  The  religion  universal  will  not  presume  to  regulate  God's 
government  of  this  world  by  circumscribing  the  sphere  of 
His  possible  salvation  and  declaring  as  though  He  had  taken 
us  into  His  counsel  whom  He  must  save  and  whom  He  may 
not  save.  The  universal  religion  will  once  more  make  the 
God  idea  a  vital  principle  of  human  life.  It  will  teach  men 
to  find  Him  in  their  own  heart  and  to  have  Him  with  them 
in  whatever  they  may  do.  He  believes  in  God  who  lives  a 
Godlike,  i.e.,  a  goodly  life.  Not  he  that  mumbles  His 
credo,  but  he  who  loves  it,  is  accepted.  Were  those  marked 
for  glory  by  the  great  teacher  of  Nazareth  who  wore  the 
largest  phylacteries  ?  Is  the  sermon  on  the  mount  a  creed  ? 
Was  the  decalogue  a  creed?  Character  and  conduct,  not 
creed,  will  be  the  keynote  of  the  gospel  in  the  Church  of 
Humanity  Universal. 

"  Sin  as  a  theological  imputation  will  perhaps  drop  out  of 
the  vocabulary  of  this  larger  communion  of  the  religious. 
But  as  a  weakness  to  be  overcome,  an  imperfection  to  be 
laid  aside,  man  will  be  as  potently  reminded  of  his  natural 
shortcomings  as  he  is  now  of  that  of  his  first  progenitor 
over  whose  conduct  he  certainly  had  no  control  and  for 
whose  misdeed  he  should  not  be  held  accountable.  Religion 
will  then  as  now  lift  man  above  his  weaknesses  by  reminding 
him  of  his  responsibilities.  This  principle  will  assign  to 
religion  once  more  the  place  of  honor  among  the  redeeming 
agencies  of  society  from  the  bondage  of  selfishness.  On  this 
basis  every  man  is  every  other  man's  brother,  not  merely  in 
misery,  but  in  active  work.  '  As  you  have  done  to  the  least 
of  these  you  have  done  unto  me,'  will  be  the  guiding  prin- 
ciple of  human  conduct  in  all  the  relations  into  which 
human  life  enters. 


836  REPRESENTATIVE  VOICES 

"An  invidious  distinction  obtains  now  between  secular 
and  sacred. 

"  It  will  be  wiped  away.  Every  thought  and  every  deed 
of  man  must  be  holy  or  it  is  unworthy  of  men.  Did  Jesus 
merely  regard  the  temple  as  holy  ?  Did  Buddha  merely 
have  religion  on  one  or  two  hours  of  the  Sabbath?  Did 
not  an  earlier  prophet  deride  and  condemn  all  ritual  re- 
ligion ?  *  Wash  ye,  make  ye  clean.'  Was  this  not  the  bur- 
den of  Isaiah's  religion?  The  religion  universal  will  be 
true  to  these,  its  forerunners. 

"  This  new  faith  will  retain  the  old  Bibles  of  mankind, 
but  give  them  a  new  lustre  by  remembering  that '  the  letter 
killeth,  but  the  spirit  giveth  life.'  Religion  is  not  a  ques- 
tion of  literature,  but  of  life.  God's  revelation  is  contin- 
uous, not  contained  in  tablets  of  stone  or  sacred  parchment. 
He  speaks  to-day  yet  to  those  that  would  hear  Him.  A 
book  is  inspired  when  it  inspires.  Religion  made  the  Bible, 
not  the  book  religion. 

"And  this  church  will  be  known  not  by  its  founders, 
but  by  its  fruits.  God  replies  to  him  who  insists  upon 
knowing  His  name :  '  I  am  He  who  I  am.'  The  church  will 
be.  If  any  name  it  will  have,  it  will  be  *  the  church  of  God,' 
because  it  will  be  the  church  of  man.  Man  will  worship, 
but  in  the  beauty  of  holiness  his  prayer  will  be  the  prelude 
to  his  prayerful  action.  Silence  is  more  reverential  and 
worshipful  than  a  wild  torrent  of  words  breathing  forth  not 
adoration  but  greedy  requests  for  favors  to  self.  Can  an 
unforgiving  heart  pray,  '  forgive  as  we  forgive '  ?  Can  one 
ask  for  daily  bread  when  he  refuses  to  break  his  bread  with 
the  hungry?  Did  not  the  prayer  of  the  great  Master  of 
Nazareth  thus  teach  all  men  and  all  ages  that  prayer  must 
be  the  stirring  to  love  ? " 

CHRISTIANITY. 

Among  broadly  Christian  utterances  in  the  parliament, 
those  of  Cardinal  Gibbons  and  Bishop  Keane  presented 
Catholic  teaching.  Cardinal  Gibbons  said  : 

"  Christ  alone  of  all  religious  founders  had  the  courage 


FROM  ALL  RACES  AND  NATIONS.  837 

to  say  to  His  disciples  :  '  Go,  teach  all  nations.'  '  Preach  the 
Gospel  to  every  creature.'  '  You  shall  be  witness  to  me  in 
Judea  and  Samaria,  and  even  to  the  uttermost  bounds  of 
the  earth.'  Be  not  restrained  in  your  mission  by  national 
or  State  lines.  Let  my  Gospel  be  as  free  and  universal  as 
the  air  of  heaven.  *  The  earth  is  the  Lord's  and  the  fullness 
thereof.'  All  mankind  are  the  children  of  my  Father  and 
my  brethren.  I  have  died  for  all,  and  embrace  all  in  my 
charity.  Let  the  whole  human  race  be  your  audience  and 
the  world  be  the  theatre  of  your  labors. 

"  It  is  this  recognition  of  the  fatherhood  of  God  and 
the  brotherhood  of  Christ  that  has  inspired  the  Catholic 
Church  in  her  mission  of  love  and  benevolence.  This  is  the 
secret  of  her  all-pervading  charity.  This  idea  has  been 
her  impelling  motive  in  her  work  of  the  social  regeneration 
of  mankind.  I  behold,  she  says,  in  every  human  creature  a 
child  of  God  and  a  brother  and  sister  of  Christ,  and  there- 
fore I  will  protect  helpless  infancy  and  decrepit  old  age.  I 
will  feed  the  orphan  and  nurse  the  sick.  I  will  strike  the 
shackles  from  the  feet  of  the  slave  and  will  rescue  degraded 
woman  from  the  moral  bondage  and  degradation  to  which 
her  own  frailty  and  the  passions  of  the  stronger  sex  had 
consigned  her." 

"  The  Catholic  church  has  taught  man  the  knowledge  of 
God  and  of  himself ;  she  has  brought  comfort  to  his  heart 
by  instructing  him  to  bear  the  ills  of  life  with  Christian 
philosophy  ;  she  has  sanctified  the  marriage  bond  ;  she  has 
proclaimed  the  sanctity  and  inviolability  of  human  life 
from  the  moment  that  the  body  is  animated  by  the  spark  of 
life  till  it  is  extinguished  ;  she  has  founded  asylums  for  the 
training  of  children  of  both  sexes  and  for  the  support  of 
the  aged  poor ;  she  has  established  hospitals  for  the  sick  and 
homes  for  the  redemption  of  fallen  women ;  she  has  exerted 
her  influence  toward  the  mitigation  and  abolition  of  human 
slavery  ;  she  has  been  the  unwavering  friend  of  the  sons  of 
toil.  These  are  some  of  the  blessings  which  the  Catholic 
church  has  conferred  on  society. 

"  I  will  not  deny,  on  the  contrary  I  am  happy  to  avow, 


838  REPRESENTATIVE  VOICES 

that  the  various  Christian  bodies  outside  the  Catholic  church 
have  been  and  are  to-day  zealous  promoters  of  most  of  these 
works  of  Christian  benevolence  which  I  have  enumerated. 
But  will  not  our  separated  brethren  have  the  candor  to 
acknowledge  that  we  had  first  possession  of  the  field,  that 
these  beneficent  movements  have  been  inaugurated  by  us, 
and  that  the  other  Christian  communities  in  their  noble 
efforts  for  the  moral  and  social  regeneration  of  mankind 
have  in  no  small  measure  been  stimulated  by  the  example 
and  emulation  of  the  ancient  church  ? 

"  Let  us  do  all  we  can  in  our  day  and  generation  in  the 
cause  of  humanity.  Every  man  has  a  mission  from  God  to 
help  his  fellow-being.  Though  we  differ  in  faith,  thank 
God  there  is  one  platform  on  which  we  stand  united,  and 
that  is  the  platform  of  charity  and  benevolence.  We  can- 
not indeed,  like  our  Divine  Master,  give  sight  to  the  blind, 
and  hearing  to  the  deaf,  and  speech  to  the  dumb,  and 
strength  to  the  paralyzed  limb,  but  we  can  work  miracles 
of  grace  and  mercy  by  relieving  the  distress  of  our  suffering 
brethren.  And  never  do  we  approach  nearer  to  our  Heavenly 
Father  than  when  we  alleviate  the  sorrows  of  others.  Never 
do  we  perform  an  act  more  godlike  than  when  we  bring 
sunshine  to  hearts  that  are  dark  and  desolate.  Never  are  we 
more  like  to  God  than  when  we  cause  the  flowers  of  joy  and 
gladness  to  bloom  in  souls  that  were  dry  and  barren  before. 
'  Religion,'  says  the  apostle,  '  pure  and  undefiled  before  God 
and  the  Father,  is  this  :  to  visit  the  fatherless  and  the  widow 
in  their  tribulation  and  to  keep  oneself  unspotted  from  this 
world.'  Or  to  borrow  the  words  of  the  pagan  Cicero: 
'  Homines  ad  Deos  nulla  re  propius  accedunt  quam  salutem 
hominibus  dando.'  'There  is  no  way  by  which  men  can 
approach  nearer  to  the  gods  than  by  contributing  to  the 
welfare  of  their  fellow-creatures.'  " 

The  general  principles  under  which  Bishop  Keane  brought 
his  special  faith  in  God,  in  Christ,  and  in  one  undivided 
church  of  all  the  saints,  he  stated  as  follows  : 

"  These  days  will  always  be  to  us  a  memory  of  sweetness. 


FROM  ALL  RACES  AND  NATIONS.  839 

Sweet,  indeed,  it  has  been  for  God's  long-separated  children 
to  meet  at  last,  for  those  whom  the  haps  and  mishaps  of  hu- 
man life  have  put  so  far  apart,  and  whom  the  foolishness  of 
the  human  heart  has  so  often  arrayed  in  hostility,  here  to 
clasp  hands  in  friendship  and  in  brotherhood,  in  the  presence 
of  the  blessed  and  loving  Father  of  us  all ;  sweet  to  see  and 
feel  that  it  is  an  awful  wrong  for  religion,  which  is  of  the 
Lord  of  love,  to  inspire  hatred,  which  is  of  the  evil  one;  sweet 
to  tie  again  the  bonds  of  affection  broken  since  the  days  of 
Babel,  and  to  taste  *  how  good  and  how  sweet  a  thing  it  is  for 
brethren  to  live  in  unity.' 

"  In  the  first  place,  while  listening  to  utterances  which  we 
could  not  but  approve  and  applaud,  though  coming  from 
sources  so  diverse,  we  have  had  practical  experimental  evi- 
dence of  the  old  saying,  that  there  is  truth  in  all  religions. 

"  Then  we  have  heard  repeated  and  multifarious,  yet  con- 
cordant definitions  of  what  religion  really  is.  Viewed  in  all 
its  aspects,  we  have  seen  how  true  is  the  old  definition  that 
religion  means  the  union  of  man  with  God.  This,  we  have 
seen,  is  the  great  goal  toward  which  all  aim,  whether  walk- 
ing in  the  fullness  of  the  light  or  groping  in  the  dimness  of 
the  twilight. 

"  And  therefore  we  have  seen  how  true  it  is  that  religion 
is  a  reality  back  of  all  religions. 

"  Here  we  have  heard  the  verdict  of  human  society  in  all 
its  ranks  and  conditions,  the  verdict  of  those  who  have  most 
intelligently  and  most  disinterestedly  studied  the  problem 
of  the  improvement  of  human  conditions,  that  only  the  wis- 
dom and  power  of  religion  can  solve  the  mighty  social  prob- 
lems of  the  future,  and  that,  in  proportion  as  the  world  ad- 
vances toward  the  perfection  of  self-government,  the  need  of 
religion,  as  a  balance-power  in  every  human  life  and  in  the 
relations  of  man  with  man  and  of  nation  with  nation,  be- 
comes more  and  more  imperative. 

"  This  parliament  has  brought  out  in  clear  light  the  old 
familiar  truth  that  religion  has  a  twofold  aim,  the  improve- 
ment of  the  individual  and,  through  that,  the  improvement 
of  society  and  of  the  race;  that  it  must,  therefore,  have  in  its 


840  REPRESENTATIVE  VOICES 

system  of  organization  and  its  methods  of  action  a  twofold 
tendency  and  plan,  on  the  one  side  to  what  might  be  called 
religious  individualism,  on  the  other  side  to  what  may  be 
termed  religious  socialism." 

In  a  similar  spirit  Dr.  George  Dana  Boardman  rehearsed 
the  claims  of  Christ  as  the  ?Anifier  of  mankind.  He 
said: 

"  This  congress  is  unparalleled  in  its  purpose — not  to  array 
sect  against  sect,  or  to  exalt  one  form  of  religion  at  the  cost 
of  all  other  forms,  but  to  unite  all  religion  against  all  irre- 
ligion.  Jesus  of  Nazareth  is  the  universal  homo,  the  essential 
Vir,  the  son  of  human  nature,  blending  in  Himself  all  races, 
ages,  sexes,  capacities,  temperaments.  Jesus  is  the  arche- 
typal man,  the  ideal  hero,  the  consummate  incarnation,  the 
symbol  of  perfected  human  nature,  the  sum  total  of  unfolded, 
fulfilled  humanity,  the  Son  of  Mankind. 

"  All  other  religions,  comparatively  speaking,  are  more  or 
less  topographical.  But  Christianity  is  the  religion  of  man- 
kind. Zoroaster  was  a  Persian ;  Mohammed  was  an  Arabian. 
But  Jesus  is  the  Son  of  Man.  Buddha  was  in  many  respects 
very  noble,  but  he  and  his  religion  are  Asiatic.  What  has 
Buddha  done  for  the  unity  of  mankind  ?  Mohammed  taught 
some  very  noble  truths,  but  Mohammedanism  is  f ragmen tal 
and  antithetic.  Why  have  not  his  followers  invited  us  to 
meet  at  Mecca  ?  Jesus  Christ  is  the  one  universal  man,  and 
therefore  it  is  that  the  first  parliament  of  religions  is  meet- 
ing in  a  Christian  land,  under  Christian  auspices." 

Both  Dr.  Boardman  and  Bishop  Keane  strongly  urged  a 
strictly  evangelical  acceptance  of  Christ,  in  the  sense  of  dog- 
matic teaching  authorized  by  the  creeds  of  Christendom, 
under  which  other  religions  have  been  assumed  to  be  wholly 
wanting  in  securities  for  human  salvation.  The  Rev.  Joseph 
Cook,  in  two  papers,  strenuously  insisted  on  the  same  view 
of  salvation  through  Christ  alone,  and  of  coming  to  Christ 
by  the  light  which  the  Bible  alone  gives.  Mr.  Cook  very 
earnestly  indicated  his  conviction  that  other  faiths  are  but 
delusive  dependencies  for  the  human  soul,  from  coming  short 


FROM  ALL  RACES  AND  NATIONS.  841 

of  a  means  of  salvation,  whatever  approach  to  it  they  may 
seem  to  make. 

Rev.  Dr.  George  P.  Fisher,  in  a  paper  on  "  Christianity  an 
Historical  Religion,"  urged  that  "  the  Gospel  itself  is,  in  its 
foundations,  made  up  of  historical  occurrences,"  that  "  it  is 
not,  properly  speaking,  a  philosophy,"  or  a  body  of  teaching 
by  Christ,  but  a  story  about  Christ  in  His  nature  and  His 
work,  a  story  of  events,  calling  first  of  all  for  belief  that 
these  events  occurred.  In  the  same  direction  of  strictly 
evangelical  doctrine,  Bishop  Dudley,  of  Kentucky,  in  a  paper 
on  "The  Historic  Christ,"  set  forth  with  singular  ardor  and 
power  of  reasoning  the  belief  that  Christ  was  God  incarnate, 
that  He  was  shown  by  His  own  resurrection  from  death  on 
the  cross  to  have  thus  stood  apart  from  mere  humanity,  and 
that  the  supremely  saving  and  redeeming  faith  has  its  root 
in  this  view  of  Christ.  The  same  view  of  the  sole  and  supreme 
place  of  Christ  in  a  religion  of  salvation,  revealed  through 
the  Bible,  was  presented  by  Prof.  W.  C.  Wilkinson  in  a 
paper  on  "  The  Attitude  of  Christianity  toward  other  Relig- 
ions." He  said  of  the  other  religions  : 

"  Those  religions  the  Bible  nowhere  represents  as  pathetic 
and  partly  successful  gropings  after  God.  They  are  one  and 
all  represented  as  gropings  downward,  not  gropings  upward. 
According  to  Christianity  they  hinder,  they  do  not  help. 
The  attitude,  therefore,  of  Christianity  toward  religions 
other  than  itself,  is  an  attitude  of  universal,  absolute,  eternal, 
unappeasable  hostility." 

Along  with  this  view  of  the  antagonism  of  Christianity  to 
all  other  religions  the  paper  gave  strong  expression  to  "  the 
larger  hope  "  for  even  "  the  adherents  of  false  religions,"  and 
thus  commanded  applause  from  both  sides,  until  the  succeed- 
ing speaker,  Mrs.  Julia  Ward  Howe,  appealed  with  marvel- 
lous effect  against  its  contention  for  Christian  hostility  to 
other  faiths.  The  sequel  to  Professor  Wilkinson's  address 
was  described  in  a  press  report  as  follows : 

"  There  was  but  one  person  in  the  vast  audience  who  did 
not  applaud.  That  person  was  a  woman.  Julia  Ward 
Howe,  the  author  of  the  « Battle  Hymn  of  the  Republic,' 


842  REPRESENTATIVE  VOICES 

and  who  has  fought  many  a  battle,  valiantly  and  bravely, 
for  the  cause  of  Christ,  took  the  floor.  The  very  presence 
of  the  sweet-faced  and  motherly-looking  woman  quieted  the 
large  audience.  In  an  instant  stillness  permeated  the  vast 
hall.  So  quiet  was  it  that  one  could  hear  the  chirping  birds 
in  the  sunshine  outside.  'I  do  not  agree  with  Professor 
Wilkinson  in  his  remarks  on  the  attitude  of  Christianity 
toward  other  religions,'  said  Mrs.  Howe,  'and  I  can  never 
agree  with  any  person,  no  matter  who,  who  enunciates  such 
principles.'  She  spoke  but  a  few  moments,  but  each  word 
that  fell  from  her  lips  cut  like  a  knife.  She  severely  rap- 
ped the  professor  on  the  knuckles.  She  took  the  word 
Christianity  back  to  Christ  himself ;  to  the  endless  fountain 
of  charity,  out  of  which  waters,  she  said,  had  bubbled  a 
stream  of  crystal  purity  which  has  been  the  eternal  stream 
of  true  progress  and  of  all  true  civilization.  Her  words,  few 
as  they  were  and  simple,  were  convincing,  and  the  audience, 
who  but  a  moment  or  two  ago  applauded  so  vigorously  the 
terse  sentences  of  Professor  Wilkinson,  now  turned  com- 
pletely about,  and  seldom,  if  ever,  have  the  huge  rafters  and 
girders  of  Columbus  Hall  creaked  under  the  pressure  of  such 
a  storm  of  applause." 

Mrs.  Howe's  short  address  was  in  these  words  : 
"I  want  to  take  the  word  Christianity  back  to  Christ 
himself,  back  to  that  mighty  heart  whose  pulse  seems  to 
throb  through  the  world  to-day,  that  endless  fountain  of 
charity,  out  of  which  I  believe  has  come  all  true  progress 
and  all  civilization  that  deserves  the  name.  As  a  woman,  I 
do  not  wish  to  dwell  upon  any  trait  of  exclusiveness  in  the 
letter  which  belongs  to  a  time  when  such  exclusiveness  per- 
haps could  not  be  helped,  and  which  may  have  been  put  in 
where  it  was  not  expressed.  [Applause.]  I  go  back  to  that 
great  spirit  which  contemplated  a  sacrifice  for  the  whole  of 
humanity.  That  sacrifice  is  not  one  of  exclusion,  but  of  an 
infinite  and  endless  and  joyous  inclusion.  [Great  applause.] 
And  I  thank  God  for  it. 

"  I  have  turned  my  back  to-day  upon  the  great  show  in 
Jackson  Park  in  order  to  see  a  greater  spectacle  here     The 


FROM  ALL  RACES  AND  NATIONS.  843 

daring  voyage  of  Columbus  across  an  unknown  sea  we  all 
remember  with  deep  gratitude.  All  that  we  have  done  and 
all  that  we  are  now  doing  is  not  too  much  to  do  honor  to  the 
loyalty  and  courage  of  that  one  inspired  man.  But  the  voy- 
ages of  so  many  valorous  souls  into  the  unknown  infinite  of 
thought,  into  the  deep  questions  of  the  soul  between  man 
and  God— oh,  what  a  voyage  is  that !  Oh,  what  a  sea  to 
sail!  And  I  thought,  coming  to  this  parliament  of  re- 
ligions, we  shall  have  found  a  port  at  last ;  after  many 
wanderings  we  shall  have  come  to  the  one  great  harbor 
where  all  the  fleets  can  ride,  where  all  the  banners  can  be 
displayed,  and  on  each  banner  will  be  written,  so  bright 
that  it  will  efface  the  herald's  blazon,  these  words  that  Paul 
uttered  in  Athens,  *  To  the  unknown  God ':  to  the  God  who 
is  not  unknown  because  we  doubt  Him,  not  unknown  be- 
cause we  do  not  feel  He  is  the  life  of  our  life,  the  soul  of 
our  soul,  the  light  of  the  world  in  which  we  live  and  move, 
but  because  He,  being  infinite,  transcends  our  powers,  and 
all  humanity,  speaking  from  every  standpoint,  saying  all  it 
can,  and  all  that  it  knows,  cannot  say  that  it  knows  Him. 
[Great  applause.] 

"  I  hoped  and  still  hope  that  from  this  parliament  some- 
thing very  positive  in  the  way  of  agreement  and  of  prac- 
tical action  will  come  forth.  It  has  certainly  been  very 
edifying.  My  limited  strength  has  not  allowed  me  to  attend 
here  very  much,  but  I  know  and  we  all  know  the  drift  of 
what  has  been  going  on  here.  It  has  been  extremely  edify- 
ing to  hear  of  the  good  theories  of  duty  and  morality  and 
piety  which  the  various  religions  advocate.  I  will  put  them 
all  on  one  basis,  Christian  and  Jewish  and  ethnic,  which  they 
all  promulgate  to  mankind.  But  what  I  think  we  want  now 
to  do  is  to  inquire  why  the  practice  of  all  nations,  our  own 
as  well  as  any  other,  is  so  much  at  variance  with  these  noble 
precepts?  [Applause.]  These  great  founders  of  religion 
have  made  the  true  sacrifice.  They  have  taken  a  noble  hu- 
man life,  full  of  every  human  longing  and  passion  and  power 
and  aspiration,  and  they  have  taken  it  all  to  try  and  find 
out  something  about  this  question  of  what  God  meant  man 


844:  REPRESENTATIVE  VOICES 

to  be  and  does  mean  him  to  be.  But  while  they  have  made 
this  great  sacrifice,  how  is  it  with  the  multitude  of  us  ?  Are 
we  making  any  sacrifice  at  all  ?  We  think  it  was  very  well 
that  those  heroic  spirits  should  study,  should  agonize  and 
bleed  for  us.  But  what  do  we  do  \ 

"  Now,  it  seems  to  me  very  important  that  from  this  par- 
liament should  go  forth  a  fundamental  agreement  as  to 
what  is  religion  and  as  to  what  is  not  religion.  I  need  not 
'stand  here  to  repeat  any  definition  of  what  religion  is.  I 
think  you  will  all  say  that  it  is  aspiration,  the  pursuit  of 
the  divine  in  the  human  ;  the  sacrifice  of  everything  to  duty 
for  the  sake  of  God  and  of  humanity  and  of  our  own  in- 
dividual dignity.  What  is  it  that  passes  for  religion  ?  In 
some  countries  magic  passes  for  religion,  and  that  is  one 
thing  I  wish,  in  view  particularly  of  the  ethnic  faiths,  could 
be  made  very  prominent — that  religion  is  not  magic.  I  am 
very  sure  that  in  many  countries  it  is  supposed  to  be  so. 
You  do  something  that  will  bring  you  good  luck.  It  is  for 
the  interests  of  the  priesthood  to  cherish  that  idea.  Of 
course  the  idea  of  advantage  in  this  life  and  in  another  life 
is  very  strong,  and  rightly  very  strong  in  all  human  breasts. 
Therefore,  it  is  for  the  advantage  of  the  priesthoods  to  make 
it  to  be  supposed  that  they  have  in  their  possession  certain 
tricks,  certain  charms,  which  will  give  you  either  some  par- 
ticular of  prosperity  in  this  world  or  possibly  the  privilege 
of  immortal  happiness.  Now,  this  is  not  religion.  This  is 
most  mischievous  irreligion,  and  I  think  this  parliament 
should  say,  once  for  all,  that  the  name  of  God  and  the  names 
of  His  saints  are  not  things  to  conjure  with.  [Great  ap- 
plause.] 

"  Europe  to-day  is  afflicted  with  a  terrible  scourge.  Eu- 
rope and,  I  think,  other  continents.  This  scourge  is  gener- 
ated by  a  pilgrimage  which  pious  Mohammedans — there 
may  be  some  present — are  led  to  suppose  is  for  the  benefit 
of  their  souls.  They  go  to  a  spot  which  they  consider  sa- 
cred ;  they  die ;  they  perish  by  thousands ;  their  animals 
perish;  a  terrible  atmosphere  is  generated  which  flies  all  over 
the  globe,  and  we  do  not  know  how  soon  this  pestilence  will 


FROM  ALL  RACES  AND  NATIONS.  845 

reach  us.  It  seems  to  me  that  we,  at  this  parliament  of 
religions,  can  ask  any  who  represent  that  religion  here  to 
say  that  this  pilgrimage  is  not  religion  ;  a  pilgrimage  which 
poisons  whole  continents  and  sweeps  away  men,  women,  and 
children  by  thousands  has  nothing  to  do  with  religion  at  all. 
[Great  applause.]  It  would  be  for  the  benefit  of  the  whole 
world  if  we  could  take  that  stand. 

"  Then  I  may  say  another  thing.  I  think  nothing  is  relig- 
ion which  puts  one  individual  absolutely  above  others,  and 
surely  nothing  is  religion  which  puts  one  sex  above  another. 
[Applause.]  Religion  is  primarily  our  relation  to  the  Su- 
preme, to  God  himself.  It  is  for  Him  to  judge ;  it  is  for 
Him  to  say  where  we  belong,  who  is  highest  and  who  is  not ; 
of  that  we  know  nothing.  And  any  religion  which  will  sac- 
rifice a  certain  set  of  human  beings  for  the  enjoyment  or 
aggrandizement  or  advantage  of  another  is  no  religion.  It 
is  a  thing  which  may  be  allowed,  but  it  is  against  true  relig- 
ion. Any  religion  which  sacrifices  women  to  the  brutality 
of  men  is  no  religion. 

"  From  this  parliament  let  some  valiant,  new,  strong,  and 
courageous  influence  go  forth,  and  let  us  have  here  an  agreie- 
ment  of  all  faiths  for  one  good  end,  for  one  good  thing— 
really  for  the  glory  of  God,  really  for  the  salvation  of  hu- 
manity from  all  that  is  low  and  animal,  and  unworthy  and 
undivine.  [Great  applause.] " 

In  harmony  with  Mrs.  Howe's  sympathetic  view  of  the 
other  religions  of  mankind,  other  eminent  Christian  speak- 
ers pronounced  for  the  sympathy  of  religions,  on  the  ground 
of  a  common  effort  in  all  to  savingly  know  God  and  attain 
to  godlikeness,  and  a  common  relation  of  all  to  the  presence 
of  God  with  mankind. 

Rev.  Dr.  W.  C.  Roberts,  a  prominent  Presbyterian  divine, 
referring  to  the  two  revelations  made  in  nature  and  in  man's 
reason  and  conscience,  said  of  the  Orientals :  "  We  find  that 
these  friends  who  have  come  to  us  from  China  and  India  and 
the  islands  of  the  sea,  have  been  studying  this  very  revelation 
in  our  nature  ;  and  I  am  inclined  to  think  that,  with  their 
keen  interest,  they  have  gone  deeper  into  the  study  than  we 


846  REPRESENTATIVE  VOICES 

have,  because  we  have  accepted  the  verbal  revelation  that 
has  been  given  us,  and  have  let  that  suffice  for  many  things. 
They  have  not  that,  and,  therefore,  have  gone  more  thorough- 
ly into  the  other  phase  of  divine  revelation." 

Another  eminent  Presbyterian,  Rev.  Dr.  Henry  M.  Field, 
said  in  a  brief  address :  "  It  has  been  my  fortune  to  travel 
in  many  lands,  and  I  have  not  been  in  any  part  of  the  world 
so  dark  but  that  I  have  found  some  rays  of  light,  some 
proof  that  the  God  who  is  our  God  and  Father  has  been 
there,  and  that  the  temples  which  are  reared  in  many  relig- 
ions resound  with  sincere  worship  and  praise  to  Him.  I 
have  found  that '  God  has  not  left  Himself  without  witness ' 
in  any  of  the  dark  climes  or  in  any  of  the  dark  religions  of 
this  world." 

And  another  eminent  Presbyterian,  a  foremost  scholar  in 
church  history,  Dr.  Philip  Schaff,  who  had  come  to  the  par- 
liament against  the  warning  of  physicians  and  friends,  and 
whose  death  followed  shortly  after,  protested  the  confidence 
which  he  had  that  human  religious  unity  must  come.  "  The 
idea  of  this  parliament,"  he  said,  "  will  survive  all  criticism. 
The  critics  will  die,  but  the  cause  will  remain." 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Momerie,  an  English  churchman,  declared 
in  his  response  to  welcome  :  "  Of  all  the  studies  of  the  pres- 
ent day  the  most  serious,  interesting,  and  important  is  the 
study  of  comparative  religion,  and  I  believe  that  this  object- 
lesson,  which  it  is  the  glory  of  America  to  have  provided 
for  the  world,  will  do  far  more  than  any  private  study. 
The  report  of  our  proceedings  will  help  men  to  realize  the 
truth  of  those  grand  old  Bible  words  that  God  has  never 
left  Himself  without  witness.  It  cannot  be  that  the  new 
commandment  was  inspired  when  uttered  by  Christ  and 
was  not  inspired  when  uttered  by  Confucius  and  by  Hillel. 
The  fact  is,  all  religions  are  fundamentally  more  or  less 
true,  and  all  religions  are  superficially  more  or  less  false. 
And  I  suspect  that  the  creed  of  the  universal  religion,  the 
religion  of  the  future,  will  be  summed  up  pretty  much  in 
the  words  of  Tennyson, 


FROM  ALL  RACES  AND  NATIONS.  847 

'  The  whole  round  earth  is  every  way 
Bound  by  gold  chains  about  the  feet  of  Grud.'  " 

Another  eminent  English  churchman,  Canon  Fremantle 
(W.  H.),  whose  Bampton  Lectures,  on  "The  World  the  Sub- 
ject of  Redemption,"  are  a  handbook  of  these  broad  views, 
said  of  all  true  faith  that  "it  is  essentially  moral,  and 
though  it  may  be  helped  and  guided  by  systems  of  belief 
and  worship,  is  in  its  nature  independent  of  them";  and 
then  added  in  regard  to  other  systems  than  the  Christian : 

"  We  are  here  in  a  Parliament  of  all  Religions,  and  we  can- 
not but  ask  the  question  how  the  reunion  of  Christendom 
may  affect  non-Christian  peoples.  Christianity  is  not  ex- 
clusive. It  teaches  that  in  every  nation  he  that  f  eareth  God 
and  doeth  righteousness  is  accepted  of  Him.  A  Christian 
man  is  simply  a  man  in  his  highest  condition  as  a  moral  and 
spiritual  being  ;  the  Christian  Church  is  simply  human  so- 
ciety transformed  by  the  Spirit  of  Christ ;  and  the  Christian 
religion,  taken  in  its  principle,  and  apart  from  the  special 
cults  which  have  grown  up  in  connection  with  it,  is  not  so 
much  the  sole  as  the  highest  mode  of  approach  to  God.  We 
vindicate  for  it  not  exclusiveness,  but  supremacy.  There  are 
affinities  to  Christian  belief  and  Christian  life  in  all  forms  of 
religion,  and  it  should  be  our  task  to  find  these  out,  to 
acknowledge  and  to  foster  them.  Faith  is  the  expression 
under  which  all  these  may  be  united.  The  patriarchs  had 
faith  in  Christ  before  Christ  came,  and  by  faith  they  were 
saved.  And  if  Christ  is  the  Eternal  Word,  the  Life  and 
Light  of  all  men,  He  may  be  known  by  faith  apart  from  His 
incarnation.  This  was  plainly  taught  in  the  first  great  effort 
of  Christian  theology  under  Clement  and  Origen  at  Alexan- 
dria. They  held  that  Greek  philosophy  was  a  true,  though 
imperfect,  acknowledgment  of  the  Divine  Word.  We  may 
regard  all  those,  therefore,  who  are  seeking  truth  and  righte- 
ousness throughout  the  world  as  united  with  us  in  moral 
faith— the  faith  of  trust  in  the  highest  good,  of  sympathy 
with  the  noblest  life,  of  aspirations  to  the  true  ideal.  And 
we  may  believe  that  this  inchoate  faith  will  ultimately  find 
its  completion  when  it  comes  in  contact  with  the  life  and 


848  REPRESENTATIVE  VOICES 

spirit  and  personality  of  Jesus  Christ.  Thus  the  reunion  of 
Christendom,  on  the  basis  of  a  moral  faith,  has  a  significance 
for  the  whole  world. 

"  To  teach  the  young,  to  promote  culture  among  the  rough 
and  rude  lives,  to  inculcate  temperance  and  thrift,  to  prevent 
cruelty  to  children  and  animals,  to  regulate  the  conditions 
of  labor,  to  make  charity  tend  to  moral  and  economical  prog- 
ress, to  insure  some  provision  in  old  age  to  all,  are  coming  to 
be  recognized  not  merely  as  a  part,  but  as  the  main  part,  of 
the  religion  of  the  future.  They  flow  directly  from  faith — the 
faith  that  is  in  the  original  Gospel  of  the  kingdom  which 
Christ  preached.  That  social  righteousness  which  was  the 
burden  of  the  law  and  the  prophets,  Christ  came  Himself  to 
fulfill,  and  He  announced  that  He  was  come  to  proclaim  the 
year  of  jubilee,  to  heal  the  broken-hearted,  to  release  the 
prisoners,  to  give  sight  to  the  blind.  He  set  about  this  by 
His  works  of  beneficence,  and  left  it  to  be  carried  on  by  the 
new  social  state — the  society  which  He  founded  as  the  model 
of  a  regenerate  world.  That  society  has  confessedly  done 
vast  things  for  the  renewal  of  social  conditions,  but  till  now 
it  has  never  realized  that  this  is  its  main  task.  It  has  turned 
aside  into  by-paths  quite  unknown  to  its  masters,  the  formu- 
lation of  doctrine,  the  establishment  of  separate  discipline, 
the  elaboration  of  forms  of  public  worship.  Christ  said  noth- 
ing of  these,  His  apostles  very  little.  His  followers  in  after 
times  have  said  little  else.  Christianity  has  meant  a  peculiar 
cult  or  a  philosophy  or  a  system  of  church  government ;  that 
is,  a  government  of  the  clergy  and  a  small  part  of  human 
life,  instead  of  a  vast  impulse  and  plan  for  the  regeneration 
of  the  whole.  The  mistake  is  now  being  acknowledged.  The 
Pope  has  issued  pastorals  on  the  subject ;  Protestant  bodies, 
whether  of  Episcopal  or  other  forms,  are  all  alive  with  it ; 
the  parliaments  and  municipalities  are  feeling  that  the  social 
question  is  their  chief  concern,  and  that  the  Christian  princi- 
ple is  that  which  must  be  applied  to  its  solution." 

Mr.  W.  T.  Stead,  another  English  representative,  said  in  his 
paper  on  "  The  Civic  Church": 


FROM  ALL  RACES  AND  NATIONS.  849 

"  The  very  idea  of  a  church  may  be  said  to  be  a  Christian 
idea,  and  certainly  the  aim  and  object  of  the  Civic  Church 
seems  to  us  essentially  Christian.  But  possibly  Buddhists, 
and  Moslems,  and  Hindus  may  find  the  conception  as  essen- 
tially Buddhist,  Moslem,  or  Hindu  as  it  seems  to  us  essen- 
tially Christian.  For  all  religions  are  but  attempts  made  by 
man  to  define  the  angle  at  which  he  looks  at  God.  The  angle 
of  vision  varies  indefinitely  according  to  the  standpoint  of 
the  observer  and  the  objective  on  which  he  fixes  his  gaze. 
Humanity  toiling  laboriously  up  an  immense  slope  toward 
the  distant  peaks  on  which  is  throned  Infinity,  measures  an 
enormous  distance  between  the  ranks  of  the  vanguard  and 
the  wearied  stragglers  of  the  rear.  At  each  observation  point 
in  this  millennial  upward  march,  the  contour  of  the  con- 
stantly receding  peak  will  appear  different.  Yet  it  is  the 
same  peak.  It  is  only  our  standpoint  that  differs.  The  Civic 
Church  recognizes  this,  and  embraces  in  its  comprehensive 
synthesis  all  the  religions,  from  the  fetich  worshipper  to  the 
Christian  philanthropist,  believing  that  'All  paths  to  the 
Father  lead,  when  self  the  feet  have  spurned.' " 

To  the  same  effect  Prof.  F.  G.  Peabody,  of  Harvard,  and 
Prof.  R.  T.  Ely,  of  the  University  of  Wisconsin,  brought  out, 
in  their  respective  papers,  a  view  of  the  socialism  of  Chris- 
tianity contrasting  strongly  with  the  view  which  lays  chief 
stress  on  the  pursuit  of  individual  salvation.  Prof.  Peabody 
said: 

"  Each  age  in  the  history  of  human  thought  is  marked  by 
one  central  problem  which  stands  out  from  a  distance  against 
the  horizon  of  the  past  as  the  outline  of  some  mountain 
stands  out,  miles  away,  against  the  sky.  In  o*ne  age,  as  in 
that  of  Luther,  the  centre  of  European  thought  lay  in  a  prob- 
lem of  theology;  in  another  age,  as  in  that  of  Kant,  this 
commanding  interest  was  held  by  a  question  of  philosophy  ; 
fifty  years  later,  in  the  time  of  Darwin,  the  critical  problem 
was  one  of  science,  and  both  the  theologian  and  philosopher 
had  to  recast  their  formulas  under  the  new  thought  of  evolu- 
tion. And  now,  fifty  years  later  still,  with  a  distinctness 


850  REPRESENTATIVE  VOICES 

hardly  reached  before,  a  new  era  finds  its  centre  of  interest 
in  a  new  problem. 

"  We  do  not  have  to  wait  for  the  philosophic  historian  to 
look  back  on  our  time  as  we  look  back  on  that  of  Luther  or 
Kant  or  Darwin,  for  the  mark  which  must  always  stamp  the 
present  age.  It  is  already  past  a  doubt  what  the  great  Master 
of  the  ages,  in  His  division  of  labor  through  the  history  of 
man,  is  proposing  that  this  special  age  of  ours  shall  do. 

" '  Thy  kingdom  come '  is  the  central  prayer  of  the  disciple 
of  Christ.  What  does  this  mean,  then,  as  to  Christ's  thought 
of  society  ?  It  means  that  a  completed  social  order  was  His 
highest  dream.  We  have  seen  that  He  was  the  great  indi- 
vidualist of  history.  We  now  see  that  He  was  the  great 
socialist  as  well.  His  hope  for  man  was  a  universal  hope. 
What  He  prophesied  was  just  that  enlarged  and  consolidated 
life  of  man  which  many  modern  dreams  repeat,  where  all  the 
conflicts  of  selfishness  should  be  outgrown,  and  there  should 
be  one  kingdom  and  one  king ;  one  motive — that  of  love  ; 
one  unity— that  of  the  spirit ;  one  law— that  of  liberty.  Was 
ever  socialistic  prophet  of  a  revolutionary  society  more  dar- 
ing or  sanguine  or.  to  practical  minds,  more  impracticable 
than  this  visionary  Jesus  with  His  assurance  of  a  coming 
kingdom  of  God?" 

Prof.  Ely  declared : 

"  Christianity  has  been  distinguished  in  the  World's  Par- 
liament of  Religions  into  true  and  false — and  this  is  well. 
There  is  false  Christianity,  which  may  be  termed  Anti-Christ 
— for  if  there  is  any  Anti-Christ  it  is  this — which  has  brought 
reproach  on  the  name  of  Christianity  itself.  It  is  this  false 
Christianity  which  fails  to  recognize  the  needs  of  others 
and  centres  itself  on  individual  salvation,  neglecting  what 
the  apostle  James  called  'Pure  and  undefiled  religion,' 
namely,  ministration  to  one's  fellows.  The  social  life  of  this 
land  of  ours  would  proclaim  the  value  of  Christianity,  if  it 
could  in  its  true  sense  be  called  a  Christian  land.  But  we 
cannot  be  called  such  a  land.  We  do  not  attempt  to  carry 
out  the  principles  of  fraternity,  and  any  claim  that  we  do  is 
mere  ignorance  or  pretence— hypocrisy  of  the  kind  con- 


FROM  ALL  RACES  AND  NATIONS.  851 

demned  by  Christ  in  the  strongest  language.  It  does  not 
avail  us  to  make  long  prayers  while  we  neglect  widows  and 
orphans  in  need.  He  who  did  this  in  the  time  of  Christ  vio- 
lated the  principles  of  national  brotherhood.  He  who  does 
so  now,  violates  the  principles  of  universal  brotherhood. 

"  We  can  imagine  Christ  among  us  to-day,  pointing,  as  of 
old,  to  our  great  temples  and  warning  us  that  the  time  will 
come  when  one  stone  of  them  shall  not  rest  upon  another. 
We  can  also  imagine  Him  in  His  scathing  denunciations  and 
heart-searching  sermons  opening  our  eyes  to  our  social  in- 
iquities and  shortcomings,  and  calling  to  mind  the  judgment 
to  come  in  which  reward  or  penalty  shall  be  visited  upon  us, 
either  as  we  have  or  have  not  ministered  to  those  who  needed 
our  ministrations— the  hungry,  the  naked,  the  prisoner,  and 
the  captive.  The  reward :  '  Come,  ye  blessed  of  my  Father, 
inasmuch  as  ye  have  done  it  unto  the  least  of  these  ye  have 
done  it  unto  me';  the  penalty:  'Inasmuch  as  ye  have  not 
done  it  unto  the  least  of  these— depart  from  me.' " 

The  broad  principle  under  which  recognition  of  other 
faiths  can  be  made  by  Christians  was  stated  by  Rev.  Dr. 
Lyman  Abbott,  in  a  paper  on  "  Religion  Essentially  Char- 
acteristic of  Humanity."  He  said : 

"  We  welcome  here  to-day,  in  this  most  cosmopolitan  city 
of  the  most  cosmopolitan  race  on  the  globe,  the  representa- 
tives of  all  the  various  forms  of  religious  life  from  east  to 
west  and  north  to  south.  We  are  glad  to  welcome  them. 
We  are  glad  to  believe  that  they,  as  we,  have  been  seeking 
to  know  something  more  and  better  of  the  Divine  from 
which  we  issue,  of  the  Divine  to  which  we  are  returning. 
We  are  glad  to  hear  the  message  they  have  to  bring  to  us. 
We  are  glad  to  know  what  they  have  to  tell  us,  but  what 
we  are  gladdest  of  all  about  is  that  we  can  tell  them  what 
we  have  found  in  our  search,  and  that  we  have  found  the 
Christ. 

"  I  do  not  stand  here  as  the  exponent,  the  apologist,  or 
the  defender  of  Christianity.  In  it  there  have  been  the 
blemishes  and  the  mars  of  human  handiwork.  It  has  been 


852  REPRESENTATIVE  VOICES 

too  intellectual,  too  much  a  religion  of  creeds.  It  has  been 
too  fearful,  too  much  a  religion  of  sacrifices.  It  has  been 
too  selfishly  hopeful ;  there  has  been  too  much  a  desire  of 
reward  here  or  hereafter.  It  has  been  too  little  a  religion 
of  unselfish  service  and  unselfish  reverence.  No !  It  is  not 
Christianity  that  we  want  to  tell  our  brethren  across  the  sea 
about :  it  is  the  Christ. 

"  What  is  it  that  this  universal  hunger  of  the  human  race 
seeks  ?  Is  it  not  these  things — a  better  understanding  of 
our  moral  relations,  one  to  another,  a  better  understanding 
of  what  we  are  and  what  we  mean  to  be,  that  we  may  fash- 
ion ourselves  according  to  the  idea  of  the  ideal  being  in  our 
nature,  a  better  appreciation  of  the  infinite  one  who  is  be- 
hind all  phenomena,  material  and  spiritual  ?  Is  it  not  more 
health  and  added  strength  and  clearer  light  in  our  upward 
tendency  to  our  everlasting  Father's  arms  and  home  ?  Are 
not  these  the  things  that  most  we  need  in  the  world  ?  We 
have  found  the  Christ  and  loved  Him  and  revered  Him  and 
accepted  Him,  for  nowhere  else,  in  no  other  prophet,  have 
we  found  the  moral  relations  of  men  better  represented  than 
in  the  Golden  Rule,  '  Do  unto  others  that  which  you  would 
have  others  do  unto  you.'  We  do  not  think  that  He  fur- 
nishes the  only  ideal  the  world  has  ever  had.  We  recog- 
nize the  voice  of  God  in  all  prophets  and  in  all  time.  But 
we  do  think  we  have  found  in  this  Christ,  in  His  patience, 
in  His  courage,  in  His  heroism,  in  His  self-sacrifice,  in  His 
unbounded  mercy  and  love,  an  ideal  that  transcends  all  other 
ideals  written  by  the  pen  of  poet,  painted  by  the  brush  of 
artists,  or  graved  into  the  life  of  human  history. 

"  We  do  not  think  that  God  has  spoken  only  in  Palestine 
and  to  the  few  in  that  narrow  province.  We  do  not  think 
He  has  been  voeal  in  Christendom  and  dumb  everywhere 
else.  No !  We  believe  that  He  is  a  speaking  God  in  all 
times  and  in  all  ages.  But  we  believe  no  other  revelation 
transcends  and  none  other  equals  that  which  He  has  made 
to  man  in  the  one  transcendental  human  life  that  was  lived 
eighteen  centuries  ago  in  Palestine." 


FROM  ALL  RACES  AND  NATIONS.  853 

The  eminent  orientalist  of  the  University  of  Louvain,  Prof. 
Charles  D'Harlez,  said,  in  a  paper  on  "The  Comparative 
Study  of  the  World's  Religions": 

"  It  is  not  without  profound  emotion  that  I  address  my- 
self to  an  assemblage  of  men,  the  most  distinguished,  come 
together  from  all  parts  of  the  world,  and  who,  despite 
essential  divergences  of  opinion,  are  nevertheless  united  in 
this  vast  edifice,  pursuing  one  purpose,  animated  with  one 
thought,  the  most  noble  that  can  occupy  the  human  mind, 
the  seeking  out  of  religious  truth.  I  here  have  under  my 
eyes  this  unprecedented  spectacle,  until  now  unheard  of,  of 
disciples  of  Kong-fu-tze,  of  Buddha,  of  Brahma,  of  Ahura 
Mazda,  of  Allah,  of  Zoroaster,  of  Mohammed,  of  Naka-nusi, 
or  of  Lao-tze,  not  less  than  those  of  Moses  and  of  the  Divine 
Christ,  gathered  together  not  to  engage  in  a  struggle  of  hos- 
tility or  animosity,  sources  of  sorrow  and  grief,  but  to  hold 
up  before  the  eyes  of  the  world  the  beliefs  which  they  pro- 
fess and  which  they  have  received  from  their  fathers — their 
religion. 

"  Religion  !  word  sublime,  full  of  harmony  to  the  ear  of 
man,  penetrating  into  the  depths  of  his  heart  and  stirring 
into  vibration  its  profoundest  chords. 

"  How  goodly  the  title  of  our  programme :  '  World's  Par- 
liament of  Religions  ! '  How  true  the  thought  put  forth  by 
one  who  took  part  in  its  production  :  '  Comparison,  not  con- 
troversy, will  best  serve  the  most  wholesome  and  therefore 
the  most  divine  truth.' 

"  And  do  not  the  different  features,  the  different  costumes, 
the  different  opinions  of  the  different  men  and  savants  here 
assembled  for  peaceful  deliberation,  tell  us  clearly  that  all 
men  are  brothers,  sprung  from  one  Creator,  from  one  com- 
mon principle,  who  ought  not  to  tear  one  another  in  fratri- 
cidal strife,  bufto  cherish  one  another  with  mutual  love,  to 
aid  one  another  in  the  pursuit  of  the  great  purpose  common 
to  all,  of  that  unique  end  which  must  assure  them  happiness 
eternal,  the  possession  of  the  truth. 

"  Catholics  faithful  to  their  own  teaching  will  not  be 
wanting  in  this  duty,  for  their  Divine  Master  has  imposed 


854  REPRESENTATIVE  VOICES 

upon  them,  as  His  first  commandment,  resuming  all  His  law, 
that  after  the  love  they  owe  their  Heavenly  Father  they 
should  love  their  neighbor  as  themselves,  yea,  that  they 
should  know  how  to  lay  down  their  lives  for  His  sake.  And 
this  neighbor,  for  the  Christian,  is  not  only  the  brother 
bound  to  him  in  the  unity  of  faith  ;  no,  under  the  figure  of 
the  good  Samaritan,  the  recognized  neighbor  of  the  un- 
fortunate Israelite  left  as  dead  by  robbers,  Christ  has  taught 
us  to  recognize  the  universality  of  manhood.  Yes,  whoever 
ye  be,  children  of  Brahma,  of  Shangti,  of  Allah,  of  Ahura 
Mazda,  disciples  of  Kong-tze,  of  Tao,  of  Buddha,  of  Jina,  or 
of  whatever  other  founder  of  religion  amongst  men,  you  are 
for  us  Christians  that  well-beloved  neighbor,  who  may  in- 
deed be  in  error,  but  who,  none  the  less,  only  all  the  more, 
merits  all  our  love,  all  our  devotedness. 

"The  study  of  the  religions  of  the  world  has  demon- 
strated that  religion  is  not  a  creation  of  the  mind  of  man, 
still  less  of  a  wandering  imagination  deceived  by  phantoms, 
but  that  it  is  a  principle  which  imposes  itself  upon  him 
everywhere  and  always  and  in  spite  of  himself,  which  comes 
back  again  violently  into  life  at  the  moment  it  was  thought 
to  be  stifled,  which,  try  as  one  may  to  cast  it  off  from  him, 
enters  again  as  it  were  into  man  by  his  every  pore. 

"  There  is  no  people  without  a  religion,  how  low  soever  it 
may  be  in  the  scale  of  civilization.  If  there  be  any  in  whom 
the  religious  idea  seems  extinct,  though  this  cannot  be  cer- 
tainly shown,  it  is  because  their  intelligence  has  come  to 
that  degree  of  degradation  in  which  it  has  no  longer  any- 
thing human  save  the  capacity  of  being  lifted  to  something 
higher.  Religious  sentiments  and  concepts  are  innate  in 
man.  They  enter  into  the  constitution  of  his  nature,  which 
itself  comes  from  its  author  and  master  ;  they  impose  them- 
selves as  a  duty  upon  man,  as  the  declaration  of  universal 
conscience  attests.  The  idea  of  a  being  superior  to  humanity, 
its  master,  comes  from  the  very  depths  of  human  nature 
and  is  rendered  sensible  to  the  intellect  by  the  spectacle  of 
the  universe.  No  reasonable  mind  can  suppose  that  this 
vast  world  has  of  itself  created  or  formed  itself." 


FROM  ALL  RACES  AND  NATIONS.  855 

Another  foreign  representative,  Prince  Wolkonsky,  of 
Russia,  made  this  declaration : 

"  Christianity  is  broad  because  it  teaches  us  to  accept  and 
not  to  exclude.  If  only  all  of  us  would  remember  this 
principle  the  ridiculous  word  'religion  of  the  future' 
would  disappear  once  and  forever.  Of  course,  as  long  as 
you  will  consider  that  religion  consists  in  forms  of  worship- 
ping that  secure  to  you  your  individual  salvation  the  greatest 
part  of  humanity  will  declare  that  forms  are  worn  out  and 
that  we  need  a  new  '  religion  of  the  future.'  But  if  you  fill 
yourself  with  the  idea  that  religion  is  the  synthesis  of  your 
beliefs  in  those  prescriptions  that  regulate  your  acts  toward 
other  men,  you  will  give  up  your  wanderings  in  search  of 
new  ways  of  individual  salvation,  and  you  will  find  vitality 
and  strength  in  the  certitude  that  we  need  no  other  way 
but  the  one  shown  by  the  religion  that  teaches  us  that  all 
men  are  the  same  whatever  their  religion  may  be." 

The  eminent  English  scholar,  Prof.  Max  Muller,  said  in  a 
letter  sent  to  the  parliament :  "  I  have  aimed  in  my  Gifford 
Lectures  on  Natural  Religion  to  show  that  all  religions  are 
natural.  The  earliest  Christian  theology  restated,  restored, 
and  revived — pure  and  primitive  ante-Mcene  Christianity 
— gives  us  a  truer  conception  of  the  history  of  the  whole 
world,  showing  that  there  was  a  purpose  in  the  ancient  re- 
ligions and  philosophies  of  the  world,  and  that  Christian- 
ity was  really  from  the  beginning  a  synthesis  of  the  best 
thoughts  of  the  past,  as  they  had  been  slowly  elaborated 
by  the  two  principal  representatives  of  the  human  race,  the 
Aryan  and  the  Semitic." 

In  a  similar  spirit  the  Rev.  Dr.  E.  L.  Rexford,  Universal- 
ist,  said : 

"This  is  a  day  and  an  occasion  sacred  to  the  sincere 
spirit  in  man,  and  it  is  devoutly  to  be  hoped  that,  out 
of  its  generosity  and  its  justice,  a  new  and  self- vindicat- 
ing definition  of  true  and  false  religion,  of  true  and  false 
worship,  may  appear.  I  would  that  we  might  all  confess 
that  a  sincere  worship  anywhere  and  everywhere  in  the 


856  REPRESENTATIVE  VOICES 

world  is  a  true  worship,  while  an  insincere  worship  any- 
where and  everywhere  is  a  false  worship  before  God  and 
man.  The  unwritten  but  dominant  creed  of  this  hour  I 
assume  to  be,  that  whatever  worshipper  in  all  the  world 
bends  before  The  Best  he  knows,  and  walks  true  to  the 
purest  light  that  shines  for  him,  has  access  to  the  high- 
est blessings  of  Heaven.  The  time- spirit  has  largely  con- 
quered, though  we  cannot  close  our  ears  entirely  to  the  sul- 
len cry  of  a  baffled  and  retreating  anger,  charged  with  the 
accusation  that  the  whole  import  of  this  congress  is  that  of 
infidelity  to  the  only  divine  and  infallible  religion.  Every 
man  is  the  true  believer,  himself  being  the  judge,  while 
nobody  is  the  true  believer  if  somebody  else  is  permitted  to 
decide.  I  am  not  willing  to  stand  within  the  limits  of  my 
sect  or  party  and  from  thence  judge  of  the  world.  I  prefer 
rather  to  stand  in  the  world  as  a  part  of  it,  and  from  thence 
judge  of  my  party  or  sect,  and  even  of  that  great  religious 
division  of  the  world's  faith  and  life  in  which  my  lot  has 
fallen.  I  think  I  would  love  to  experience  every  Religion 
known  to  mankind,  and  by  this  I  mean  that  I  would  like  to 
look  at  the  Religions  successively  just  as  they  have  appeared 
to  every  worshipper  in  all  the  centuries.  And  in  so  doing 
I  know  I  should  learn  how  to  sympathize  with  men,  and  my 
sympathies  would  be  increased  by  recalling  that  sense  of 
weakness  and  imperfection  that  still  trembles  in  my  life 
to-day,  and  the  shadow  that  still  rests  upon  many  a  prob- 
lem, notwithstanding  the  multiplied  lights  of  this  great 
assembly.  Who  indeed  has  so  completely  emerged  from 
all  shadows  that  he  can  dismiss  the  dying  prayer  of  Goethe, 
'  More  light !  More  light ! ' 

"  Personal  infallibility  is  not  yet  attained  by  any  one,  inas- 
much as  personal  fortunes  are  related  to  the  Infinite,  and 
that  sense  of  a  lingering  weakness  which  must  be  felt  by  all 
men  must  ally  them  with  the  world  wide  necessity  of  a  rug- 
ged and  persistent  sympathy.  The  lines  do  not  break  off, 
and  we  shall  do  well  if  we  do  not  convert  our  religion  into 
an  instrument  for  breaking  humanity  in  pieces,  as  has  too 
often  been  done." 


FROM  ALL  RACES  AND  NATIONS.  857 

Even  with  regard  to  ancient  religions  which  we  count  as 
dead,  Prof.  George  S.  Goodspeed  declared  that  they  had 
filled  a  place  in  the  plan  of  the  ages,  and  had  left  important 
bequests  to  the  living  religions,  and  notably  to  Christianity. 
Thus  he  said : 

"  All  religious  systems  represent  some  fundamental  truth 
or  elements  of  truth.  They  centre  about  some  eternal  idea. 
Otherwise  they  would  have  no  claims  upon  humanity  and 
gain  no  lasting  acceptance  with  men.  The  religions  of  an- 
tiquity are  no  exception  to  this  principle.  They  have  em- 
phasized  certain  phases  of  the  religious  sentiment,  grasped 
certain  elements  of  the  Divine  nature,  elucidated  certain 
sides  of  the  problems  of  existence  before  which  man  cries 
out  after  God.  It  is  not  necessary  to  repeat  that  these 
truths  and  clear  perceptions  are  often  mingled  with  false 
views  and  pressed  to  extravagant  and  harmful  lengths. 
But  progress  through  the  ages  has  been  made,  in  spite  of 
these  errors,  by  means  of  the  fundamental  elements  of  truth 
to  which  the  very  errors  bear  witness.  These  are  the  be- 
quests of  the  dead  religions  to  the  world.  They  enrich  the 
sum  total  of  right  thoughts,  noble  aspirations,  worthy  pur- 
poses. When  patient  and  analytic  study  of  the  facts  of 
religious  history  has  borne  in  upon  one  the  validity  of  the 
principle  of  development  in  this  field,  these  religions  appear 
as  parts  of  the  complex  whole,  and  the  truths  they  embody 
enter  into  the  sphere  of  religious  knowledge  as  elements  in 
its  ever-increasing  store. 

"  The  religions  of  Egypt  and  Babylonia  gave  two  highly 
influential  religious  ideas  to  the  world.  One  central  religi- 
ous notion  of  Egypt  was  the  nearness  of  the  Divine.  This 
idea,  though  crudely  conceived,  was  deeply  significant  and 
constituted  a  most  important  contribution  to  the  world. 

"  Another  great  religion  of  ancient  times,  the  Babylonian- 
Assyrian,  contributed  quite  a  different  truth,  the  transcend- 
ence of  the  Divine— a  fruitful  basis  of  morality  ;  a  starting- 
point  for  the  ethical  reconstruction  of  religion. 

"  Thus  these  two  elemental  truths  about  God  have  been  con- 
veyed from  Egypt  and  from  Babylonia  to  the  nations  of  men. 


858  REPRESENTATIVE  VOICES 

They  have  come  to  be  together  the  possession  of  Christian- 
ity. The  doctrine  of  the  Divine  transcendence  is  the  gift  of 
Judaism  to  the  Christian  Church,  and  Christian  theology 
has  wrought  it  out  into  complex  and  impressive  systems  of 
truth.  The  truth  of  the  Divine  immanence  early  found  its 
place  in  the  hearts  and  minds  of  the  believers.  It  is  notice- 
able that  the  scene  of  its  sway,  if  not  of  its  Christian  origin, 
was  the  city  of  Alexandria.  The  place  where  Greek  and 
Egyptian  met  was  the  home  of  this  Greece-Egyptian  doc- 
trine which  the  Alexandrian  fathers  wrought  into  the  Chris- 
tian system,  and  which  is  to-day  beginning  to  claim  that 
share  in  the  system  which  its  complementary  truth  has 
seemed  to  usurp. 

"The  religions  which  flourished  and  passed  away  have 
in  this  way  contributed  to  the  fundamentals  of  Christian 
theism." 

That  the  better  Christianity  is  coming  to  the  front  in 
mission  work  was  shown  by  the  paper  of  one  of  the  most 
eminent  representatives  of  that  work  in  China.  The  Rev. 
George  T.  Candlin,  in  a  singularly  powerful  address,  called 
special  attention  to  "  certain  portentous  changes  which,  in 
obedience  to  some  hidden  law,  are  taking  place";  and  of 
these  changes  he  said  : 

"  In  the  various  denominations  of  Protestantism  men  are 
already  feeling  that  their  differences  are  rather  matters  to 
be  apologized  for  than  to  be  proud  of.  There  is  a  growing 
disposition  to  substitute  a  spiritual  test  for  the  intellectual 
one,  conversion  for  orthodoxy.  There  is  an  increasing  tend- 
ency to  recognize  the  commonwealth  of  Christian  life.  More 
and  more  stress  is  being  laid  upon  what  the  various  churches 
have  in  common,  less  and  less  emphasis  is  being  given  to 
their  distinctive  differences.  Here  and  there  one  marks  the 
signs  of  the  capacity  to  learn  from  one  another.  There  is 
a  widespread  unity  of  sentiment  and  of  spiritual  aim. 
There  is  an  irrepressible  desire  for  organic  union.  In  some 
few  minds,  still  to  be  considered  extreme  and  too  far  in 
advance  of  the  common  sentiment  to  powerfully  affect  the 


FROM  ALL  RACES  AND  NATIONS.  859 

mass,  the  idea  is  dimly  entertained  of  some  common  bond 
of  union  which  shall  give  visible  expression  to  the  catholic 
sentiment  of  one  common  Christendom. 

"  Without  the  ranks  of  prolessing  Christians  the  same 
spirit  is  at  work,  but  in  an  apparently  hostile  direction.  A 
strong  sentiment  of  the  value  of  those  spiritual  and  ethical 
impulses  which  make  the  very  heart  and  life  of  Christianity 
accompanies  a  peremptory  rejection  of  specific  theological 
doctrines.  An  undisguised  contempt  for  and  impatience 
with  the  divisions  and  differences  of  Christians  is  coupled 
with  a  wide  and  sympathetic  study  of  the  non-Christian 
religions  of  the  world.  By  the  new  pathway  of  compara- 
tive religion,  men  are  finding  their  way  to  the  belief  in  the 
common  possession  of  a  spiritual  nature  on  the  part  of  all 
the  members  of  the  human  family. 

"  Not  less  notable,  as  a  mark  of  change,  is  the  growth  of 
the  cosmopolitan  and  humanitarian  spirit,  which  is  break- 
ing the  barriers  of  national  prejudice ;  the  democratic  spirit, 
which  asserts  the  right  to  a  share  of  political  power  on  the 
part  of  the  humblest  member  of  the  State ;  the  socialistic 
spirit,  which  is  fast  abolishing  the  merciless  distinctions  of 
caste  and  of  class,  and  claiming  for  all  a  place  in  society  and 
a  share  of  the  necessaries  and  reasonable  comforts  of  life. 

"  Can  we  trace  these  various  movements  to  a  common  cause? 
Different  and  disconnected  as  they  appear  in  external  aspect, 
can  we  ascribe  them  to  one  originating  force  ?  We  believe 
that  we  can.  They  are  the  results  of  the  action  of  the  essen- 
tial spirit  of  Christianity  in  human  life,  upheavals  of  the 
surface  of  society  subject  to  the  permeating  influence  of 
Gospel  leaven,  phases  of  the  age-long  but  age-victorious 
process  by  which  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  being  estab- 
lished on  earth.  They  indicate  the  Gospel  in  practice,  the 
fulfillment  of  the  great  command, '  Go  ye  into  all  the  world 
and  preach  the  Gospel  to  every  creature';  the  realization  of 
the  Saviour's  prayer  'that  they  all  may  be  one  as  thou, 
Father,  art  in  me,  and  I  in  thee,  that  they  also  may  be  one 
in  us';  the  dawning  consciousness  of  the  Saviour's  care  for 
all  the  spiritual  in  all  climes  and  ages, '  Other  sheep  have  I 


SCO  REPRESENTATIVE  VOICES 

which  are  not  of  this  fold,  them  also  must  I  bring';  the 
application  of  that  practical  Gospel  apostolically  taught, 
'  Whoso  hath  this  world's  goods  and  seeth  his  brother  have 
need,  and  shutteth  up  his  bowels  of  compassion  from  him, 
how  dwelleth  the  love  of  God  in  him  ? '  They  mark  and 
define  the  epoch  as  one  in  which  the  best  ideals  of  our  holy 
faith  have  held  practical  sway,  in  which  Christians  are 
nobly  striving  to  make  Christ  king  everywhere  and  over 
the  whole  of  life.  The  Chicago  Parliament  of  Religions  will 
stand  a  red-letter  event  in  the  calendar  of  religious  history, 
the  grandest  visible  embodiment  yet  reached  of  these  mag- 
nificent aspirations. 

"  Christian  union  is  but  a  part  of  the  wider  question  of 
religious  union.  Contemporaneously  with  the  desire  that 
all  the  citizens  of  the  spiritual  Kingdom  of  our  Divine  King 
should  stand  to  the  outer  world  on  terms  of  mutual  recog- 
nition and  fellowship,  there  has  grown  up  an  almost  equally 
imperious  longing  to  approach  the  non-Christian  religions 
in  a  spirit  of  love  and  not  of  antagonism,  to  understand  and 
justly  rate  their  value  as  expressions  of  the  religious  prin- 
ciple in  man,  to  replace  indiscriminate  condemnation  by 
reverential  study,  and  to  obtain  conquest,  not  by  crushing 
resistance,  but  by  winning  allegiance.  Christianity,  in  the 
conception  of  her  Divine  Founder,  and  according  to  her 
best  traditions  in  every  century,  is  a  religion  for  the  whole 
world.  To  bring  all  mankind  into  fellowship  with  Christ 
is  her  chief  mission.  That  was  the  grand  master-purpose 
which  gave  to  the  apostolic  age  its  fervor,  its  inspiration,  its 
resistless  sway  over  men's  hearts.  But,  alas,  through  cen- 
turies darkened  by  selfishness,  by  pride,  by  love  of  power,  by 
intolerant  bigotry,  by  intestine  strife,  she  has  gone  far  to 
forget  her  errand  to  the  world.  Yet  again,  in  our  own 
times,  this  great  thought  of  a  love  for  all  men,  wide,  tender, 
tolerant  as  that  of  Christ  himself,  is  being  born  in  men's 
hearts.  For  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  modern  Chris- 
tianity, shall  we  say  for  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  the 
world,  the  idea  has  been  conceived  of  bringing  together, 
face  to  face,  not  only  representatives  of  the  many  branches 


FROM  ALL  RACES  AND  NATIONS.  861 

of  Christendom,  but  also  leaders  of  the  great  historic  faiths 
of  the  world.  Surely  this  in  itself  indicates  that  great  move- 
ments are  preparing  beneath  the  surface,  full  of  hope  and 
promise  for  the  future.  The  splendid  courage  which  has 
undertaken  such  a  task  will  not  be  lost.  Everything  is 
calling  loudly  for  a  radical  change  of  attitude  on  the  part  of 
Christian  men." 

And  in  the  closing  meeting  of  the  parliament  Mr.  Candlin 
said  of  its  significance  for  mission  work  : 

"  It  will  make  a  new  era  of  missionary  enterprise  and  mis- 
sionary hope.  By  this  parliament  the  city  of  Chicago  has 
placed  herself  far  away  above  all  the  cities  of  the  earth.  In 
this  school  you  have  learned  what  no  other  town  or  city  in 
the  world  yet  knows.  The  conventional  idea  of  religion 
which  obtains  among  Christians  the  world  over  is,  that 
Christianity  is  true,  all  other  religions  false ;  that  Chris- 
tianity is  light,  and  other  religions  dark ;  that  Christianity 
is  of  God,  while  other  religions  are  of  the  devil,  or  else  with 
a  little  more  moderation  that  Christianity  is  by  revelation 
from  heaven,  while  other  religions  are  manufactures  of  men. 
You  know  better,  and  with  clear  light  and  strong  assurance 
you  can  testify  that  there  may  be  friendship  instead  of 
antagonism  between  religion  and  religion.  This  has  been 
known  to  a  few  lonely  thinkers,  seers  of  the  race,  in  differ- 
ent parts  of  the  world,  but  not  to  the  people  of  any  town 
or  city.  This  is  your  '  message  of  glad  tidings,'  and  with 
trumpet  tones  you  must  tell  it  to  all  the  world." 

In  a  paper  on  "  Christ  the  Reason  of  the  Universe,"  Rev. 
Dr.  James  W.  Lee  made  these  general  statements : 

"  In  one  respect  all  religions  and  all  philosophies  are  on  a 
level.  They  all  seek  a  solution  to  the  problems  which  hang 
around  the  same  facts. 

"  They  are  all  faced  by  the  same  nature,  with  its  matter 
and  its  force  ;  by  the  same  man,  with  his  weakness,  his  sor- 
row, his  fear,  his  ignorance,  his  death ;  by  the  same  great 
Being  who  surrounds  and  includes  all  things,  and  who  re- 
ceives names  from  all  peoples  corresponding  to  their  concep- 


862  REPRESENTATIVE  VOICES 

tions  of  him.  What  man  seeks  and  has  always  sought  is 
such  a  philosophy  or  synthesis  of  the  facts  of  nature,  of 
man,  and  of  God,  as  harmonizes  him  with  himself,  with  his 
world,  and  with  the  being  he  calls  God.  The  conviction 
haunts  him  like  the  pulse-beats  of  his  own  heart  that  such 
a  synthesis  is  for  him.  All  history,  all  philosophy,  and  all 
religion  witness  to  his  age-long  attempts  to  find  such  a  syn 
thesis,  and  to  rest  and  work  in  it  and  through  it. 

"  We  call  Christ  the  reason  of  the  universe  because  He 
brings  to  thought  such  a  synthesis  of  nature,  man,  and 
God,  as  harmonizes  human  life  with  itself  and  with  the 
facts  of  nature  and  God.  We  find  men  everywhere,  in  all 
ages  and  under  all  climes,  feeling  after  God.  Man  is  relig- 
ious to  the  bottom  of  him  and  to  the  top  of  him  and  to  all 
intents  and  purposes  of  him.  The  religious  grooves  are 
those  the  most  deeply  worn  in  his  nature,  and  this  is  because 
he  is  more  thoroughly  religious  than  he  is  anything  else. 
The  fundamental  structure  of  him,  the  invisible  framework 
of  him,  the  ideal  plan  and  pattern  of  him  is  Christian.  We 
see  in  him  a  divine  potency,  and  the  nature  of  the  eternal 
Christ  capsulate  in  his  heart.  Man  is  the  highest  thing 
under  heaven  next  to  God.  Thus  he  is  religious  to  the  very 
roots  and  core  of  him.  And  the  real  function  of  man  in  all 
time,  and  through  all  eternity,  is  the  realization  and  out-fill- 
ing of  the  universal  nature  which  he  receives  as  the  highest 
creation  of  the  Triune  God. 

"  This  view  accounts  for  the  irrepressible  conviction  which 
man  has  had  in  all  his  history  that  he  is  immortal,  or  capable 
of  eternal  growth.  For  immortality  is  nothing  but  everlast- 
ing growth  and  living  progress.  How  can  we  account  for 
the  permanent,  if  sometimes  vague,  belief  of  his  immortal- 
ity, unless  we  suppose  he  possesses  an  infinite  depth  of  root 
and  resource  ?  Did  he  not  somehow  feel  himself  in  connec- 
tion with  vital  and  infinite  spiritual  resources,  the  idea  and 
hope  of  immortality  would  have  perished  out  of  his  mind 
ages  ago." 

The  extreme  of  acute  critical  departure  from  the  ecclesi- 


FROM  ALL  RACES  AND  NATIONS.  863 

astical  and  theological  Christianity  of  the  past,  found 
expression  in  the  parliament  in  a  singularly  powerful  and 
brilliant  treatment  of  the  manifestation  of  Christianity  in 
literature,  from  Dante  to  Tennyson,  by  Rev.  Dr.  Theodore 
T.  Hunger,  minister  of  one  of  the  ancient  Puritan  churches 
of  New  Haven,  and  a  foremost  representative  in  America  of 
what  may  be  called  Broad  Church  Puritanism,  profoundly 
loyal  to  the  name  and  truth  and  Church  of  Christ,  but  of 
open  eye  to  all  new  light  and  accepting  human  brotherhood 
as  the  mete  and  bound  of  the  coming  of  Christ  to  redeem. 
Some  of  Dr.  Hunger's  most  notable  utterances  were  these : 

"  Christianity  is  a  wide  thing  and  nothing  that  is  human 
is  alien  to  it ;  nor  is  it  possible  that  any  product  of  a  single 
mind  can  more  than  hint  at  that  which  comprises  the  whole 
order  and  movement  of  the  world.  Christ  is  more  than  a 
Judean  slain  on  Calvary  ;  Christ  is  humanity  as  it  is  evolv- 
ing under  the  power  and  grace  of  God,  and  any  book 
touched  by  the  inspiration  of  this  fact  belongs  to  Christian 
literature.  Take  for  example  the  plays  of  Shakespeare; 
there  is  hardly  anything  in  them  that  is  obviously  Chris- 
tian— a  few  over-quoted  references  to  Christ,  no  abuse  of  the 
Church,  a  decent  English-like  reverence,  but  no  sense  of 
Christianity,  either  as  a  cause  to  be  championed  or  as  a 
prime  factor  in  human  life.  Still  they  are  Christian  because 
they  are  so  thoroughly  on  the  side  of  humanity.  How  full 
of  freedom ;  what  a  sense  of  man  as  a  responsible  agent ; 
what  conscience  and  truth  and  honor;  what  charity  and 
mercy  and  justice ;  what  reverence  for  man  and  how  well 
clothed  is  he  in  the  human  virtues ;  and  what  a  strong, 
hopeful  spirit  despite  the  agnostic  note  heard  now  and  then, 
but  amply  redeemed  and  counteracted  by  the  general  tenor. 
If  the  predominant  motive  of  Shakespeare  were  sought  in 
his  own  lines  it  would  be  the  couplet  in  Henry  Fifth  : 

'  There  is  some  soul  of  goodness  in  things  evil, 
Would  men  observingly  distil  it  out'; 

a  sentiment  one  with  the  Christian  estimate  of  this  world 
and  indicative  of  its  process. 


864  REPRESENTATIVE  VOICES 

"  Something  of  the  same  sort  might  be  said  of  Goethe. 
Goethe  rendered  Christianity  an  inestimable  service  in  de- 
stroying the  medieval  conception  of  the  world  as  a  piece  of 
mechanism,  and  of  God  as  an  '  external  world-architect,' — 
conceptions  that  had  come  in  through  the  Latin  theology, 
or  rather  had  been  fostered  by  it.  Both  Augustine  and 
Calvin  held  the  Divine  Immanence,  but  it  did  not  shut  out 
a  practical  externalism  in  their  systems.  It  may  be  truly 
said  of  Goethe  that  he  introduced  the  modern  spirit  into 
theology— chiefly,  however,  through  protests  and  denials. 

'  No  !  such  a  God  my  worship  may  not  win, 
Who  lets  the  world  about  his  finger  spin 
A  thing  extern  ;  my  God  must  rule  within, 
And  whom  I  own  for  Father,  God,  Creator, 
Hold  nature  in  himself,  himself  in  nature  ; 
And  in  his  kindly  arms  embraced,  the  whole 
Doth  live  and  move  by  his  pervading  soul.' 

"  In  the  transfer  of  thought  from  the  conception  of  God 
as  a  purely  transcendent  maker  and  ruler  of  the  universe  to 
such  a  conception  as  that  contained  in  these  lines — a  God 
also  immanent  and  acting  from  within,  we  have  the  starting- 
point  of  the  theology  which  is  now  prevailing,  and  prevail- 
ing because  it  accords  with  other  knowledge. 

"  Christianity  is  all  the  while  in  need  of  two  things :  cor- 
rection of  its  mistakes  and  perversions,  and  development  in 
the  direction  of  its  universality.  None  can  do  these  things 
so  well  as  those  who  are  partially  outsiders.  An  earnest 
skeptic  is  often  the  best  man  to  find  the  obscured  path  of 
faith.  Goethe  taught  Christianity  to  think  scientifically, 
and  prepared  the  way  for  it  to  include  modern  science.  So 
of  Shelley  and  Matthew  Arnold  and  Emerson  and  the  group 
of  Germans  represented  by  Lessing  and  Herder— authors, 
who,  with  their  Hellenistic  tendencies,  represent  a  phase  of 
thought  and  life  which  undoubtedly  is  to  be  brought  within 
the  infolding  scope  of  Christianity  ;  and  no  one  can  do  it 
so  well  as  those  modern  Greeks.  As  kings  of  the  earth 
they  bring  the  glory  and  honor  of  their  beauty  and  human- 


FROM  ALL  RACES  AND  NATIONS.  865 

ity  and  truth  into  the  New  Jerusalem  which  is  always  com- 
ing down  from  God  out  of  Heaven. 

"No  one  illustrates  this  point  better  than  Matthew 
Arnold.  There  is  no  doubt  but  the  Church  has  relied  too 
exclusively  upon  the  miracles  ;  Arnold  reminds  it  that  the 
substance  of  Christianity  does  not  consist  of  miracles.  It 
had  come  to  worship  the  Bible  as  a  fetich,  and  to  fill  it  with 
all  sorts  of  magical  meanings  and  forced  dogmas — the  false 
and  nearly  fatal  fruit  of  the  Reformation  ;  Arnold  dealt  the 
superstition  a  heavy  blow  that  undoubtedly  strained  the 
faith  of  many,  but  it  is  with  such  violence  that  the  Kingdom 
of  Heaven  is  brought  in.  When  God  lets  loose  a  thinker  in 
the  world  there  is  always  a  good  deal  of  destruction. 

"  The  most  interesting  fact  in  connection  with  our  sub- 
ject is  the  thorough  discussion  Christianity  is  now  under- 
going in  literature  ;  and  Tennyson  is  the  undoubted  leader 
in  the  debate.  It  is  not  only  in  the  highest  form  of  literary 
art,  but  it  is  based  on  the  latest  and  fullest  science.  He 
turns  evolution  into  faith,  and  makes  it  the  ground  of  hope. 

"  It  is  not  in  the  In  Memoriam,  however,  but  in  the  Idyls 
that  we  have  his  fullest  explication  of  Christianity.  These 
Idyls  are  sermons  or  treatises;  they  deal  with  all  sins, 
faults,  graces>  virtues,— character  in  all  its  phases  and  forms 
and  processes  put  under  a  conception  of  Christ  which  nine- 
teen centuries  have  evolved  plus  the  insight  of  the  poet. 

"  His  attitude  is  that  of  Job,  who  never  gained  the  solu- 
tion of  life  he  longed  for,  but  gained  instead  a  trust  in  God, 
who,  though  he  spoke  out  of  the  whirlwind  of  a  tumultuous 
and  contradictory  world,  yet  showed  order  and  purpose 
throughout  it.  Trust,  even  with  a  shadow  of  doubt  on  it, 
is  higher  than  belief. 

1  The  whole  round  earth  is  every  way 
Bound  by  gold  chains  about  the  feet  of  God.' 

"  Life  has  no  full  victory,  but  it  has  trust  in  God.  Explain 
life  we  cannot,  nor  can  we  forecast  the  history  of  the  world, 
but  we  can  trust  both  soul  and  world  in  the  hands  of  God, 
leaving  the  mystery  of  existence  with  Him  who  is  being 


866  REPRESENTATIVE  VOICES. 

itself.  Why  should  we  ask  for  more  ?  If  we  understood  life 
its  charm  would  be  gone. 

"  Such  is  the  lesson  taught  by  Tennyson.  It  was  also 
taught  by  Job ;  it  was  taught  and  lived  out  by  Christ. 
Truth  came  to  the  Cross ;  its  victory  is  not  a  won  battle, 
but  a  conflict  for  truth  unto  death.  It  is  when  literature 
explicates  this  central  truth  of  Christianity  that  it  reaches 
its  own  highest  point  of  possible  achievement ;  for  litera- 
ture cannot  surpass  what  is  greatest  and  deepest  in  life. 

"  The  value  of  these  re-statements  of  Christianity,  especial- 
ly by  the  poets,  is  beyond  estimate.  They  are  the  real  de- 
fenders of  the  faith,  the  prophets  and  priests  whose  succes- 
sion never  fails.  So  long  as  a  century  can  produce  such 
interpreters  of  Christianity  as  Tennyson  and  Browning  and 
Whittier,  it  will  not  vanish  from  the  earth." 


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